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Digg it UP - How to Sell Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to Small and Medium Business (SMB) Clients
Can you articulate, in 20 words or less, what makes you uniquely valuable to potential employers? If you are shaking your head, you’re not alone. Most people struggle to express what makes them special. But, if you can’t quickly and clearly explain your value to potential employers, how can you expect them to see it?As a business person and a consumer, you understand the importance of product positioning. You’ve seen the sales impact of great positioning and you’ve seen what happens when a brand or product loses its way. Yet few job seekers realize the need to position themselves for the marketplace in the same way they would position a product.Who Are You?If you have ever gone through the process of developing a brand for a product or service, you will have a sense of the work involved in defining and articulating a brand message. You will also know that a brand message is not something you “create”, but rather something you discover. The product (in this case you) already exists. It already has strengths and weaknesses. Your goal when developing a brand is to find and articulate a clear and compelling message that resonates with the consumer (or in this case, with the employ
Show simplicity – Keep it simple. Don’t show 8 different approaches to a problem. Show only what you believe in is best for them. Be straight forward – Show how easily the ERP solution solves even the complex issues.
Answer “razor sharp” every time – When you get a question, answer “razor sharp” every time. Don’t say: “well it depends”. What kind of functionality do you have in mind? You are the master. You are the one bringing in the best practice show it.
You must be the expert – The preseller must have basic SAP knowledge – he must even be a standard expert. Don’t sell programming in the presale phase. You will not get the sale.
Demonstrate excellence – Show that you control the system – not the other way around.
7. Case study
Big consulting firm visit – A customer initially had a visit from a big consultancy firm. They did what they are good at: selling relative expensive
ERP solutions, typically in a consulting engagement. But this is wrong in the SMB business area; the cost for such a solution is far too high and that scares the SMB customers. We on the other hand can offer ERP, which is industry specific and can give the customer a cost effective solution that matches their business need 85% more.
Presale – simplicity. Keep the simple. Again and again you have to repeat that for yourself.
Dem
You’ve probably been to meetings where you wondered what you had ever done to deserve the tortures of sitting through a horrendous meeting. I have.Just recently I found myself committed to helping on a fund-raiser. I dutifully attended the meeting with a presentation offering nearly twenty creative ways to market the fund raising event. I was prepared for the meeting, but I wasn’t prepared for the chaos.The meeting seemed like a free-for-all and it went on and on. I began to think, “Why am I here,” and “How can I get out of here?” I gave everyone two sheets of paper containing my ideas and began addressing each one. I don’t think I made it past the first one, before the conversation was off on a different tangent. I had to keep dragging everyone back to the information at hand.When I left, I was not happy. I resolved to accomplish one of the ideas that could be done by me without anyone else’s help. I never attended any more meetings. My greatest triumph was in resisting the urge to scream, “Can’t you run a meeting better than this?”Since joining clubs in high school, I’ve known about Robert’s Rules of Order, which brings order to meetings and protects the rights of individual
Big competition –The SMB market is characterized by a lot of competitors, who are trying to be market leaders. The competition is tough and we have to fight hard to get a sale.e
Little earning – At the same time, it’s a market that gives us a little earning. It is very hard to drive a consultancy firm living only from the earning from small a midrange customer.
Decision making about 1 year. The decision making does not come overnight. You have to have patience and ensure awareness. You have to keep pushing the same winner buttons: branch specific, state of the art solution and low cost price.
? day to convince the customer. When the SMB customer wants to se you be sure that you are on immediately available. The SMB company doesn’t wait for you. You got typically ? day to get yet another invitation into the world of the SMB company and to get the sale.
This leads and trigger white lies – It’s a hard market and we all know that when we’re pushed enough we start to make our little white lies. So everybody without exception makes these white lies or conceals the truth.
2. The characteristics of the SMB customer
Hardworking – They work 24x7x52. They know more than anybody that success in the SMB market requires hard work
Humble – They have a very humble approach to the way of running business.
Proud – They have built their business and are proud of it and remember we are only invited into.
