System Selling Solutions
• increased business valuations.
The salesperson’s “advisory” skills needs to be up to par, and senior management has to be aligned if a services organization is going to be successful in this new environment.
There are multiple factors involved in the sales- person who achieves success in this arena. These attributes include the ability to speak with senior executives in marketing, carry their weight in consultative conversations, understand complex selling cycles, the ability to be patient as the progression ensues, and the ability to understand and focus on the big picture objective throughout the cycle.
Most print service providers don’t boast a stable full of advisory-level salespeople. Approximately one out of 10 existing print sales personnel are sufficiently qualified to engage in this high-end sales discussion; often it’s the owner-entrepreneur who is the individual most qualified.
The good news: one “rainmaker” can more than adequately support an entire staff of salespeople who are trained to spot opportunities.
Implementing a team approach and adopting an appropriate compensation strategy, one in which the entire team shares in some portion of the victory, has become the norm for companies that have already triumphed in the system sales arena.
Increasingly, service companies are experimenting with hiring this new type of sales executive from outside the printing industry. In reality, knowledge of print is the least of the prerequisites of this 21st century sales call.
In system selling, the primary objective usually centers on becoming the main conduit through which all marketing logistical requirements of the client/prospect flow. This “big piece of the pie” mentality means that you’ll need to place careful consideration on the sales staff, right down to reinventing a selling process and perhaps a division of your company.
(It’s essential to note that the size of an organization is not a factor in its ability to make headway.)
