When technology companies address customers, there is a sales team and a services team.
Traditionally, there is a disconnect between these 2 teams but their collaboration or the lack of it can significantly influence the journey of a customer with the company.
This misalignment often happens because,
- The service teams are late to the party, they feel they are called too late, which can lead to a sense of detachment.
- Sales teams sometimes operate under the impression that in-house services are expensive, and it might be more economical to leverage partner resources.
- Instead of focusing on clinching the deal, services team members tend to muddy the waters by talking about risks, obstacles, or possible consequences which can dampen the enthusiasm of potential customers.
So now comes the question, how do you crack the code and drive collaboration between both these teams?
Let’s explore this together,
1.Structuring the 3 Key Conversations
Every sales journey has 3 key conversations, and each has to happen at the right place, right time, and with the right people.
- Business Value Conversation
- Risk Conversation
- Cost of Investment Conversation
So if sales and services are working together early on in the sales cycle, it has to be all about adding unified value to the customer – the pivot from transactional to driving transformation.
If services come in and talk about risk at the start, it will derail the conversation. The element of risk is important, but at a later stage when the value possibilities are maximized.
2.A Unified Value Proposition
A lot of technology products are now subscriptions.
What’s working best today is a single subscription that includes a unified value proposition.
To drive this, sales and services should have clarity on:
“How exactly we will plan together” “How exactly we will execute together”
“How exactly we drive results together” This level of accountability will ensure the sum is greater than its parts.
Sales and services must work in alignment and understand the gives & gets of each side.
Rather than leaving money on the table, frayed conversations or mismatches in expectations, this will allow you to win more.
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