Simple minded – they just love simple solutions. Often they cannot afford the luxury of endless meeting to make decisions
They know the art of survival – They know more than anybody the art of survival. The must be flexible and continuously change according to their business environment
Their business is their life. Once I heard a sales man propose daily fines if we didn’t succeed in meeting the go life deadline in time. He didn’t understand that they were more concerned about surviving the implementation. An implementation drains the business for energy and if its fails it will kill the customer.
3. SMB customer’s perception
It’s legal to say that Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is not good – Even persons on the street seems to know. We’re working uphill right from the start.
Too big – It can be difficult to maintain the overview of ERP since there are too many functionalities and constant changes. However, it is necessary to understand what is available and how it can benefit them. On the other hand it takes the customer 5 min to ask for the very deepest functionalities the ERP system. I feel sorry for the other systems. They must give up much sooner.
You’re lost in the ERP system – Nobody seems to know what is going on, there are too many bad stories and you cannot control development.
Not user friendly – ERP much be repeated again and again. The new customers haven’t heard the good news. Too expensive – It is an old story. Now it is cost effective.
4. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Superior Industry specific ERP template – It no problem to stand up and say: I believe that this is the right solution for you dear customer. The king of functionalities – This is it, I’m still amazed when I make new discoveries. ERP covers the latest best practices and process need for a specific sub industry.
The best documented system – this is in fact a unique selling point. You will get all the support you can get – Some of my colleagues just have to learn to ask within our organization or ERP politely. Just ask politely and you will get the help.
Respect – Everybody respects the ERP system. We know and the customer knows that this is state of the art. Often it is chosen in the preliminary phase only as a reference system to ensure that the cheaper system is good enough.
You have to earn the trust – You don’t immediately have the customer’s trust. You have to earn it.
5. Presales issues
Do not only use salesman. You cannot sell an ERP system with PowerPoint presentations or CATT’s alone. The customer has met too many liars.
Trust – show the system. The customers want to see the system in action in detail! They want to see it before they can trust you.
Be honest so it hurts – You have to be very honest and that may hurts. Then the customer will trust you. The point is that you don’t have to lie. Remember that you have the best solution on the market in your hand.
Trust it. Show the pain points and challenges – Show that you know their business by indicating paint points and challenges that can be eased by using the system. Often they are amazing of the possibilities in the ERP system.
Emphasize template. Repeat again and again that this is a template and that the major decision already has been taken. We don’t need 1 year of analysis phase.
Narrow the scope down. Continue to control and focus on the scope to keep on narrowing it down.
Don’t make it bigger every time the customer has a question.
Fixed price – This shows the customer that you really believe in what you’re selling.
6. How do you present the system?
Trust – show the system, they need to see it working in real life.
Focus on enduser functions. When you show it, focus on enduser functionalities. Customers often have a perception that the system is very poor in this area. Even though you might think it is so simple, show it anyway. You get acceptance right away.
Start from scratch and build up the trust. Build a relationship of trust and a common ground of understanding from scratch.
Show simplicity – Keep it simple. Don’t show 8 different approaches to a problem. Show only what you believe in is best for them. Be straight forward – Show how easily the ERP solution solves even the complex issues.
Answer “razor sharp” every time – When you get a question, answer “razor sharp” every time. Don’t say: “well it depends”. What kind of functionality do you have in mind? You are the master. You are the one bringing in the best practice show it.
You must be the expert – The preseller must have basic SAP knowledge – he must even be a standard expert. Don’t sell programming in the presale phase. You will not get the sale.
Demonstrate excellence – Show that you control the system – not the other way around.
7. Case study
Big consulting firm visit – A customer initially had a visit from a big consultancy firm. They did what they are good at: selling relative expensive
ERP solutions, typically in a consulting engagement. But this is wrong in the SMB business area; the cost for such a solution is far too high and that scares the SMB customers. We on the other hand can offer ERP, which is industry specific and can give the customer a cost effective solution that matches their business need 85% more.
