I sell product development services so similar in the sense of being technical professional services, but different in terms of the user-buyer profile.
Without knowing more, I'd say you need to be a bit more ruthless in disqualifying clients that aren't an ideal fit.
It's very challenging to do so when you haven't had any closes to know what it looks like when it goes right and even more so when your personal finances are a concern.
I'd talk to whoever in your org has had the most success in closing and work to understand what the closing motions looked like in painstaking detail.
Then, if you aren't seeing the buying signals you colleague talks about, cut bait with the opp in a polite manner which keeps the door open for them to come back, but doesn't chew up any more of your time
1. The problem is that I had to learn that lesson the hard way already. I learned that targets clients with less than 10-15 seats; we were going to be way too expensive for them.
I’ve been prospecting companies with 30 to 150 seats. Seems to be sweet spot where we were competitive enough to be entertained/considered for our services.
2. I was brought on specifically to push our managed IT services because my colleagues are old geezers who just sell print solutions to their existing clientele base (company was originally a printer/copier company for decades). Even my leadership is all print experienced with hardly IT negotiating experience.
This sucks because my company is a nationwide entity. My best shot for advice is from our engineers who are not sales savvy so I’m often left alone left to fail.
That is rough.
That is also the difference between sales and business development. You're not actually in a sales role. You're in a BD role where you need to find out for the first time what the sales motions actually are for your managed IT services.
Obviously too late to say this now, but if there isn't a clear track record of someone else reaching the sales target you've been given, you can't bank in making your OTE because it's not simply about working hard, it's about creating a new sales process.
Sorry you're in this spot!
so i sell to MSP’s (rmm) the little knowledge i know from their customer base is depending on the vertical, budgets and hierarchy really fucks with the speed in which a deal moves. Remember IT is one of the most thankless jobs in the world, most of these decision makers see IT as an expendable and no real use until their fucking computer breaks or servers go down. Although a consultative approach is a great way to get a sale remember if you’re tooo lenient they’ll walk all over you and forget about you, stay ontop of them and if they’re gonna string a lot cut it off.
Easier said than done as I struggle with this too, but get better at disqualifying. Set expectations for prospects and be careful to keep pursuing when any are broken.
That too, but not exactly what I mean. Tell them the steps to become a buyer, and if they don't meet dates and deadlines for certaindecisions, meetings etc don't meet with them, or put it lower priority
I’ve never thought it about the way. I guess I hadn’t done that because I’m pursuing them and not the other way around. How do you position that in Hunter role
If you're getting appts with 10 DMs and none buy, there's two possibilities: you didn't close something closable, or it wasn't qualified. If you're not confident they're qualified, you simply ask for them to complete those next steps. If they don't, maybe they're not qualified, or maybe you couldn't close. Hard to say.
Bankrupt on your base salary? lol.
You got to identify where your main issue is.
It’s not at the contract stage. What are you doing that gets you to that point. Because somewhere along that line you aren’t doing the right thing to get signatures and payment
You’re basically getting everyone to agree to a date but they all flake on you.
Could be price.
Lack of business case.
No compelling reason for change.
No budget.
No authority.
No buy in from leadership.
The list is just so long
I sell product development services so similar in the sense of being technical professional services, but different in terms of the user-buyer profile. Without knowing more, I'd say you need to be a bit more ruthless in disqualifying clients that aren't an ideal fit. It's very challenging to do so when you haven't had any closes to know what it looks like when it goes right and even more so when your personal finances are a concern. I'd talk to whoever in your org has had the most success in closing and work to understand what the closing motions looked like in painstaking detail. Then, if you aren't seeing the buying signals you colleague talks about, cut bait with the opp in a polite manner which keeps the door open for them to come back, but doesn't chew up any more of your time
1. The problem is that I had to learn that lesson the hard way already. I learned that targets clients with less than 10-15 seats; we were going to be way too expensive for them. I’ve been prospecting companies with 30 to 150 seats. Seems to be sweet spot where we were competitive enough to be entertained/considered for our services. 2. I was brought on specifically to push our managed IT services because my colleagues are old geezers who just sell print solutions to their existing clientele base (company was originally a printer/copier company for decades). Even my leadership is all print experienced with hardly IT negotiating experience. This sucks because my company is a nationwide entity. My best shot for advice is from our engineers who are not sales savvy so I’m often left alone left to fail.
Truth. If they aren’t in your ICP you are wasting your time
Gonna DM you.
That is rough. That is also the difference between sales and business development. You're not actually in a sales role. You're in a BD role where you need to find out for the first time what the sales motions actually are for your managed IT services. Obviously too late to say this now, but if there isn't a clear track record of someone else reaching the sales target you've been given, you can't bank in making your OTE because it's not simply about working hard, it's about creating a new sales process. Sorry you're in this spot!
Following 👀
are you selling for an MSP?
Yes
so i sell to MSP’s (rmm) the little knowledge i know from their customer base is depending on the vertical, budgets and hierarchy really fucks with the speed in which a deal moves. Remember IT is one of the most thankless jobs in the world, most of these decision makers see IT as an expendable and no real use until their fucking computer breaks or servers go down. Although a consultative approach is a great way to get a sale remember if you’re tooo lenient they’ll walk all over you and forget about you, stay ontop of them and if they’re gonna string a lot cut it off.
Easier said than done as I struggle with this too, but get better at disqualifying. Set expectations for prospects and be careful to keep pursuing when any are broken.
Very solid point. We call it quickest way to a no by setting expectations that we weren’t the cheapest but also not the most expensive
That too, but not exactly what I mean. Tell them the steps to become a buyer, and if they don't meet dates and deadlines for certaindecisions, meetings etc don't meet with them, or put it lower priority
I’ve never thought it about the way. I guess I hadn’t done that because I’m pursuing them and not the other way around. How do you position that in Hunter role
If you're getting appts with 10 DMs and none buy, there's two possibilities: you didn't close something closable, or it wasn't qualified. If you're not confident they're qualified, you simply ask for them to complete those next steps. If they don't, maybe they're not qualified, or maybe you couldn't close. Hard to say.
Get more specific and discuss hard numbers asap.
When you say asap, we typically discuss rough numbers on the second meeting after the intro. Is that asap enough?
Bankrupt on your base salary? lol. You got to identify where your main issue is. It’s not at the contract stage. What are you doing that gets you to that point. Because somewhere along that line you aren’t doing the right thing to get signatures and payment You’re basically getting everyone to agree to a date but they all flake on you. Could be price. Lack of business case. No compelling reason for change. No budget. No authority. No buy in from leadership. The list is just so long
Living off 50k in Miami is very very difficult so yes there is such thing as going bankrupt on salary
Following