Industry research shows that many companies don’t have a comprehensive automated sales process around how to manage their customer base. Implementing a base management strategy (BMS) starts with having a strategic plan aligned with your goals and objectives. You also need a clear understanding of the value of your customer base. Best practices around how you build the foundation for the strategy, structure your system, and use the tools within your system to help build your business are the core for your strategic roadmap.
The dealer profile has evolved over the past 20 years. The platform you started with years ago, when the revenue stream for sales reps was strictly hardware, may need to be adjusted to capture multiple revenue streams and accommodate the team selling approach you take when it comes to managed print services (MPS), managed IT services (MIT), and enterprise content management (ECM) business.
These sales cycles may have different forecast dates and subject matter experts (SMEs) driving the next steps to close the business. By taking a look at the way you currently have your sales process structured and adjusting it to capture multiple revenue streams will help eliminate the separate spreadsheets these division leaders may be keeping. This will allow you to have all your revenue streams in one place.
Today, we have information coming at us faster than ever before. Having a system that will allow for bi-directional outlook will help organize email communication all in one place. With bi-directional outlook, you can easily have email saved into a customer or prospect record whether you are communicating directly from your sales process platform or directly from email. There is no reason to have several separate systems anymore with the advances in technology and integration tools.
We also have five generations in the workflow today – all with different mindsets and perceptions. It’s time to think about how you manage these perceptions allowing for different and creative ways to learn.
With everything that has changed, many things stay the same. We have missions, goals, and objectives to accomplish that drive revenue and business results. People, process, and technology make up the circle for establishing a strategic plan. Is everyone from top down and bottom up aligned and on the same page? Do you show consistent executive sponsorship to the plan? What process are you committed to and what technology tools are available that you can use to be more effective and efficient?
Hiring and retaining good people, having a process, and leveraging technology are key components to developing a strategy to effectively run your business. Do you see alignment in your company with these key components or do you see disconnects anywhere? If so, you are likely losing customers and talent.
Studies show increasing your retention rate 5 percent leads to 95 percent increase in profits. The lack of focus, lack of priority and lack of execution of strategy impact client retention. Value and risk are key drivers for implementing a BMS. Value is defined as “the worth of something” while risk is defined as “a situation involving exposure to danger.” In developing a roadmap for a successful strategy, you must first have a good understanding of the value of your base. Each of your reps, in turn, should have a good understanding of the value of their assignment.
A simple calculation will show you how to put a number to this value that can be used during a business planning one-on-one session.
Once your reps have a good understanding of the value of their current base, they can prepare customer business reviews (CBRs). This starts with a basic profile of your customer along with an understanding of their goals, initiatives and challenges so you are prepared to have meaningful conversations to find ways to help them achieve these. The right software, hardware, or solution will ultimately be the tools that can get them there and help you continue to expand and retain your customer base. The customer business review should be all about the customer!
Client retention is impacted by lack of resources and technology limitations. Do you have the right people and technology available to help manage your customer base? As a best practice, look at the technology platforms you are using today to manage your business. Within these platforms, there should be some kind of CRM tool to help manage daily activities, pipeline growth, sales opportunities, and closed business. How you structure this system related to activities you are benchmarking, categories of revenue streams, sales stages, and percentage to close will provide you with consistency to execute your plan.
Once your system is set up, it is important to message a cadence – for example, “If it’s not in XYZ system, it didn’t happen.” Have some fun around this concept helping the reps want to use the system, not have to use it. Make it easy for them by looking into on-the-go, real-time access applications that link into your main system to appeal to the millennial generation. Understand the limitations of your current platforms. Are they able to integrate or “talk” to each other so you are getting the most of them? If not, work closely with your business partners to find solutions that will!
When it comes to pipeline growth, I get it. We all have our individual spreadsheets to manage our business. However, these should only be used as a check and balance to your master tool. If everything is entered into the system the way it should be, eventually the separate spreadsheet will no longer be needed. Lead by example and drive everyone to your tool to track opportunities and sales stages, becoming more efficient to win more business. This goes back to looking at your current sales process and making adjustments to capture those multiple revenue streams today.
You have a wealth of information in the form of your current data collection agent (DCA) capturing equipment information and volumes. What you and your reps do with this information is another story. I’ve seen some dealers hide this from sales reps while other dealers provide the information to sales reps in various file formats. Either way, what you do with this information is part of a BMS.
You want to be able to review the information found on your DCA and go beyond just looking at where the volume is being printed. Then you can ask questions as to what is being printed, why it’s being printed, and do you know who is printing. At that point you will be able to help your customers build strategic roadmaps designed to help them with the goals they want to achieve and whatever issues they may be experiencing with mission critical documents or inefficient manual processes.
This opens up dialogue that will go beyond the box in conversation as you look for that business fit knowing that there are many tools to help with streamlining their print, routing their printing to cost effective devices, eliminating wasted print, and helping them to securely print and store their final output. All of this can be done during an effective CBR by putting focus on the lifecycle of the document.
Some dealers state that success with MPS execution ties to using behavior modification tools to help manage user behavior and change management. Others take the approach of “getting the fleet now and optimizing later.” The point is that you have a wealth of information that you can share with your customers to help them make relevant business decisions while incorporating your tools to help them. Take a look at how your company defines and executes on MPS as you build your plan.
Having an effective BMS in place is sure to yield you positive results with client retention, new business growth and profitability for years to come.
