Skip to main content

Close more sales, of course!


Avid Andy sits comfortably with fingers on his temples struggling to determine ways in which connected systems, combined with varied levels of AI, can make his service company money.  Seems the harder he concentrates on the topic, the more he churns out insipid, shallow ideas.  If his clients, and even Reluctant Ruth, believe that IoT is the future, why is it so damn hard to put numbers to these investments?  Influential Irene is quick to point out a few considerations, unfortunately they are all related to adding cost to PM's; a proposition which could negatively impact the lifeblood of the organization (annuity stream) and would likely be a push, or even a loss, to existing contracts.  Assuming that we could flip the majority of our contracts to full-risk, combined with relevant and actionable information from assets in the field, we may be able to reduce cost for the client and increase our margins.  Even Overwhelmed Oscar seemed to be in agreement with this strategy.  Yet, something was still gnawing at Andy, it isn't enough and could take years to hit positive cash flow.



Instead, how about if we look at it differently, switch from an operations view to a sales view, suggested Irene.  Suddenly, Oscar begins to recall his days in the field and starts to ramble on about a "credibility spectrum", at one side you have a fresh eyed salesperson and the other a revered technician.  While both are good honest people, the client is likely to believe the technician when fielding recommendations for new or modified equipment.  A relaxed wave of confidence flows over Oscar, not often seen, as he continues and suggests machine learning (ML), just a jump up on the AI evolution scale, ML could be positioned in the middle of the credibility spectrum between sales and the technician.  You can feel the energy in the room build as both Irene, and Ruth, as if choreographed jump up and yell "close more sales, of course!".   Recommendations with elevated credibility equate to higher close rates.  Andy ponders the impact as he calculates… if my close rate increased by x % with $yyy in service, retrofit and project work, that would mean $zzz in additional revenue.  Suddenly the operational expenses of IoT based connected solutions becomes a cost of sales, could this be the answer I have been searching for?



The simple answer is, it is anyone's best guess.  We just don't have enough experience or information to see exactly how to monetize these investments; however, you know what they say:  'Practice makes Perfect".  Let's remember "IoT without monetization is simply monitoring".



Thank you,  Jim (Mesa), Brian (VSS) and Steve (CANDI), for the conversations which motivated this post.



-----

Next post:  perceiving the service professional

Thoughts?  feel free to leave replies or direct message

See all of the "last mile worker" posts here:  http://lastmileworker.com

-----
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is custom software in 2019 spelled EGO?

I still struggle , as do many, with the rationalization between building software and buying software. Microsoft Excel , likely one of the most widely recognized packaged software applications, was released over 30 years ago . My guess is not many people would consider building a custom piece of software which performs math and other worksheet related tasks. While this is an obvious example, it highlights an important factor for many in deciding between custom and configurable software solutions . Fact is, everybody understands how Microsoft Excel works. Let's mix it up a bit and add the opinions that you have regarding what makes your approach to business so special.   The things that you do, in an industry, which are totally unique to your competitors.   This is where it gets a bit murky, we must tease out the transactional components from the value add aspects of software.   For instance, you use a staffing system to help find, manage, and retain internal and external
Post a Comment
Read more

no one told you when to run

From the clients perspective, what is the perfect service call? "To interpret my field conditions and apply a solution which resolves the issue immediately and ensures trouble-free long-term operation. Delivered by a professional, courteous, empathetic, appropriately skilled, years of experience, materials required for repair, a good listener, and one that treats me as if I am their only customer; amen"! As you might expect the perfect service call is really a blend of attitudes, attributes, and capabilities. The trick is, while we all may agree that these aspects make the perfect service call, endeavoring to achieve these results is becoming increasingly more difficult. Our customers, with their visibility and awareness of our activities, raise the bar regarding the level of service that we need to provide. Let's unpack a few of these elements: Appropriately skilled :   haven't we all had this discussion in the past?   My workers are all
Post a Comment
Read more

Modern tech moving us forward?

Think about some of the most recent technologies;   Solar fields, I doubt the designers considered the impact on the bird population; Facebook , do you believe that they thought about the long-term ramifications regarding how false news might be proliferated through this platform; Twitter , could anyone imagine it would be such a haven for bullies; and what about TOR, the US government "internet" built for military families use in foreign countries which has turned into the " dark web " were all sorts of things are bought and sold? I would like to believe that all of these started with the best intentions in mind. Unfortunately it is not enough to dissuade those with impure and nefarious intentions.   I continue to get excited about the future with items such as IOT and cognitive computing machines, assisting us in making better and more deliberate decisions, the other part of me gets nervous that we will inadvertently create a world of "black boxes&
Post a Comment
Read more