Ever wondered how to go after bigger fish?
Katie Lewis is a Corporate Account Representative for one of our partners, TechSmith. I asked her to share a few tips and tricks when selling larger volume licenses. I found the answers she gave me were so insightful I felt I had to share them with you.
So Katie, the floor is yours.
“I’ve found that I just have to determine if my customer is purchasing based on price point alone, or if they are an actual user and aware of and interested in the benefits of the software itself. Based on that, my selling technique is very different.
Across the board though, I think our customers appreciate the fact that we are not a hard selling company and centered around excellent customer service. I think my best “tips and trick” with customers is the tone I use.
I touch base with any open opportunities at least once a week as a gentle reminder and not a hard sell. I drive home to them that I am here to answer any questions they might have.
I present myself as more of an “account management” / “customer advocate” than a sales person and I think higher volume corporations tend to appreciate that. They don’t want to be sold too; they want to make a choice on what software application is best for their budget and needs. It’s been a really successful technique for me thus far.
I think the key is to make the customer feel like I’m looking out for their best interest and truthfully, I genuinely am. “Up-selling” a customer to maintenance is really doing them a favor because in the end, they usually end up coming back needing more licenses and if they have maintenance, they can purchase those additional licenses at a reduced cost.
Being able to follow through on that makes the customer happy and want to do more business with me because I have done what I said I was going to, and it was easy for the customer.
Another way I bring more revenue in is by always offering the Bundle to customers that just ask for Camtasia Studio. I tell them the difference in price between the two and what they’d get for just $5.00 more per user (or whatever the price difference is).
I also let them know that I’d be happy to change the quote to Camtasia Studio only if that is what they prefer but I wanted to be sure they were at least informed of what options are out there. That way, I’m doing the work for them and it really is their choice what they go for. They hopefully don’t feel like they’re being pressured into buying more.
I hope this is helpful. It’s tough because I really never say the same thing over to any customer. Each e-mail is crafted to fit the conversations we’ve had in the past.”
Thank you so much for sharing your inside techniques, tips and secrets Katie!
A few great points to take away from Katie’s excellent tips:
- Segment the clients based on their needs
- Do not force the sale
- Follow up on the clients
- Position yourself as “Help” not “Sales”
- Create more value for the client by offering additional products
- Personal communication
I sure hope I will have a chance of chatting more with Katie and share her knowledge.
You may reprint or distribute this article as long as you leave the content and this information intact. This Article was written by Peter Gillberg and published at http://softwaremarketingsecrets.com
Great info indeed. I run a small software company myself and guess I can implement few of these tricks right away.
Thanks,
Deepak Arora
http://www.MyImBlog.com