Presale – simplicity. Keep the simple. Again and again you have to repeat that for yourself.
Demo
Within the world of business, innovation and creativity have a lot in common with values. They both get a lot of positive talk. But no one walks the walk. Companies say they want good managers who put people first. But do their actions put feet on their words? Not in my experience! And not according to executive coach, Barb McEwen."In the last few years most companies have recognized the importance of documenting their values. Some have gone to great lengths in detailing what would be ideal behavior but it is still the rare company who has leaders who actually walk the talk."In the same way companies go to great lengths documenting how they want innovation. "We need innovation if we're to grow!" But their actions prove otherwise. The rewards systems reward anything but innovation. And instead of championing creativity, managers turn their backs on creative employees and their ideas.How often have you seen these scenarios?THE STEALER All of a sudden you get a great idea on how to improve the process. Then you see your boss looking at you and you know that your idea will never fly. That is, it will fly high - but not with YOUR wings.By steali
Simple minded – they just love simple solutions. Often they cannot afford the luxury of endless meeting to make decisions
They know the art of survival – They know more than anybody the art of survival. The must be flexible and continuously change according to their business environment
Their business is their life. Once I heard a sales man propose daily fines if we didn’t succeed in meeting the go life deadline in time. He didn’t understand that they were more concerned about surviving the implementation. An implementation drains the business for energy and if its fails it will kill the customer.
3. SMB customer’s perception
It’s legal to say that Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is not good – Even persons on the street seems to know. We’re working uphill right from the start.
Too big – It can be difficult to maintain the overview of ERP since there are too many functionalities and constant changes. However, it is necessary to understand what is available and how it can benefit them. On the other hand it takes the customer 5 min to ask for the very deepest functionalities the ERP system. I feel sorry for the other systems. They must give up much sooner.
You’re lost in the ERP system – Nobody seems to know what is going on, there are too many bad stories and you cannot control development.
Not user friendly – ERP much be repeated again and again. The new customers haven’t heard the good news. Too expensive – It is an old story. Now it is cost effective.
4. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Superior Industry specific ERP template – It no problem to stand up and say: I believe that this is the right solution for you dear customer. The king of functionalities – This is it, I’m still amazed when I make new discoveries. ERP covers the latest best practices and process need for a specific sub industry.
The best documented system – this is in fact a unique selling point. You will get all the support you can get – Some of my colleagues just have to learn to ask within our organization or ERP politely. Just ask politely and you will get the help.
Respect – Everybody respects the ERP system. We know and the customer knows that this is state of the art. Often it is chosen in the preliminary phase only as a reference system to ensure that the cheaper system is good enough.
You have to earn the trust – You don’t immediately have the customer’s trust. You have to earn it.
5. Presales issues
Do not only use salesman. You cannot sell an ERP system with PowerPoint presentations or CATT’s alone. The customer has met too many liars.
Trust – show the system. The customers want to see the system in action in detail! They want to see it before they can trust you.
Be honest so it hurts – You have to be very honest and that may hurts. Then the customer will trust you. The point is that you don’t have to lie. Remember that you have the best solution on the market in your hand.
Trust it. Show the pain points and challenges – Show that you know their business by indicating paint points and challenges that can be eased by using the system. Often they are amazing of the possibilities in the ERP system.
Emphasize template. Repeat again and again that this is a template and that the major decision already has been taken. We don’t need 1 year of analysis phase.
Narrow the scope down. Continue to control and focus on the scope to keep on narrowing it down.
Don’t make it bigger every time the customer has a question.
Fixed price – This shows the customer that you really believe in what you’re selling.
6. How do you present the system?
Trust – show the system, they need to see it working in real life.
Focus on enduser functions. When you show it, focus on enduser functionalities. Customers often have a perception that the system is very poor in this area. Even though you might think it is so simple, show it anyway. You get acceptance right away.
Start from scratch and build up the trust. Build a relationship of trust and a common ground of understanding from scratch.
