The ABCs of ROI
In tough times you have to prove there's a reason why your customers need your services.
Five rules for selling in a down market:
- Booking an order isn't everything. Now the pressure is on to prospect for the right kinds of business.
- Sell solutions that offer a financial payback in 12 months or less. Customers won't wait two or three years anymore to see a return on their IT investments.
- Get your salespeople focused on finding the customer's "pain points." This may mean following the customer's employees around for a week or two to unearth hidden areas of waste and inefficiency.
- Once you've identified the pain points and found the root cause, make sure you sell the solution to a decision maker who is clued in to the dollar value of the problem.
- Yesterday's also-ran is today's winner. Previously unfashionable services like asset management, for example, could sell briskly in a bad economy. Likewise, mundane services like desktop outsourcing are more appealing these days than high-end strategy consulting.
