[2022] Winter is coming! Maximize deal closure during recession by improving your technical sales cycle

Are we headed for a recession in 2022?

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Yes, most probably. The Conference Board released the survey of 750 C-suite executives on June 17, with 60% expecting a recession within the next 12 to 18 months.

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We know you're preoccupied managing your team in the steady economic downfall especially post pandemic. Majority of respondents said that “they expect a recession in their primary region of operations before the end of 2023 or earlier,” while 15% said that “their region is already in recession.”

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That's why this 3-min read is worth your time.

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Investing in technical sales process can reduce or reverse the impact of economic pressures and build a resilient environment to foster growth in the long term.

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Leveraging suitable digital investments will break away successful players from the rest of the crowd.

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Beat Recession by Investing in Technical Sales Cycle

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1) Reduce funnel noise

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SDRs (Sales Development Reps) and AEs (Account Execs) can help bring you leads. But lead qualification is not enough. In the B2B space during a recession, selling comes at an ulterior price when you don't find the right leads. It would help if you analyzed them for purchase intent and more.

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Introducing PreSales and Technical Sales Engineer early in your sales funnel will allow you to filter out prospects that are not a technical fit.

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During a recession, organizations don't spend less; they spend smartly. Your PreSales teams must sync with sales teams to prioritize high-intent prospects so that you don't waste time or team resources on unfit opportunities.

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During recession,

a) Few buyers and a decrease in hiring lead to fewer resources at hand.

b) Prospects buy selectively, are more aware, and spend cautiously.

c) You must be willing to provide more value for the same deal.

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And to overcome this particular challenge, "PreSkale has built an intuitive product for all relevant teams to collaborate and supercharge sales teams. Features like success matrix, product gaps, and other data-driven enablers can help teams perform better." — Sathya, General Partner at BoldCap

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PreSkale is a precision tool built for PreSales teams to

1) Identify best-fit prospects

2) Measure the skill-based performance of your technical sales engineers to exercise effective resource allocation, and

3) Accelerate product conviction to drive sales conversions.

Learn more about PreSkale.

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2) Reduce client-business operation costs by adding automation to your offerings (solution stack)

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Find and collect avenues for automation while designing products / solutions for your prospects. A business win may not come easy with a steep economic downfall. But a technical win is entirely in your hands. And that's the most impactful driver in closing the deal.

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It would be best if you delivered out-of-the-box solutions. It's not a nice-to-have attribute anymore, and your solutions must be extraordinary, efficient, and sustainable for the near future.

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Build automation in your product, focusing on productivity and efficiency as initial drivers, enabling prospects to improve the volume of executable work.

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As infrastructure automation matures, cost optimization will emerge as a key output. It's equally essential to save costs to help your prospects drive revenue.

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How to improve your technical win rate? And decrease costs

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3) Invest in employee & customer experience

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Enable your technical sales engineers by giving them access to the right tools and processes to better understand the market and your customers. A hammer won't cut a tree, but an ax would.

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As a result, employees will strive to build healthy relations with the clientele and produce consistent results.

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According to a study by Forbes, one out of every four consumers is willing to pay up to 10% more for a product or service if they are confident they will receive excellent customer service.

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Customers are more likely to gain from your company if the employee cares about their comfort and prior experiences. As Damon Richards famously said, "Your customer does not care how much you know until they know how much you care."

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PreSkale empowers your technical sales engineers to leverage product-market insights to build well-connected rapport with your prospects. Going one step ahead, PreSkale also helps you identify winning practices to produce consistent revenue numbers at scale.

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Delve into an Engaging Approach to Customer Experience & Loyalty

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4) Invest in customer-retention

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Customer retention is vital. Consider the research by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company (the creator of the net promoter score), which demonstrates that improving your customer retention by 5% boosts earnings by 25% to 95%.

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Most firms overlook customer retention as an asset since they are preoccupied with churning out leads and acquiring customers. However, focusing on retention should not imply abandoning the former.

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Although new and old customers are crucial, you generate more revenue from the latter. According to a recent poll by SAS and Loyalty 360, existing customers account for 60% of sales rather than new ones.

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Key points to keep your retention journey going:

1) Don't rush / ignore your existing customers

2) Deliver quality over speed

3) Ask your PreSales team to check in quarterly

4) Demonstrate credibility

5) Have loyalty programs in place