Who doesn’t love a delicious steak? (Ok, beyond millennial vegans.) And when you’re thinking about a steak, do you think about the sound of it hitting the styrofoam packaging, or what it looks like inside your fridge? No. You think about it hitting the grill: the sear, the smoke, the sizzle. And that’s what sells it.
For CPQ software vendors targeting the manufacturing industry, that’s what sells, too. Don’t sell the steak — the features: proposal templates, a cloud catalog of products, sales reporting, CRM integration — as much as you sell the sizzle: ROI, increased revenue, brand building.
It’s all about outcomes
The traditional business technology sales follows a template: problem, solution, results. You find a prospect with a business challenge, and demonstrate how your technology addresses that challenge, and turn a prospect into a customer.
But that’s not enough in manufacturing (or really anywhere anymore): whether you’re a vendor selling CPQ software, or CRM systems, or even plain old office supplies, the fact is @@if you’re in B2B sales, you need to sell the outcome@@ of your product or service. It’s not about simply solving the problem in front of you: it’s about improving the entire business.
In terms of selling the outcome, CPQ solutions practically sell themselves as every feature points to a business goal. Proposal automation? Faster closing times. Customized templates? Increased brand equity. Centralized product catalog? More revenue through better upsells and targeted pricing.
Why the manufacturing industry is different
Many people think of manufacturing as some dinosaur industry, one where technology sales are an uphill climb: after all, some manufacturers literally make bricks and mortar.
But we see something different. We see an industry that’s always hungry (sell that sizzle!) for new tech, an industry that remains in the top 10 global vertical markets, an industry guaranteed to never go away.
Yes, it employs fewer people than it once did, but output is up: why? TECHNOLOGY. And isn’t that both contradictory and ironic.
Most people think manufacturing is old school and on the decline because of employment stats. But the reason for those stats is that manufacturing is new school, always looking for and using new tech, from the discovery of raw materials to the delivery of finished products.
And for CPQ software vendors and other business tech companies, this means there’s always an opening to sell into manufacturing. E.g., “Why just drive efficiencies on the assembly line? Drive efficiencies in the sales process, too, by automating with configure price quote solution as part of your process.” Just remember to stay focused on selling that sizzle!
If you'd like to learn more about this topic or see iQuoteXpress for yourself with a free demo, contact us.
