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Is Your Sales Model Driving or Inhibiting Growth?

Jim Stockwell
Jim Stockwell

According to CompTIA, global IT industry growth is expected to hit 4 percent this year [1].

However, as per CompTIA’s IT Industry Report, a number of factors must come into play in order for the industry to actually achieve this positive revenue growth projection.

  1. Successfully reaching new customer segments
  2. Pick-up in business from existing customer base
  3. Successfully selling new business lines/launching new products
  4. Improvement to internal operations/running more efficiently
  5. Improvement to sales/marketing efforts
  6. Positive government action (e.g. deregulation, tax code changes, etc.)

In this blog, I will delve deeper into how technology organizations like yours can achieve increased business from your existing customer base (#2 from the list above), whilst improving internal operations/running more efficiently (#4 from list) as well as improving your sales efforts (#5)!

Not All Renewals Are Equal

Customer acquisition can be up to five times more expensive and time consuming than retaining your existing customer base and extending their lifetime value. Which is why protecting and growing services revenue and renewals is vital for the long-term health and profitability for every technology provider.

But if we take a closer look at renewals, it’s clear that not all renewals should be treated equally. Many businesses split their renewals into three categories, depending upon the renewal value:

  1. High volume, low value sales
  2. The ‘big middle’ – sales that make up the bulk of your existing revenue
  3. Complex/higher value renewals

If any of the above-listed potential recurring revenue becomes neglected or is mis-handled, it will have a detrimental impact on the success of your business. Make sure you have the right mix of tools/people/processes in place to handle each customer/opportunity type.

1. High Volume, Low Value Renewals

Approach: Due to the sheer volume and low value of these deals, your staff must approach these as zero touch. Why? Because the more resources and time you assign to renewing these, the more likely your profit margin will shrink or even disappear. But we know that not every renewal can be automated, you may well have low value contracts with customers that also have large contracts as well, or an escalated customer that you would obviously want every opportunity to talk to. So profiling and setting parameters will help target the appropriate business segment

Execution with iasset.com: Set-up automated workflows where certain customers will be automatically notified of their upcoming renewal and can take action without the need to speak to any of your renewal reps. 

2. 'Big Middle' - Mid-Tier Value, Opportunity to Expand

Approach: These are the customers that you cannot afford to lose. They make up the bulk of your revenue which is why you need to ensure they are never neglected.

Execution with iasset.com: You need the right balance of automation vs. human interaction here. Your renewals team can then manage by exception. Leverage auto-created quotes, automatically identify and trigger expand opportunities to upsell/cross-sell further into each account, no matter where they are within the product lifecycle.

3. Complex/Higher Value Renewals

Approach: Deals/accounts that need a bit more attention than the rest. These are the opportunities that are more complex or extremely high in value. Luckily, now that your team has been freed of processing low to mid value renewals, they can focus on what’s important.

Execution with iasset.com: We provide the data you need to help position your business as a value-added partner to your customers. With useful insights such as consumption trends and predictive analytics you can easily identify expand opportunities and offer recommendations.

In addition to this, the seamless interaction we offer between you and your partners will enable you to price and quote even the most complex of offerings both quickly and easily.

Doing It Efficiently

Let’s address #4 on the CompTIA list above – “Improvement to internal operations / running more efficiently”. By running your recurring business more efficiently, you will not only benefit from significant cost savings, but also enable your team to deliver a far superior customer experience.

Now, you may already be maintaining and growing your existing customer base by leveraging a combination of different tools and teams. And, it may be working for you to a degree. But, iasset.com is the only platform that can do all of the above, in one place, as part of our standard offering. You don’t need to deal with multiple systems, pay expensive tele sales agencies, or try to build a tool that can achieve this for you.

Reach out, I’d love to hear all about how your sales model is working for you! Send me a message at jstockwell@iasset.com. 

[1] Read the full CompTIA IT Industry Outlook 2019 Report

 

Ultimate Renewals Playbook

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