Six sales skills MSPs need for successful selling in 2022
The MSP sales process has experienced some serious disruption over the past couple of years as a result of the pandemic, and as we make our way through this fifth wave, it is still unclear how much more we will all have to endure. But your MSP business still needs to grow—and to grow, you need sales, so what are the top sales skills your team needs to generate success in 2022?
Six sales skills every MSP salesperson requires for successful selling in 2022:
1. A keen understanding of who you are selling to
As an MSP, your business is all about the technology—and you understand technology really well. But remember, your target audience is not always tech savvy. They know they need it to run their business, but when it comes to what to implement, why they need it, how to manage it, or how to fix it when it’s broken, they need you.
However, if you speak to your prospect using technical jargon, you will lose them. Instead, you want to change the conversation and educate them on how proper technology management will help them meet their organizational goals and objectives and the benefits they will gain from working with you. To do this, you will need to do your research.
Review your prospect’s website to find out what they do and what they are involved in. Research the person you are trying to connect with: What is their background? What is their role at the company? Can you identify any common interests or topics you can use to help build rapport? Gather insight on how their industry and organization is performing so you can connect with them on their level.
2. A strong business acumen
Successful sales representatives have really good business acumen. They understand that the sales process is not a product sale. They are not selling features like monitoring, remote control, AV, or backup. Rather, successful sales reps are focused on selling outcomes. They focus on conducting quality discovery and needs analysis with their prospects and structuring the flow of the conversation to get a better understanding of what is impeding their revenue growth and profitability objectives. Once they have that knowledge, they can introduce solutions that can help close the chasm.
3. An understanding that the sales journey has changed
In the past, the Glengarry Glenn Ross approach of “always be closing” was seen as the ideal sales model. Then it shifted towards an emphasis on demand-gen marketing and digital marketing, which has been a positive move—especially during the course of this pandemic. As a result of this shift towards digital marketing, there is an overabundance of information prospects have access to, thus creating a more educated and highly qualified buyer.
This degree of access to information can be a double-edge sword. Sales reps need to evolve to what Gartner has termed, “information curators,” which means that instead of inundating prospects with information about only their products and services, they strive to help them define their business challenges and then focus on how to help solve those challenges.
While digital marketing is incredibly important, too much information can potentially be misleading or conflicting to prospects as they conduct their online research So the sales effort needs to shift to education and helping them distill all of this knowledge and put it into perspective so it makes more sense and works to alleviate their struggles.
4. Prioritizing the account management function
More of an emphasis needs to be placed on account management and leveraging existing client relationships to help fill the pipeline. Many MSPs are too focused on generating new leads and winning new clients, which could be a detriment to their existing ones. By focusing on key account management activities—like implementing regular and ongoing executive business reviews—that work to strengthen the overall customer relationship, new sales opportunities will naturally emerge that benefit the pipeline and prevent unexpected customer churn.
5. Proper objection handling management
When I was in sales, whenever a new product was released, I made it a habit to learn all I could about it. I would even go so far as to create product manuals for myself containing all of the significant features and benefits. Once completed, I would create call scripts for myself, outlining my preferred structure, along with summaries of possible objections I could anticipate hearing from partners and how I would respond to each.
I then made it a priority to schedule time in my day to practice and rehearse my call flow and objection handling techniques, so I would appear thorough, knowledgeable, and, most importantly, natural. To assist with my objection management techniques, I jotted down several examples of other partners’ experiences around how our products benefited them and their customers, so my prospects could envision those same advantages for their MSP practice and customers. As a salesperson, it is critical to understand the ins and outs of the services your MSP provides, including its limitations, but it is equally as important to be able to share stories that show how your services are different and more effective in resolving your prospects’ business challenges than what others are offering.
6. Ability to articulate ROI
Having the ability to demonstrate ROI during the sales process is synonymous to an artist painting a picture to help tell a story. Selling managed services and security services is tricky because you can’t see, hold, or touch them, yet you need to convince business owners to buy in, enroll, and pay you a monthly fee for them. So how do you accomplish this? Tactics such as creating case studies centered on how your services have benefited other customers can help. Reviews from satisfied customers posted to your website, LinkedIn, or Google My Business profile can help, too. Also, leveraging an ROI calculator that helps illustrate the cost of one hour of downtime when a network performance or security incident occurs works well. Leverage industry reports and articles that chronical the exorbitant demands of hackers from recent ransomware breaches or that provide statistics outlining what a ransomware breach can cost an organization should they lack proper protection. Anything that will help bring a level of tangibility to the sales process will help elevate the seriousness of the discussion and bring credibility to your organization.
Although we are still in the midst of this pandemic, don’t allow it to obstruct your sales goals or hamper your sales success in 2022. Sales success really comes down to being tuned into the market, asking the right questions, and really listening to what your prospects and customers are saying so you can articulate how your MSP can help. Although we talk a lot about B2B marketing and B2B sales, at the center of it all is people—people who are experiencing problems and people who can help solve them.
Wishing you all the best in your sales and marketing endeavours in 2022!
Stefanie Hammond is head sales and marketing nerd at N‑able. You can follow her on LinkedIn and on Twitter at @sales_mktg_nerd.
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