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

suggesting is NOT selling

People and companies want to buy from people that they trust.   The individual which possesses the broadest set of knowledge will gain the most credibility and as a result yield high levels of trust.   When I was in the field I definitely had the ear of the customer and for the most part discussed areas that needed improvement or replacement. At no moment was I ever, at least in my mind, selling. Instead, as I think back on those days, I believe I was simply "suggesting". Take an immediate need, add in a trusted advisor and a credible suggestion, you will most likely get a sale. However, this is not selling. From my non-salesman perspective I would sum up the following related to the sales process; sales is not a single event but instead a sequence of connection points which create a positive experience that leads to a purchase . Over the years I've been fortunate to have known many different types of salespeople in different industries and I believe that they a...
Post a Comment
Read more

In$pired

As the steam from Avid Andy's coffee fogged his glasses on this crisp January morning, he reflected on last year and thought enthusiastically about the year ahead.   Sometimes the noise of business is deafening, we rarely take the time to contemplate our moves, instead are often thrown one direction or another.   Hey, face it, if you are reading posts to gain perspective you fall in the group of folks who pride themselves as obsequious hoop-jumpers.   We live to help others and expect that all of those around us feel the same way.   I just love Influential Irene.   Okay, it is out in the open, she is an inspiration for me and so many others.   Irene reminds folks every year, without fail, these three statements which she fondly refers to as "the punchline" (although this is no joke).   Businesses, of any size, will be successful if they remember that it is people that make a company.   Put this advice into practice, today: Sincerity |...
Post a Comment
Read more

focus on your annuity base, come on man..

Stick with what you know and repeat often. When I think about maintenance, regardless of type of contract, I think about consistency, consistency, consistency. The motivation behind writing this post is to encourage you to either build or bolster your existing maintenance base, here are some things to consider: most maintenance contracts should yield between 5% and 7% additional revenue above and beyond the contract value.   Building trust between you and your clients organization will result in additional service activity. Full risk contracts, or those where you were charging one flat amount and taking all of the financial risk, can be profitable.   Watch out for the age of the equipment, service call track record, and customer disposition pull-through opportunities can be constrained with full risk contracts unless the scope of work is very specific. This can be a bit of a slippery slope. The perception of a...
Post a Comment
Read more