4 Tips to Sell Value-Added Services

Ready for a harsh truth?

Your hardware and software alone won’t make clients value you as a long-term technology advisor. After all, clients can get similar technology products and services from most of your competitors.

What will make clients choose you over other companies are the bundles you offer, your unique experience and knowledge, and the value you can bring to their business.

If you offer services that help them become more profitable and productive, they’ll need you so much that they’ll never want to stop working with you!

So, keep reading, and you’ll learn 4 strategies you can use to build value and differentiate yourself from the competition.

1. Base your solutions on client pain points.

Prepare your sales presentation to lead with value. Do your homework first, and find out what problems your services would be solving for your clients. The more you can tailor the pitch to each individual client, the more relatable your sales pitch is, the more deals you’ll be able to close.

Consider what about a client’s technology is slowing down their business growth. Then, ask yourself this question: Can I show the client how they can use technology to overcome their problems and become more profitable?

If you can, you’ll be well on your way to building a long-term business relationship with the client. That’s because clients want to work with technology solutions providers who take a consultative approach, and understand how to apply technology solutions to the real business problems they face every day.

Pro tip: Arm your sales people with a FAQ document that addresses common problems clients have and outlines simple solutions. Offering this information in a sales presentation sets the stage to position your service bundles as the comprehensive problem-solver for a client’s problems.

2. Train your team to uncover client pain points.

If your sales presentation focuses solely on the features of your products and services, you’re missing a big opportunity to differentiate your business from your competitors.

Try this approach instead: actively listen to each client as they discuss the specific problems at their business. Uncover what technological impediment is holding them back from achieving their goals. Then, position your services as a way for the client to overcome those pain points, and the client will be much more likely to buy from you.

3. Prepare yourself for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Making big changes to a business can be scary, so it’s easy to understand why clients may feel hesitant about getting on board with new services, like moving to the cloud. In the case of the cloud, you should confidently inform them of how secure the cloud is, and reiterate all the ways it can solve problems and benefit their business.

If you find it difficult to inform clients of why they need the cloud, take advantage of vendor information. For example, companies like Microsoft can equip you with the information you need about their cloud to get your clients to buy in.

Here are some of the business benefits you can mention to position the cloud properly:

• Business agility
• Reduced capital expenditure
• Scalability

4. Drive customer lifetime value.

You need to sell your services to clients as long-term solutions if you want to build a lasting business relationships with them.

Remember, your sales presentation should evolve as your clients’ needs evolve. Whether you’re working with a dedicated sales professional, or are handling this portion of your business by yourself, use the information about your prospects’ and clients’ challenges to position your products and services as solutions to those problems.

And don’t forget to use tips from your successful vendors and peers to improve your sales presentations. If their approach has been proven to work, you might as well take advantage of it!