Commercial Integrator September 2021 - 18

SMB INSIGHT
Why You Need to Change the Way You Sell
to SMB Customers
Your engagement with SMB customers need to be continuous, less focused on transactions
and more focused on their success. by Zachary Comeau
ACCORDING TO PANELISTS during a
recent CompTIA webinar, some technology
vendors like managed service providers are
either doing a very good job at servicing the
SMB market or are falling woefully short.
Hannah O'Donnell, director of sales at
Collabrance, and Ryan Morris, principal
consultant for Morris Management Partners,
both said the events of the last year
have been telling.
The pandemic forced small businesses
to adopt new technologies, but many still
feel like they're on an island and aren't
being engaged by expert technologists to
provide those services.
" There's a majority of the market that is
unfortunately not really being supported at
all, " Morris said.
" I've talked to hundreds of people who
run small businesses in many industries, and
their answer is, 'I feel like I'm on an island.
I've never heard of that technology. I don't
know how to get that information. I don't
even know where to start.' "
That is why educating your customer on
new technologies that can help them is so
important, O'Donnell said.
" I feel like the MSPs and vendors that are
doing that, educating their customers and
getting them the information they need are
the ones that are having those customers
that are sticking around and really thriving, "
O'Donnell said.
A Continuous Form of Engagement
If the only time you talk with your customer
is when you initially sell them technology,
you need to reconsider how you engage
with them. To help you think about this,
consider using the LAER sales method. The
acronym stands for Land, Adopt, Expand
and Renew.
According to Morris, under this model,
service providers not only land a new customer
and sell them technology, but they
see it through the entire lifecycle, making
18
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses in the country closed as they could no
longer pay the bills, making it difficult for AV integrators to continue to service that
market with no guarantee of any meaningful financial return.
sure the technology is adopted correctly,
helping the customer expand it across
the operation and eventually leading to a
renewal of those services.
This also goes back to how salespeople
are paid.
" We pay people to get 100 leads to get
15 meetings to find 10 opportunities and
close five deals, Morris said. " But do we
pay our people to go back and say, 'Is it
working for you? That thing I sold you -
are you using it successfully? Is it actually
changing your business outcomes?' If you
don't pay them to do it, they won't. "
One piece of technology we've all
grown accustomed to over the last year is
videoconferencing, which allows for this
continuous engagement with customers.
" What video allows you to do is it allows
the customer to see you, know you and
trust you, " O'Donnell says.
After a video call with a customer, watch
the recording of the call to better understand
the questions and concerns your customers
have so you're prepared to answer
them next time you speak.
Commercial Integrator SEPTEMBER 2021
Listen and Focus on Your
Customers' Success
Technologists tend to get caught up in
selling their solutions and telling potential
customers about the technical details and
how they can benefit their business, but
that only works if you truly understand your
customers' needs, O'Donnell says.
" Listening and asking those questions
are the biggest piece when you think about
your sales process, " she said.
Now, simply selling and delivering that
technology should never be the final piece
of the puzzle. In fact, that should be just
the beginning. When evaluating customer
success, you should make sure that the
customer is actually achieving a better
outcome using what you sold them versus
where they would be if they hadn't spent
money on your services or solutions.
" Are you actually measuring customer
success? Because if you're not, you're just
hoping that next time it comes around,
they're going to say, 'It was good enough
and I'll buy from you again,' " Morris said.
" Good enough is not good enough. "
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Commercial Integrator September 2021

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