Show simplicity – Keep it simple. Don’t show 8 different approaches to a problem. Show only what you believe in is best for them. Be straight forward – Show how easily the ERP solution solves even the complex issues.
Answer “razor sharp” every time – When you get a question, answer “razor sharp” every time. Don’t say: “well it depends”. What kind of functionality do you have in mind? You are the master. You are the one bringing in the best practice show it.
You must be the expert – The preseller must have basic SAP knowledge – he must even be a standard expert. Don’t sell programming in the presale phase. You will not get the sale.
Demonstrate excellence – Show that you control the system – not the other way around.
7. Case study
Big consulting firm visit – A customer initially had a visit from a big consultancy firm. They did what they are good at: selling relative expensive
ERP solutions, typically in a consulting engagement. But this is wrong in the SMB business area; the cost for such a solution is far too high and that scares the SMB customers. We on the other hand can offer ERP, which is industry specific and can give the customer a cost effective solution that matches their business need 85% more.
Presale – simplicity. Keep the simple. Again and again you have to repeat that for yourself.
Dem
Public relations for private schools is very important to make sure they have proper enrollment and can attract the best teachers and professors to their schools. There is another important reason to have community goodwill programs for private schools and that is the fact that many teachers unions will figure out ways to just ruin the credibility of a private school.What kind of public relations can private schools do? Well they can do all sorts of things including hosting spelling bees at their school and invite other public schools and private schools to participate. This shows how great the private schools are to produce great spelling students even thought they have so few students to draw from. Whether they win or lose is not as important as the public relations and community goodwill that is achieved by a hosting the event.Another great public relations strategy for private schools is to host fundraisers, silent auctions and incorporate these with theatrical performances and other events which highlight the schools work and achievement by students. This brings the community into the private school to have a look and therefore will promote future enrollments and word-of-mouth adv
Not user friendly – ERP much be repeated again and again. The new customers haven’t heard the good news. Too expensive – It is an old story. Now it is cost effective.
4. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Superior Industry specific ERP template – It no problem to stand up and say: I believe that this is the right solution for you dear customer. The king of functionalities – This is it, I’m still amazed when I make new discoveries. ERP covers the latest best practices and process need for a specific sub industry.
The best documented system – this is in fact a unique selling point. You will get all the support you can get – Some of my colleagues just have to learn to ask within our organization or ERP politely. Just ask politely and you will get the help.
Respect – Everybody respects the ERP system. We know and the customer knows that this is state of the art. Often it is chosen in the preliminary phase only as a reference system to ensure that the cheaper system is good enough.
You have to earn the trust – You don’t immediately have the customer’s trust. You have to earn it.
5. Presales issues
Do not only use salesman. You cannot sell an ERP system with PowerPoint presentations or CATT’s alone. The customer has met too many liars.
Trust – show the system. The customers want to see the system in action in detail! They want to see it before they can trust you.
Be honest so it hurts – You have to be very honest and that may hurts. Then the customer will trust you. The point is that you don’t have to lie. Remember that you have the best solution on the market in your hand.
Trust it. Show the pain points and challenges – Show that you know their business by indicating paint points and challenges that can be eased by using the system. Often they are amazing of the possibilities in the ERP system.
Emphasize template. Repeat again and again that this is a template and that the major decision already has been taken. We don’t need 1 year of analysis phase.
Narrow the scope down. Continue to control and focus on the scope to keep on narrowing it down.
Don’t make it bigger every time the customer has a question.
Fixed price – This shows the customer that you really believe in what you’re selling.
6. How do you present the system?
Trust – show the system, they need to see it working in real life.
Focus on enduser functions. When you show it, focus on enduser functionalities. Customers often have a perception that the system is very poor in this area. Even though you might think it is so simple, show it anyway. You get acceptance right away.
Start from scratch and build up the trust. Build a relationship of trust and a common ground of understanding from scratch.
Show simplicity – Keep it simple. Don’t show 8 different approaches to a problem. Show only what you believe in is best for them. Be straight forward – Show how easily the ERP solution solves even the complex issues.
