Gearing Up for Selling Managed Services

Managed services can be a great revenue source for solution providers. VARs that specialize in managed services will generate 20 percent annual revenue growth compared to 5 percent to 10 percent growth for traditional product resellers, according to MAI-Partners, Inc.

Still, it can be difficult to generate awareness and drive new leads with both prospects and customers. Unfortunately, some solutions providers abandon managed services before the initiatives really get rolling. If you're having trouble getting such efforts on track, there are two key techniques you can leverage to cost-effectively jumpstart awareness and draw more interest to your new services.

Technique I - Engage the Sales Team

Spending six figures on a marketing campaign to evangelize your managed services offerings may not be realistic. However, your sales team can play a vital role in spreading the message of your new offerings.

• Work the new offerings topic into the rapport-building discussions at the front end of a sales call, or into the closing of the call. Update customers and prospects on what's new in your organization.
• When uncovering needs, ask questions that will help identify managed services opportunities.
• Include managed services offerings that complement the solution as options in proposals.

The sales team can also be a highly effective awareness driver if they work in tandem with marketing. Consider these opportunities:

• Host an Event: To draw attention to your managed services offerings, have marketing plan an event - web-based or live - that centers on a core business issue your managed services will address. The event might also include horror stories, successes and stats that enable customers to gain a true understanding of how managed services can ultimately benefit them.
   
• Pinpoint Targets: By having sales reps identify their top two target markets and the top 10 customers and prospects within those markets, solutions providers will have an instant list of possible leads for an event. As long as the target list for a single event is limited in size (100 - 125 people is usually a good target number), sales reps can become directly involved in its promotion via e-mail or phone.
   
• Email/Direct Mail: Sales reps can also launch a series of direct mail or e-mail pieces over an eight-week period tailored specifically to their target markets' needs.

The pieces should include information about the challenges the managed services address, and how the solutions provider is providing these services. The pieces might extend an offer for a free needs assessment or analysis.

Technique II - Involve the Organization

Similar to integrating managed services awareness conversations into the sales process, all of a solutions provider's customer-facing teams should be encouraged to mention the new offerings to the customers they are working with. Teams might include consultants, field technicians, logistics, and customer service. While these people will not have the same level of sales skills as sales reps, they can do a great deal to raise awareness among customers and prospects when speaking to them in person or over the phone. Several steps can be taken to assist people outside the sales team in the process of raising awareness:

• Develop Scripted Phrases: Include the key message points and questions to ask about managed services. This will help your support teams feel more comfortable engaging customers and prospects in what they might view as a sales conversation. Limit phrases to those that announce the new offerings and include one or two questions to help identify an immediate opportunity.
• Provide Coaching: Coach customer-facing people on effective ways to use the key message points and questions. For example, coach on when and how to introduce the key message points during a conversation to maintain a smooth flow.
• Create Hand-off Processes: These processes will establish an effective way for leads to not only be generated, but sales to be closed.
• Involve Executives: Coach the executive team on how to integrate new managed services offerings into their value propositions and conversations about the company to customers, prospects, partners, and the media. New value proposition messaging should be created for all executives to use, regardless of their involvement in sales and marketing.