Changing the Way You Sell HaaS and Financing
Ultimately, adopting an As-A-Service or subscription model will change your business for the better, but there is more to making the change than building out the offering.
Once you are ready to get started, implementing HaaS requires a change to your sales team selling method. In Part 1 of this discussion, we focused on best practices for implementing HaaS in your integration business.
Without a doubt, adjusting your sales tools and approach is not always easy. Just as we have seen integrators successfully make the transition to a monthly payment offering for their technology solutions, we have also seen some integrators fail a few times before getting it right.
Here are 4 mistakes that are hurting your XaaS sales approach:
Mistake 1: Only Providing Monthly Payment Options When Asked
The first mistake many make in their HaaS sales is to only provide monthly payment when asked. Not only are they not leading with an As-A-Service solution, they are not even giving an option unless the customer specifically asks for one.
Your customer should not be the first to broach this subject, and many times if they don’t ask, it’s probably because they don’t know you can offer one. Therefore, it is critical to make your rental program part of the discussion early on. After all, you are the trusted advisor.
Mistake 2: Negotiating on Interest Rate
The second mistake is to enter into any kind of interest rate negotiations. It is no secret that choosing to finance something is more expensive dollar for dollar than cutting a check. However, in the long run financing is many times the better choice.
There are several benefits for your clients with financing that will more than make up for the additional cost of an interest rate. A few examples of those benefits include:
- investing their cash into other areas of their business,
- protecting against obsolete equipment, and
- maintaining a predictable payment.
As a result, it’s best to focus on the perks and leave interest rate negotiations out of the picture.
Mistake 3: Providing Too Many HaaS and Financing Options
The third mistake is providing too many consumption options.
As the expert and advisor, you should know what is best for them and narrow down the choices, as opposed to presenting a buffet and leaving the purchasing decision to them. Not only is this confusing to the customer, but it slows down the process and sale as well.
A general best practice is to only make one suggestion.
You can always keep the alternative in your pocket as backup. It won’t always be HaaS and financing for every customer, but the most important thing is you have done the homework and research and should gain a clear understanding if that certain enough to present them one solution.
Mistake 4: Waiting to Talk About HaaS
The fourth and final mistake is waiting until the end of the sales motion to discuss your As-A-Service program. By this point it is often too late. The customer is too far down the path and already assuming they will pay cash. Instead, if you do a great discovery and incorporate the right questions, you’ll be positioning a monthly payment as an option along the way, and have enough information to make a proposal that they’ll want to say “yes” to!
This blog entry is based upon an article from our partners at GreatAmerica Financial.
Read the full story here: What Works and What Doesn’t in Your HaaS Approach
Learn more about the Q360 integration with GreatAmerica Financial:
GreatAmerica and Solutions360 Integration Offers Integrators Easy-to-Quote Financing Options
