Breakthrough Solutions for Selling Technology Products & Services

Breakthrough Solutions for Selling Technology Products & Services Bonocore Technology Partners, LLC Joseph J. Bonocore President & CEO jbonocore@bonocore.com www.bonocore.com 415-924-9992 Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Joe Bonocore-Background • Chairman & CEO, Eclipse Networks • Partner & National Industry Director, Telecommunications Industry, KPMG • President & CEO, NYNEX DPI • Managing Partner, Coopers & Lybrand Consulting • Manager, General Electric Company, Aerospace & Defense Division Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

The Mission for our Services • Assist clients in improving their sales organizations by implementing breakthrough thinking based on “first hand” sales experience in selling technology products & services. • Objective is to help clients get results: • Increase revenue • Reduce customer churn • Gain new clients • Train sales staff to be more effective Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

WHY BTP • Staff with average of over 20 years of experience (services; software; telecom; outsourcing etc.) • Managed tech companies; • Managed technology sales organizations; and • Sold technology products & services • Interviewed hundreds of companies after proposal “wins” and “losses” • Prepared to stay through implementation. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Do you need our services? Are you satisfied with: • The “hit rate” on your proposals; • The teamwork of your staff in the selling process; • The cross-selling rate and turnover rate of your present customer/client base; • The number and quality of your referral business; and • The quality of your proposals and (Are they custom or primarily “boilerplate”?). If you are satisfied with all of these items then you may not need our services. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Do you need our services? Can your Management Team answer these questions? • Who are your target prospects? What do they do? What job titles do they hold? What markets are they in? • How will your products and services help your target prospects? How will their lives be different after they work with you? • What are the quantified impacts (dollars, percentages or timeframes) that have been produced by your company’s products or services for your customers? If your staff can answer these questions accurately, you may not need our services ! Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Lessons Learned Our specialists have over 20 years experience in managing technology companies, sales organizations and selling technology products & services. We have made the mistakes and learned from them. Over the years, we have interviewed hundreds of companies after both wins and losses and received feed back on both good proposals and bad. Following are a few of the lessons learned. In the execution of our services, we bring these lessons and others to our clients with practical ideas on how to implement them in the “real world” to help increase sales and reduce customer turnover. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Lesson Learn #1 • Sales organization that sell technology need to be more strategically focused: One of the most effective improvements that can be made is to get the organization right. A technology sale is a complex sale which usually involves multiple people in the your organization and multiple in the company where you are selling your product/service. The skills necessary to close a technology sale include organization skills, personalskills, technology skills etc. We find that, in many cases, our clients do not have the complete skills assigned to many of these complex selling assignments to close the deals they are after. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Lesson Learned #2 • The company selling technology must recognize that there is a difference between account management and relationship management and relationship management is winning more deals. Relationship management is a much more personal and integrated activity within a technology company where other members of the team are directly involved in the selling process. It is also very important that the organization that sets and monitors goals and that the goals are shared by the team.. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Lesson Learned #3 • Effective use of tools: It is very important to take advantage of the right tools to manage the selling process since the sale of technology products and services is usually very sophisticated and the process is usually over a long time period. This complex selling process usually results in multiple people being involved and a number of steps being taken for a successful sale. Tools can be very important and can determine the difference between a “win” or a “loss”. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Lesson Learned #4 • One effective tool in the selling process which is generally overlooked by many is the proposal. Our research indicates that in many cases, the winner is usually the company that presents the most custom proposal that outlines the problem & fits the need the best . That is, the proposal does not assume that the customer needs the product or service and prices it but, instead, the proposal discovers the need and tailors the product or service to the customers/clients need. • Standard proposals do not win. ; Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Other Lessons Learned There are other lessons learned such as those related to sales force training. Some that come to mind include: • Only discuss price with a customer/client when it is relative to the value of your product or service; and • The importance of customer/client referrals as a sales tool. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Breakthrough Solutions for Selling Tech Products & Services • Sales Organization Diagnostic • Selling Technology Products & Services Training Course • Target Account Planning Sessions Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Sales Organization Diagnostic • Sales Organization Diagnostic:BTP reviews the sales organization based on our experience and gives the company works with the management to develop an action plan for improvement. • Organization/Goal Setting/ etc. • Key Target Planning & Execution • New Client/Customer Acquisition Process & Execution / Proposal Effectiveness/ Referrals/ etc. • Present Client/Customer Relationship Effectiveness/ Cross-selling/Reduction of Turnover/Pricing Opportunities • Strategy & Improvement Plan Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Selling Technology Products & Services Training Course • Selling Technology Products & Services Training Course:Increase sales & profits by implementing new & innovative ways of selling & customer interaction- Client Management • Type of Service: 2 Day Training Program • Instruction includes: Introduction & Course Goal Setting; Present Selling Approaches in Companies Today; Difference between Strategic Selling & Traditional Selling; Relationship Management Building Blocks; Simplifying the Selling Process by using Tools; Three Individual Company Exercises in Relationship Management; Course Wrap-Up Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Target Account Planning Sessions • Target Account Planning Sessions: Assist your team in developing the account plans for your target companies in a two day session. • Each of the two-day Strategic Selling meetings are a joint effort between your team & Bonocore Technology Partners to analyze the target account's business needs, challenges, goals, objectives, and strategies, as well as the key players involved in the decision-making process. • We then group into teams to assess the competitor's vulnerabilities and strengths and begin planning an attack. Finally, the group develops strategies to scenarios and detailed action plan to pursue the sale. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Summary • Technology products & services are complex sales and the changing environment requires breakthrough changes in the sales organization to be successful. • A diagnostic review, a two- day training session, or selected key target review sessions would be some cost effective alternative ways to begin the process of change. Breakthrough Thinking That Delivers Results

Breakthrough Solutions for Selling Technology Products & Services