Oh, the highs and lows of your company growth. There’s nothing like the high after your sales team closes a big sale. After the deal is done, the papers are signed, and the deposit has been made; the celebration commences. Yeah for the sales team!

But six months later, the client is questioning the decision, unhappy with implementation, and not sure they will renew the services or agreement for another year. What could possibly have gone wrong? It might be because your tour team is not equipped for the sale after the sale.

If you sell a product or service that involves implementation, adoption, and use from team members not involved in the decision to select you and your solution, the second sale is as important as the first.

Include the “second sale” puzzle piece in your complete implementation plan:

• Equip your implementation team, trainers, and tech support team to “sell” –influence and connect the solution to the benefits of whom they are working with. Customer service and support is part sales. Achieving buy-in for the second sale is the goal. Too often the implementation team and “trainers” focus on what the user should do and how they should do it. They are not equipped to explain the why and What’s in it for Them.
• Involve key internal users and stakeholders as early at the client company as possible.
• Communicate with a focus on What’s in it for Them. Tie the benefits they can expect to receive into all your messaging.
• Plan for reinforcement and check-ins. Whenever a change is implemented, it’s not a once-and-done message. Reinforcement of the why, what, and how plus opportunities to ask/answer questions are important.
• Find the early adopters and solicit their help in sharing benefits and helping others get on board.
• Look for quick successes to show ROI and build on early wins. Consider staggering or “dripping” the training for users when possible so they can master actions and feel good about their usage.
• Build ongoing feedback into your end-user contacts. Knowing what they think and feel about the solution will be important to use in the renewal meetings and ongoing upselling and support efforts.
• Identify the process and timing for asking for references and referrals from the account. Consciously building your approach to seeking permission and connections to grow your business is a key strategy for sales growth.

We’ve worked with several technical teams over the years helping them to build the skills necessary for collaborative selling and consulting. During implementation-whether it was a technical solution, engineering services, or architecture planning-their ability to identify ongoing trends, challenges, the “pulse’ of the account, and additional opportunities was necessary to keep the business from the competition and set the stage for expansion.

When planning your “go to market” strategy and sales process. Don’t forget the important “second sale.” Your entire company’s long-term growth and profitability relies on it.

A big thanks to Jay Gentle, VP of Sales at Workwise Software for the inspiration for this topic. If you haven’t checked out their OnContact CRM, you should!

Want help with getting your team focused on what you do for your clients so they can make their sales, coaching, and service conversations relevant and productive?

Schedule a 30-minute no-obligation call with Nancy Bleeke www.calendly.com/nancybleeke

How do you strengthen this "Will" among your sales associates? How does the lack of drive impact your daily life? I discussed this and so much more on a recent virtual training event you can access below. It's valuable information for any business leader who needs to maximize performance of their people to grow their company.

Click here to access the replay.