by Sarah Knutson, US SMB Cloud Telesales Manager
Are you tired of Microsoft Office 365 prospects not returning your phone calls or responding to your emails? Are you finding it increasingly difficult to forecast when a deal will close? Are you frustrated by the increasing number of “no decisions” that come after a time-consuming sales cycle? These are common experiences related to us by resellers.
Customers have fundamentally changed how and when they engage with sales professionals during their buying experience. Increasingly, Office 365 prospects:
- Prefer self-service (trials) over speaking with a sales professional
- Very reluctantly disclose buying information (i.e., budget, authority, need, timeframe – BANT)
- Are more informed (especially about competitive offerings) than many sales professionals
- Rely upon third parties and their social networks to research and validate solutions
This measurable shift in engagement behavior has far reaching implications to selling activities, as prospects no longer need to identify or expose themselves in advance of a purchasing decision. Prospects now have full access to trial software and published subscription pricing that enables them to by-pass sales professionals until the END of their buying process. Simply put, they don’t engage with sales professionals because they don’t feel they have to. To put it more bluntly, prospects don’t respond because they don’t believe sales professionals provide them with any value.
Introducing the Microsoft SMB Accelerated Sales Process
We have put together a collection of on-demand webcasts and downloadable materials that help Microsoft Office 365 resellers change their approach to working with prospects. The Microsoft SMB Accelerated Sales Process and tools combine behavioral psychology and structured communications to increase prospect response, realign the buying and selling process, and create a pro-Microsoft bias. Whether you are a sales professional, a sales manager, a business leader, or a marketing professional, you will benefit from these webcasts and materials. Topics include:
- Changing Customer Buying Behavior—Why it Impacts Everything
- Selling in the Cloud—What’s Different and How Do We Adapt?
- Accelerate the Sales Cycle—How to Sell More by Doing Less
- Achieving High Impact Prospect Engagement—Why Won’t My Prospects Respond?
- Setting Up for Success in the Cloud
- Cloud Business Model Optimization
- Marketing Cloud Solutions
- Packaging and Delivery of Cloud Services
Fear, curiosity, and greed are primal and powerful motivators of human behavior. When intelligently and respectfully applied to business communications, they predictably lead to a deeper level of prospect engagement. Find out today how the sales tools developed for the Microsoft SMB Accelerated Sales Process can improve your prospect and customer engagement.
Once you use these materials, I would love to hear your feedback on them. Join the conversation in our Cloud Partner group on Yammer.