NAB 2010 is just around the corner and all the signs point to an upturn in media and broadcast technology spending. Surveys by industry groups and thought leaders consistently predict that 2010 will be much better than the previous two years.
For example, sixty-five percent of International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers (IABM) members responding to a survey predict that 2010 will be a better year for broadcast and media technology sales than 2009. Only six-percent felt otherwise.
So? Are you ready?
Your prospective customers are starting to spend, but their approach is different. Buying decisions are no longer made based solely on technical performance. They want products and services that can help them control costs, generate revenue, reach new markets, distribute to new platforms or a hundred other strategic business reasons that may have little to do with raw technology.
As a result, more customer executives from new levels and new departments are involved in the decision chain. Higher-level, bottom-line focused executives are more involved in technology decisions.
Often this means placing a lower value on the engineering and operations executives that previously were the first prospect contacts and placing higher value on senior level business executives who own the problem your solution solves or the opportunity your solution presents.
They want to do business with trusted partners not vendors.
They are looking for “problem solvers” not “suppliers.”
Successful media technology sales teams help potential customers identify, quantify and prioritize business problems – even ones they may not recognize or fully appreciate. Sales people must look beyond raw technical features; instead focusing on finding prospects who understand and value the bottom line business benefit your hardware, software, systems or services deliver.
Even though buyers are beginning to spend for new and delayed projects, the marketplace is still struggling. Competition for client budget and projects will be more heated than ever before. To win, your sales team must be able to:
- Quickly identify the most promising opportunities;
- Discover and articulate business problems to technical and non-technical executives;
- Navigate and unite a wider variety of customer constituencies;
- Collaborate with the prospect to design cost-effective, value-added solutions;
- Compel belief that action is less risky than inaction; and
- Secure the opportunity
We can help if your sales and sales management team need a refresher course in basic sales skills. But, more likely your sales people and managers know the basics. Our research and experience show that most broadcast and media technology sales teams lack the higher-level communication, collaboration, organization and execution skills required to deliver consistent world-class results.
That’s where Sales Performance Associates and Media Technology Sales Conditioning™ can really help.
Sales Performance Associates helps media technology companies achieve sustainable, repeatable and predictable revenue growth by improving sales and marketing processes, methods and execution. Our Media Technology Sales Conditioning™ methodology helps clients identify more and better sales opportunities; improve the size, qualification and velocity of their pipeline; enhance sales forecast accuracy; win more competitive opportunities; grow business within existing accounts and boost revenue.
Over 25 successful years of media technology sales and sales management experience gives us a jump start on your sales challenges. We know the marketplace, the players and your prospects’ buying drivers. We know the trends, technologies and business goals that make today’s broadcast and media technology sales environment so dynamic and challenging.
We combine that broadcast and media industry expertise with a first-hand knowledge of sales methods and tactics successfully used by world-class companies in other industries facing similar complex technology selling environments.
Sales Performance Associates is very different from other sales consulting firms. We do not deliver once-and-done, drive-by sales training which provides only short-term value that quickly fades.
Our media technology sales conditioning programs are so successful because we begin with a top-down assessment of your complete sales, sales management and tactical marketing situation. We gather your senior management team – not just salespeople – for a facilitated discussion that brings out all the issues affecting your sales – good and bad. Then we deliver a customized plan that prioritizes the least risky, most rewarding actions first. Our program outlines the realistic changes you can make and a timeframe to reach the goal. In addition to workshops and training – we schedule recurrent training to boost adoption, on-line on-demand coaching and support to help you win the deals you can’t afford to lose.
Jim Cundiff is Managing Partner of Sales Performance Associates LLC. The firm delivers sales and marketing conditioning tactics, methods and services to help media technology (broadcasting, new media, IPTV, and digital signage) create and win more business. He is the former VP of Sales and Marketing at BASYS Automation (acquired by Avid Technology), Associated Press Broadcast Technology – as well as other media technology companies. He can be reached via email at jcundiff (@) sales-perform (dot) com or by telephone at [+1] 404-492-6093.
