A suitable sales strategy is crucial for success in after-sales. There are many pitfalls lurking in the development of such a strategy. However, the development can be divided into different sub-steps in order to master this challenge efficiently.
The distribution of After-sales services differs in many respects from the Product distribution. The strategy for the service area should therefore be developed separately. It does not make sense to simply transfer it from the primary products to service. Unfortunately, service sales are often only handled on the side and not strategically developed in a targeted manner.
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In this case, of course, nobody should be surprised if the services don't really take off. Provide your employees with guidelines so that nothing stands in the way of your success. It is therefore essential that you define the following dimensions individually for your portfolio to ensure a successful service sales strategy:
1. target market and customer segmentation
Find out which customers are most valuable for your business model! With which buyers can you achieve the most sales and the best prices? To do this, first define which companies are interesting for your sales strategy and then name the key characteristics of this group. Market research helps you to gain an overview of the characteristics of these features within your target group.
The better you know your market, the better you can shape your sales strategy. And this segmentation can be fundamentally different from the segmentation of your primary business. Not every customer who buys expensive machines is automatically a good service customer.
Other drivers play a role here. Does the customer have its own maintenance department? What maintenance strategy does it pursue in its production? How price-sensitive is the customer when it comes to spare parts? These and other questions should determine your segmentation for the service sales strategy.
2. buyer personas and influences
In every company, decisions are ultimately made by people. That is why it is also important in B2B business to know which groups of people have an influence on a purchasing decision. The priorities of decision-makers from the economic sector are usually very different from those of employees with a technical background. Create buyer personas for all groups of people that you consider relevant in order to channel your sales and marketing efforts effectively. There are users and choosers.
While the users represent the groups of people who are ultimately the recipients of your services (machine operators, maintenance staff, production employees, etc.), the choosers (production managers, plant managers, COOs and CEOs) are the ones who sit on the money and release budgets. Both are important for your strategy. If you cannot convince the choosers of your offer, they will not release the necessary budgets.
If, on the other hand, users do not perceive your services as beneficial, it will be difficult to initiate follow-up business and convince the choosers. Therefore, consider which archetypes operate in your market and derive suitable initiation strategies tailored to these types of people.
3. channel strategy
Which sales channels are best for reaching your customers? When developing your channel strategy, you naturally draw on the findings from points 1 and 2. If you have worked thoroughly here, you will also succeed in finding the shortest route to the customer. Do you focus on uncomplicated, quick sales to a large number of companies or would you rather invest in building a long-term customer relationship? Customer relationship? Clarify the decisive factors and select the appropriate sales channels.
Do you rely on sales by the team that also sells the primary products? Should you set up your own service sales team? Would the use of technicians as an additional channel be promising? And does it make sense to push the sale of some services online?
Depending on the service portfolio, the answers to these questions will vary greatly and should therefore be evaluated individually for each company. Copying and pasting from other companies only rarely leads to sustainable success.
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4. purchase process
Think about how the customer should trigger a purchase from your sales team and how the standardized purchase process should proceed. Align your strategy in this area so that it offers your sales team suitable leverage to maximize revenue. The entry hurdles must be as low as possible at this point.
If the customer has to search for a suitable contact person on the provider's homepage for another 5 minutes or is expected to play a round of email ping-pong over 4 lines until they reach a suitable contact person, the chances of a successful deal are reduced to a minimum. Design the purchasing process from the customer's perspective and consistently reduce all hurdles that stand in the way of a quick conclusion.
5. value proposition
Your value proposition tells the customer why they should decide to buy from your company. You should use this opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition. The message should be simple but forceful. It is worth studying the buyer personas again.
Especially when selling services, it is important to explain to the customer exactly why you are the best option for them. Otherwise, you will quickly slip into a pure price discussion. Unfortunately, a lot of attention is paid to costs in the service sector, as services such as maintenance and training are relatively easy for customers to compare. Therefore, find and communicate your USPs and build a relationship with the customer. This will increase the number of sales you close and boost the productivity of your sales team.
The question always arises as to whether you want to praise your after-sales services to the skies in marketing or honestly inform customers about the advantages and disadvantages. The better choice depends on the service in question. More info>>
6. incentive strategy in after-sales
A sensible incentive strategy ensures that your employees are rewarded for successful sales in a targeted manner. With a targeted reward system, you can steer the sales department in a targeted manner and achieve the growth of your company in the desired direction. This is particularly important if you have entrusted your sales team with the sale of after-sales services and primary products at the same time. The incentive strategy should be developed very carefully. Mistakes here can have considerable economic consequences.
"Unfortunately, I still very often see companies using the same incentive systems for primary products and services (e.g. x% of turnover). As a result, service sales don't take off at all, because in almost all cases sales of primary products are significantly higher than sales of services due to the lower cost price. On the other hand, there is a higher purchase frequency. This fact must be taken into account in order to set up a successful sales strategy." - Dr. Simon Tonat
7. performance metrics for your sales strategy
Finally, you need to measure the success of the sales team in a targeted manner. You can use quantitative and qualitative scales to gain a far-reaching overview. You can then regularly adjust your strategy on the basis of this data. You should not only measure sales results quantitatively, but also other activities of your team quantitatively and qualitatively. Above all, the service offers a long-term and steady source of income. Some activities only have a time-delayed benefit here.
Your sales staff must also perform tasks that do not necessarily lead directly to sales success, but are nevertheless necessary. In order to keep an eye on these, you cannot simply define sales as the only unidimensional target criterion.
If this then fails to materialize, you often find yourself looking into questioning faces and there are few ideas as to where this development is coming from and what can be done about it. For this reason, you should set up a KPI system that measures your performance in all areas both quantitatively (sales, average discounts, contract quotas, etc.) and qualitatively (number of customer visits, customer satisfaction, appearances at trade fairs, etc.).
Consider these 7 elements of a successful after-sales sales strategy to sell your services more successfully. The distribution of your services should be designed to suit both your customers and your own company structure.
