When my colleague Lalit Mohan Chandra Bhatt shared the title of this article on LinkedIn, “Cures Sell Themselves, Prevention Takes Persuasion,” he captured a fundamental selling truth in the B2B world. I couldn’t get the statement out of my mind because a large and growing number of service products are preventative, and he talked about a selling truth.
I was sure that these services were not being presented in a way that would encourage buyers to sign up for them.
How Should Service Marketers Present Prevention and Cure Products: a Selling Truth?
Let’s use an example for each type of service.
- The message regarding cure services like parts and on-site repairs is straightforward: Downtime is the enemy, and we offer a premium service contract that guarantees an on-site response within two hours, with all required parts in the technician’s van. If we can’t fix the issue within three hours, we will credit the retail value of the service call to your next contract renewal. This offer practically sells itself.
- On the other hand, prevention products like operator and maintenance training and remote monitoring require a different, more persuasive approach. A great way to prevent downtime is our PM contract. At regular intervals, a technician will perform preventative maintenance on your machines. We’ll inspect for signs of mechanical wear, evaluate component and sub-assembly performance, and replace worn parts with new or rebuilt genuine spare parts. However, it requires a more persuasive sales approach.
One proven technique is to describe the harmful outcomes of not buying what you are selling. Do not use the customer as an example; use someone else the customer cares about. This could be a fellow employee in a similar position or someone who reports to a manager with a short temper. Here is an example:
You might say, “You know that eventually, all products fail, and the failure may cause a long downtime. Suppose the new machine in the prototype lab failed and was down for two days. How would Mary feel when the VP of Engineering starts climbing all over her because he has a critical status meeting with the CEO and will have to report that he will miss a scheduled milestone? It could be ugly. Something similar can happen to you unless you take every possible step to minimize the likelihood of a major downtime event.”
Why Service Professionals Who Sell Services Must be Trained
Service professionals directly or indirectly sell a large percentage of services. This is because they spend more time with customers than any other group in the business, but they have never been trained in the art of selling.
The high-level customer problem is the likelihood of failure. When a failure is likely to occur, the restoral time and the out-of-pocket cost of each downtime event are unpredictable.
When most service salespeople talk with customers about contracts and other service options, they have a few reasons for the conversation. This list is ordered with the most essential reason first:
- They want their customers to extract as much value as possible from your product for as long as possible; minimizing downtime is the best way.
- Their company wants them to sell services.
- They make money whenever they sell a service.
Other people in the organization may have different priorities. Still, in my experience, over 90% of service people try to sell service products because they believe it is in the customer’s best interest to be covered. That’s why most end users consider their service engineer a trusted adviser. While they are trained in providing great service, they are not trained in the selling truths and techniques required to be professional salespeople.
OEMs that sell to end users should sell aftermarket services for the first reason listed above. Each aftermarket sale yields a short-term benefit while you are in business for the long haul. Customers who extract high levels of value from their products do three things that help the OEM achieve their long-term goals:
- They have continued using the product and have bought aftermarket services from you for many years.
- They buy up-sell and cross-sell offers.
- They recommend your products to their friends and associates.
As I told my customers, my job is to make you a success, and I focus all my efforts on achieving that objective. All OEMs should ensure that their distribution channels internalize this message.
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Sam Klaidman is the founder and principal adviser at Middlesex Consulting. He helps his B2B product manufacturing clients grow their service revenue and profitability by applying the methodologies and techniques associated with Customer Value Creation and Customer Experience professions to assist his clients in designing and commercializing new services and the associated business transformations. Contact Sam here.
Image credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay