staffing world 2009 final

Solution Sales for IT Staffing

Presented By:Dan Fisher

Managing Director

Your gross profit margins are a direct reflection of the value you deliver to your

customers

www.menemshagroup.com | [email protected]

Agenda

Introductions : Menemsha GroupSolution Sales: What it is and what it is notThe two buckets: How you sell is how you differentiateBecome a client “SME”Pre-Call Planning & Intelligent PositioningCreating and Diagnosing “Pain Points”Impact QuestioningProposing Solutions: Sell Results not SkillsCase Studies-How To Sell A ConsultantExpanding our Footprint


Company Background 14 years sales and sales leadership

experience IT staffing, consulting and enterprise

software $45K Weekly Gross profit $$ One-on-one Sales Coaching & Mentoring

& Sales Training Workshops

Authored proprietary sales methodology-IT Staffing Sales Plan (AKA..MenemshaMethodology) Field-tested and proven 110% money-back guarantee http://www.menemshagroup.com

Content Channel Partners


Solution Sales

What solution sales is NOT

Don’t lead with your product or service

Don’t sell features and benefits

What solution sales is

No “pain” no sale

Seek out business problems & projects, not job orders

Diagnose before you prescribe

Identify, Understand, Co-create


How You Sell is How You Differentiate – Two Buckets!

Low

Val

ue

Hig

h

HR/Staffing/Commodity IT Solutions

Provider Bucket

Perceived Customer Valuewww.menemshagroup.com | [email protected]

HR/Staffing/Commodity “Bucket”

Staffing heritage: Administrative/clerical/Light Industrial

We sound too “staffy”

Industry buzzwords

Walking brochure

Highly transactional, low value


IT Solutions Provider “Bucket”

Your service offering is not unique

Don’t sell your screening or recruiting process

Talk the language of your prospects

Talk like a “true” consulting firm


Become a Client “SME” Understand their goals & objectives Understand their strategy Understand their critical business issues

How? Pre-Call Planning: 10 K Statement-Risk Factors Slide Presentations (investor conferences) Annual Reports Attend client webinars Industry trade publications Call functional business line managers and

individual contributors Press Releases Industry publications, business/financial

magazines

Meaningful Business Dialogue

It’s more than “checking in”

It’s not asking “do you have any needs?”

Exchanging dialogue with your customers about their goals and objectives….

Why is it important?

You can’t sell a “solution” without meaningful business dialogue

It’s critical to gaining credibility and building trust


Pre-Call Planning & Intelligent Positioning

10-K Statement-Risk Factors

We Must Finance and Integrate Acquired Businesses Wisely

A Shortage of Qualified Labor Could Negatively Impact our Business and Materially Reduce Earnings

Technology Dependence Could have a Material Negative Impact on our Business Our ability to decrease costs and increase profits,

as well as our ability to serve customers most effectively, depends on the reliability of our technology network.

The key to gaining credibility and building trust is by demonstrating you understand your customers business and asking intelligent questions.


http://www.sysco.com/home.html

Pre-Call Planning & Intelligent Positioning

ortune Magazine-May 27, 2009 Veggie Tales:

Sysco has also saved money by revamping its truck routes. It also is trying to get all its units to coordinate by moving to an SAP software platform, which

hould take a few more years to complete. “

Sysco's supply-chain logistics are especially complex because a single jar of caviar can't be handled the same way as a box of frozen onion rings or an 80-pound tub of flour. That rules out most off-the-shelf inventory

anagement software. So Sysco uses customized tech tools to crank out a logistical plan every day and then execute it”



Intelligent Positioning & Lead-In Questionsample conversation starters (from 10K Statement)

I read in your 10-K statement that a key to your growth strategy is through acquisitions and critical to your success is the smooth integration of the acquired company(s). When you do acquire a company, what are the top challenges you face from a technology integration standpoint and how are you addressing them?”

I also read (or through my research) in your annual report that your ability to decrease costs and increase profits, largely depends on the reliability of your technology network. What are some of the key challenges and initiatives you’re addressing today regarding the reliability of your technology network?”



Creating & Diagnosing “pain”Follow-up diagnostic questions “Please explain further” “What other details can you share with me or can you share an example?” “How long has this been the case?” “Why do you think this is happening?” “What has been done to fix this” “Did that work?” “Have you given up trying to fix this?”


Consequences/Impact QuestioningHow much “pain” is the customer in? “What is this costing you both in hard and soft dollars?” “How does this affect you personally?” “Who else internally and externally is this problem affecting and how?”

Assuming the pain is significant, let’s test their commitment to fixing the problem Are you committed to fixing this problem? Who else beside yourself would be involved fixing this, and are they committed to solving this problem?” “What would it cost if things stayed the same?”


Solution Positioning Questions

Words of Caution:6. Don’t offer a solution to early in the process7. Don’t offer to do anything (write a proposal, submit a resume, etc)

Gather more intelligence to best position your offering “In the best-case scenario, how would you solve this problem?” “What do you see as the ideal solution?” “Why is it important to you to achieve that goal?”


Solution Positioning QuestionsConclude the conversation by: Restating and confirming the customers business issues and The impact the issues are having on the company and The personal impact the issue(s) is having on your prospect as well as The customer’s ideal solution

Finally, be sure to ask…. “Is there anything that I have overlooked?” “Who else would be involved in making the decision to move this forward?” “How soon would you like to get started” “What do you see as the next step?” or “What if I could show you a way to achieve

that?”


Proposing A Solution: Selling Results (Not Skills or Experience)Now you must tie your solution to the customer’s stated goals anddemonstrate how your solution creates value.

To accomplish this you must:

Demonstrate that your solution (consultant or project team) has solved the same technical/functional issue(s) for other customers

Has enabled other customers to achieve the same or similar business results your customer is seeking


Sample Case Study-How To Sell A ConsultantA good case study should contain the following components:

l Business Overview (client company): State name of the client, what they do and what their primary business objective is. This should be two or three sentences long.

l Technical Challenge: Clearly articulate exactly what the technical challenge(s) is the client is experiencing and asked you to solve, and how it is preventing them from achieving their business objective. This may be a short paragraph long.

l Your Solution: Clearly articulate the work your consultant or project team is doing and how they approached and solved the customers technical challenge. This may be a short paragraph long.

l Results (Business Value): Articulate what the client is able to do today that they couldn’t do before you solved this problem. State the business benefits the customer is getting from achieving their business objective. For maximum impact, use quantifiable numbers (cost savings, increased revenue, etc)


Expanding our footprint within existing accountsLeverage consultants on billing

Financially incent them to drive new business

Collaborate with them to Build org charts Identify new projects and decision makers

Call on functional business line managers Sales, Marketing, manufacturing, etc..

Understand the SDLC Cross sell off the SDLC-all phases

Project Tracker


Contact Menemsha Group

Dan Fisher, Managing Director

(888) 553 [email protected]


staffing world 2009 final

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