Most software sales people
focus on their goal of getting the order – and this is simply insufficient in
today’s SaaS world.
Promises are made, then
forgotten. Post-sale, customers are turned over to the vendor’s professional
services team for implementation (or expected to implement on their own), after
which the professional services folks move on to the next implementation
effort. And when it comes time for a renewal discussion, sales people
feel like they have to sell the whole offering all over again…!
Why? Because most
software vendors suffer from two major problems:
- Poor
communication from sales/presales to professional services/implementation
to customer success teams (if a customer success function exists at all at
the vendor).
- No
discussion of a Value Realization Event with the customer.
What’s a Value Realization
Event? Very simply, it is the first time the customer begins to get value
from the software. Not the full ROI, just one “turn of the crank”
– a small victory that the champion/sponsor/buying team can announce internally
that says, “It’s working and we are now getting value from our investment.”
Sadly, very few software
vendors discuss Value Realization Events with their customers. Those that
do, however, are telling their customers that they care about the customer’s
success using the offering – and these vendors correspondingly
differentiate from their competition.
But wait – there’s more…!
The vendors that do this best
– and really set themselves apart – uncover and discuss Value Realization
Events in Discovery and show those capabilities/outputs in their demos.
Those vendors also ensure to
define Value Realization Events for each customer and communicate
this information from sales/presales to professional
services/implementation to customer success teams. That way, everyone on
the vendor side knows what the customer needs to achieve to gain value from the
purchase as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Is there more? Yes
indeed!
When it is time to discuss
renewals, which customer is most likely to say, “Yes, please, I’d like to renew
and expand my license…”?
Customer 1, who was left
alone once the PO was sent to the vendor?
Customer 2, who was left
alone once “go live” was achieved?
Or Customer 3, who was
assisted through implementation, guided through “go live”, and carefully tracked
through their Value Realization event(s)?
What do you think?