Answer “razor sharp” every time – When you get a question, answer “razor sharp” every time. Don’t say: “well it depends”. What kind of functionality do you have in mind? You are the master. You are the one bringing in the best practice show it.
You must be the expert – The preseller must have basic SAP knowledge – he must even be a standard expert. Don’t sell programming in the presale phase. You will not get the sale.
Demonstrate excellence – Show that you control the system – not the other way around.
7. Case study
Big consulting firm visit – A customer initially had a visit from a big consultancy firm. They did what they are good at: selling relative expensive
ERP solutions, typically in a consulting engagement. But this is wrong in the SMB business area; the cost for such a solution is far too high and that scares the SMB customers. We on the other hand can offer ERP, which is industry specific and can give the customer a cost effective solution that matches their business need 85% more.
Presale – simplicity. Keep the simple. Again and again you have to repeat that for yourself.
Dem
Conventional wisdom says that the front of a direct mail postcard is for the picture and the back is for the address, stamp and a short message.But some savvy direct marketers design their postcards the other way around—and boost response rates as a result.The goal of the front of the postcard is to grab attention long enough to arouse curiosity and motivate your prospect to turn the card over and continue reading. But postcards are usually delivered with the back of the postcard showing, not the front. Check today’s mail. You’ll notice that the letter carrier delivered your mail with the address facing up (unless it fell through your mail slot in a random pile).The letter carrier reads the name and address for each piece of mail and, without turning them over, places them in your mail box. That means that the first thing your prospect sees of your postcard is the back, not the front. And you can take advantage of this fact.A graphic designer and marketing consultant from Denver, Colorado, wrote to me recently, explaining that her firm studied the way mail arrives. “Through my observations and research,” she says, “I have found that many, many more times than not, side B [the
Be honest so it hurts – You have to be very honest and that may hurts. Then the customer will trust you. The point is that you don’t have to lie. Remember that you have the best solution on the market in your hand.
Trust it. Show the pain points and challenges – Show that you know their business by indicating paint points and challenges that can be eased by using the system. Often they are amazing of the possibilities in the ERP system.
Emphasize template. Repeat again and again that this is a template and that the major decision already has been taken. We don’t need 1 year of analysis phase.
Narrow the scope down. Continue to control and focus on the scope to keep on narrowing it down.
Don’t make it bigger every time the customer has a question.
Fixed price – This shows the customer that you really believe in what you’re selling.
6. How do you present the system?
Trust – show the system, they need to see it working in real life.
Focus on enduser functions. When you show it, focus on enduser functionalities. Customers often have a perception that the system is very poor in this area. Even though you might think it is so simple, show it anyway. You get acceptance right away.
Start from scratch and build up the trust. Build a relationship of trust and a common ground of understanding from scratch.
Show simplicity – Keep it simple. Don’t show 8 different approaches to a problem. Show only what you believe in is best for them. Be straight forward – Show how easily the ERP solution solves even the complex issues.
Answer “razor sharp” every time – When you get a question, answer “razor sharp” every time. Don’t say: “well it depends”. What kind of functionality do you have in mind? You are the master. You are the one bringing in the best practice show it.
You must be the expert – The preseller must have basic SAP knowledge – he must even be a standard expert. Don’t sell programming in the presale phase. You will not get the sale.
Demonstrate excellence – Show that you control the system – not the other way around.
7. Case study
Big consulting firm visit – A customer initially had a visit from a big consultancy firm. They did what they are good at: selling relative expensive
ERP solutions, typically in a consulting engagement. But this is wrong in the SMB business area; the cost for such a solution is far too high and that scares the SMB customers. We on the other hand can offer ERP, which is industry specific and can give the customer a cost effective solution that matches their business need 85% more.
Presale – simplicity. Keep the simple. Again and again you have to repeat that for yourself.
