Selling managed services is unlike selling anything else in the technology industry. It’s a journey that the salesperson needs to take with their customer, which are typically much longer than the traditional product sales motion, and require specialized skills. Based on recent TSIA research, we were able to get a closer look at the types of roles engaged in managed services sales motions within the industry’s top companies. While the majority of companies we surveyed allow their general sales team to sell managed services, recent trends are showing that some are building a dedicated sales team within their organization, which has yielded some interesting results.
Using TSIA Data to Get the Facts on Managed Services
I have the privilege of leading the managed services discipline here at TSIA, which gives me the opportunity to work with hundreds of managed services providers worldwide to solve their top business challenges. Time and again, the primary challenge I find myself talking about with our members is about selling managed services. Something I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of subjectivity and opinion-based decision making happening in regards to managed services, which can lead businesses down the wrong path on their journey to success.
At TSIA, our approach is to draw fact-based conclusions about current trends and best practices, which we do through benchmarking and in-depth studies. To address the challenge of managed services sales, we used the combined data of our Managed Services Benchmark, the Technology and Services 50 from Q3 of 2015, and results from our recently conducted Managed Services Sales Compensation Study to learn how 50 of the technology industry’s top companies are handling the sale of managed services within their organization. Based on the results, we were able to identify several different roles that are engaged in these sales motions.
(Click image to enlarge.)
While different companies use different versions of each one of these roles in their operation, which is best? To determine this, we’d have to look at the managed services sales model the majority of our survey respondents are currently using.
General Account Manager
More than half of the managed services providers we’ve benchmarked, 56%, use their general sales team to sell and to close the managed services deals. The primary role of the general account manager is to drive new net sales, but they also sell all products and services, have overall revenue responsibility for each account, and typically have an established sales quota for products and services. Here’s what their sales closure rate for managed services looks like compared to overall current market growth rates.
(Click image to enlarge.)
You can see that hardware is growing at -10.5%, or rather it’s eroding, as we’ve already established based on recent industry trends. Software has flattened, and services is experiencing some growth, but it is very minor. However, we see that when general sales people sell managed services, they have a 17% growth rate. This number compared to the others looks stellar, and it is, but I call this the “false positive” effect, which you will see when compared to other roles responsible for selling managed services, particularly a dedicated managed services development manager.
Managed Services Business Development Manager
Companies that use a sales model that utilizes a business development management team, whether they’re the only ones engaging in the selling motions for managed services or they work closely with general sales and take lead on related opportunities, have a drastically different revenue growth rate.
(Click image to enlarge.)
24% of the companies we benchmarked use this model, and there’s a significantly higher growth rate, more than double, for managed services total recurring revenue compared to companies that use general sales.
While your general sales team is perfectly capable of effectively selling managed services, the data clearly shows that building specialized skills and resources to sell managed services is something you really need to strongly consider.
For a more detailed comparison between general sales and other roles responsible for selling managed services, be sure to check out my on-demand webinar, “How to Sell Managed Services Successfully.” In this 30-minute session, I go into more detail on these roles, including their average base pay as well as the skills needed to effectively sell managed services. Who is responsible for selling managed services within your company? Let me know in the comments!
24% of the companies we benchmarked use this model, and there’s a significantly higher growth rate, more than double, for managed services total recurring revenue compared to companies that use general sales.
While your general sales team is perfectly capable of effectively selling managed services, the data clearly shows that building specialized skills and resources to sell managed services is something you really need to strongly consider.
For a more detailed comparison between general sales and other roles responsible for selling managed services, be sure to check out my on-demand webinar, “How to Sell Managed Services Successfully.” In this 30-minute session, I go into more detail on these roles, including their average base pay as well as the skills needed to effectively sell managed services. Who is responsible for selling managed services within your company? Let me know in the comments!