Notes from the Sales Breakout Sessions

8 Takeaways from the Sales Presentations at DWC

 

 

Among the standout presentations at DWC were two sales sessions. One session demonstrated the benefits of effectively using data and software. The other taught us how to fuel the funnel to grow pull-through revenue. Here are the eight key takeaways from these sessions that you can implement to enhance your sales processes and boost revenue.

1. Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Understanding your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is crucial for focusing your sales efforts on the most valuable customers. An ICP helps ensure that your sales resources are directed toward customers who provide the most benefit and profitability.

Key Points:

• ICP Definition: Your perfect customer who benefits the most from your service and adds the most value to your portfolio.
• Efficiency: Selling contracts that maximize profit per labor hour is critical, especially with limited technician resources.
• Control: Defining your ICP helps maintain control over your sales funnel, ensuring that your efforts are directed toward the most lucrative opportunities.

2. Take Control of the Sales Funnel

Avoiding a scattered approach to sales is essential for maximizing efficiency and profitability. By maintaining control over the sales process, you can ensure that your efforts are focused and productive.

Key Points:

• Avoid Inefficiency: Unfocused efforts can lead to suboptimal contracts.
• Maintain Control: Ensure your sales process is efficient and directed toward high-value customers.

3. Leverage Technology with ServiceTrade and SalesManager

Leveraging technology is key to enhancing your sales processes. Tools like ServiceTrade and SalesManager offer comprehensive features to manage leads, track key performance indicators, and convert leads into customers seamlessly.

ServiceTrade and SalesManager Features:

• Lead Management: Upload ICP leads and categorize them based on potential profitability.
• Customer View: Detailed views of customer interactions and history.
• Pricing and Proposals: Create customized proposals with precise pricing based on labor hours and margins.
• E-signature Capabilities: Streamline the contract signing process with digital signatures.

Practical Demonstrations:

• Lead Page View: Logging KPIs and converting leads to customers.
• Customer View: Quick access to customer details and job setups.
• Proposal Creation: Using custom templates for maintenance agreements and inspections.
• Job Setup: Detailed walkthroughs of setting up jobs, uploading asset lists, and managing pricing.

4. Apply the Challenger Method to Win Business

The Challenger Method involves educating prospects, tailoring solutions to their needs, and maintaining control over the sales process. This method helps in winning new business by providing value and addressing specific customer pain points.

Steps:

• Teach: Educate prospects about the benefits of your maintenance or inspection programs.
• Tailor: Customize your proposals to address specific customer pain points and needs.
• Take Control: Show prospects how your technology-enabled services provide superior outcomes and keep them informed throughout the process.

5. Create a Technology-Enabled Premium Program

Creating a technology-enabled premium program, akin to Amazon’s Prime, involves planned maintenance contracts that reduce expensive labor use and generate predictable revenue. This strategy helps in offering value to customers while ensuring efficiency.

Key Steps:

• Offer Inspection/Maintenance Plans: Establish agreements that result in recurring revenue.
• Document Benefits: Clearly outline what clients can expect from your service level agreements.
• Use Innovative Technologies: Leverage technology to deliver and scale these agreements efficiently.

6. Optimize Each Stage of the Sales Funnel

Optimizing each stage of the sales funnel is essential for driving revenue. This involves increasing the quantity and quality of leads, enhancing conversion rates, and improving deal close rates.

Leads:

• Quantity and Quality: Increase the number and improve the quality of your leads. More leads and better leads mean more opportunities down the line.

Opportunities:

• Conversion Rate and Value: Focus on increasing the conversion rate of leads to opportunities and enhancing the value of each opportunity. This can be achieved by gathering the right information from your leads and thinking strategically about what to include in your opportunities.

Deals:

• Close Rate and Value: Improve the close rate of your deals by deploying strategies that increase your win rate. More closed deals and higher value deals directly boost your revenue.

7. Proactive Contracting and Pull-Through Work Rate

Proactive contracting involves identifying and acting on additional revenue opportunities during jobs. The pull-through work rate measures how many of your jobs you proactively suggest to customers, focusing on high-margin and predictable revenue sources.

Pull-Through Work Rate Calculation:

• Total proactive jobs (repairs, replacements, installs recommended during fieldwork) divided by all jobs.

Being a proactive contractor means focusing on high-margin and predictable revenue sources like recurring services and pull-through work, rather than reactive service calls. This strategy minimizes operational disruptions and maximizes technician productivity.

8. Implement Incremental Improvements

Starting small can lead to significant improvements. Focusing on one variable at a time and making incremental improvements across multiple variables can result in exponential revenue growth.

Incremental Improvements:

• Focus on improving one variable at a time. For example, increasing the quantity of deficiencies from 100 to 150 can lead to a 50% revenue growth if all other variables remain constant.

Comprehensive Optimization:

• Improving multiple variables across the funnel stages can result in exponential revenue growth. For instance, increasing the quality of deficiencies and the quote acceptance rate can quadruple your sales.

Bonus: Sales Training Resources from James Graening

James Graening is a seasoned commercial services sales trainer. You can find his free resources here.

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As proactive contractors, leveraging tools like ServiceTrade can help you amplify your pull-through revenue. By continuously optimizing each stage of the funnel and implementing practical steps and strategies, you can achieve significant revenue growth. Remember to know your numbers, benchmark your performance against peers, and set incremental improvement goals to strive for top performance in your industry.

For further insights and personalized guidance, consider booking an Account Health Review with your ServiceTrade Account Manager. Let’s work together to fuel the funnel and drive your business to new heights!