Dem
Many trucking companies and industrial courier service providers do not enforce safe shipping practices, let alone train drivers to follow proper safety procedures. Lost or dropped shipments are some of the main problems in this trucking industry which are only compounded by damages incurred that can increase your costs as you wait for a replacement item to appear. If you are in the market for a new courier service company, the following unsafe practices are something you must be aware of to avoid trouble later on.Countless accidents on roadways have made the evening news, accidents which often involve a driver's load being dropped onto the street with extensive damage to freight, vehicles, and people being the end result of such mishaps. A quick survey of the news over the past year reveals the following types of accidents among those taking place:· Vehicles have caught fire on freeways simply from running over objects which were lying in the road· Precious and / or expensive [as well as hard to replace] cargo is damaged· Traffic tie-ups have occurred due to cargo being dropped on the roads while the driver manually loads everything back onto their decks· Most freight
Show simplicity – Keep it simple. Don’t show 8 different approaches to a problem. Show only what you believe in is best for them. Be straight forward – Show how easily the ERP solution solves even the complex issues.
Answer “razor sharp” every time – When you get a question, answer “razor sharp” every time. Don’t say: “well it depends”. What kind of functionality do you have in mind? You are the master. You are the one bringing in the best practice show it.
You must be the expert – The preseller must have basic SAP knowledge – he must even be a standard expert. Don’t sell programming in the presale phase. You will not get the sale.
Demonstrate excellence – Show that you control the system – not the other way around.
7. Case study
Big consulting firm visit – A customer initially had a visit from a big consultancy firm. They did what they are good at: selling relative expensive
ERP solutions, typically in a consulting engagement. But this is wrong in the SMB business area; the cost for such a solution is far too high and that scares the SMB customers. We on the other hand can offer ERP, which is industry specific and can give the customer a cost effective solution that matches their business need 85% more.
Presale – simplicity. Keep the simple. Again and again you have to repeat that for yourself.
Demo Think in core processes. When you prepare you demo. Don’t be tempted to use complex solutions. This is a game that makes the reality show like “Temptation Island” look like kindergarten. Go for the simple solution even though it doesn't fulfill your ambitions. The customer loves and understands simplicity.
Show whole core processes. Make them understand that you know the business. Show it all the way. They win – Then you win – a win win situation.
8. The Seven sins in the SMB market
1 ~ Lust – Sell a solution to their business issues, not a solution to your vision. Often the consultants and presales want to implement a solution just to be able to work with the new functionalities in the ERP system. That’s one of the reasons why ERP implementations are getting out of control
2 ~ Greed – Level you earning – friendship. Don’t sell a total solution from the start. Make a quick start. Be friends making longterm partnerships with the customer. Then you can make more money on the longterm.
3 ~ Gluttony – The “big” has enough money. When we work in the SMB area we don’t make special programming. We must use standard functionality and use it to the extreme.
4 ~ Pride – Don’t be arrogant. I heard lots of stories about, how we have lost sales not because of the system but because we act arrogant when we meet the customer. Why do we do it? We are good. Apparently we aren't good enough to be humble and respect the customer.
5 ~ Laziness – Hardworking consultants. When we work in the SMB area we must remember that this is not a place for making easy money. We have to work hard to succeed in the SMB area. – We have to be not only an SD consultant but a logistics consultant with FI/CO common knowledge.
6 ~ Anger –Lies are unnecessary you don’t have to lie. So stop. Be the trusted advisor all through the implementation and after sale time. Then you have a customer that trusts you.
7 ~ Envy – You have to show that you are worth you money. You have to be not only the consultant, but also the project manager and the change management consultant. In the end it makes the high wages of the ERP consultant justifiable for the customer. He gets value for money in driving his business. Not just a consultant that makes a system setting
For more information
To learn more about the IBM’s Serivces for Enterprise Resource Planning or any midmarket offerings, contact Henrik Scheel (Hscheel@ch.ibm.com) the Business Unit Executive for Services for Europe, Middle East and Asia for SMB.
The Sales Guide is result of intensive collaboration and sales exercise from IBM’s own SMB Sales force and our Value Added Resellers such as EDB Gruppens, SerCon, InSA and SAP Consulting Italy.
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