You know the old song: times are a-changin.
One of the biggest shifts in work in the past 20 years has been the need for some plan around adoption of technology. Time was that IT were the weird dudes in the corner you only talked to about resetting passwords and whatnot. Now IT drives a lot of business, and there are so, so many vocabulary issues around that. IT tends to think in terms of “sprints” and “scrums” and “stand-ups” and “backlogs” and “bugs,” and most other departments don’t use these words — but when they have an issue, they need to know what these words mean or that issue ain’t getting fixed.
The other place this gets pretty messy is on the IT sales agent side. You selling software? In Germany? (Or anywhere?) What should you be thinking about?
How this usually works in less-than-functional companies
Someone in the high-middle portion of the change has identified a problem.
There is a belief that technology can solve this problem.
A bunch of vendors rush in — IT sales agents! — pitching their solution.
Usually the executives of specific departments make the decision, often without consulting anyone who will have to use the software all day.
The rate of adoption is thus slow and software becomes “shelfware.”
You, as an IT sales agent, doesn’t get the renewal boost. “Oh, that didn’t work out,” they tell you.
In reality you had no shot because the system is such a wreck.
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How the IT sales agent process works in better companies
They only go in for software they absolutely know they need after research and talking to their front-line employees.
They do research online and have questions ready.
A few vendors get invited in for demos and discussions.
They make a decision based on logical factors and talking with the people who need to use it every day.
It becomes a successful part of their operations.
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How do you bridge the gap between less-than-good and good companies to sell more?
Well, you need to understand the most effective sales process.
But if you’re doing IT sales agent work in Germany, consider some of these quick hits for success:
- Have a website that clearly states what your product does and the value it brings; eliminate the buzzwords and BS so that the buyer can do legitimate research
- Work on relationship-building but realize that relationship selling does NOT scale; you need a value-based approach
- Get a good cadence of emails and phone calls going (we help with that)
- Know the technical specs of your product/service but also know use cases where it’s provided great value for other, similar-type companies/
- Lean on successful previous sales as referrals; in the DACH market, buyers will talk to peers for more information on potential purchases
- Be customer-centric (this should go without saying)
Ultimately, you are trying to be clear and value-based so that any clutter or confusion around their internal processes can be resolved. They might know exactly what they want and it might be a hastily-driven process, but your poise and context and value is going to show them they need your solution.
Selling IT and SaaS can be challenging because, unfortunately, a lot of companies do fall into that first bucket — and rush into a buying process without knowing exactly what they want, so you can feel like you’re getting jerked around on the sales side. No worries. Take a deep breath. If you work the steps and trust the process, you’ll get there.
Or just give us a call/shout and we’ll help you with establishing those predictable revenue streams. Take a look at the German Sales Machine we use for our clients.
