Becoming A Cloud Practitioner: A New Way To Think About Sales

By Laura Stewart, Contributing Writer, Tech Data’s Authority magazine

Type the word “practitioner” into your Google search engine, and you’ll come up with the following definition: A person actively engaged in an art, discipline or profession. Merriam-Webster takes it one step further describing this person as one “who regularly does an activity that requires skill or practice.”

Most of us associate the term practitioner exclusively with medical professionals. Perhaps it’s because we’re creatures of habit—or maybe we just don’t see ourselves as more than the title behind our name. Be it “sales representative,” “solutions consultant” or even “cloud specialist,” our title can sometimes define us, or at least attempt to. But what if you flipped the sales paradigm to reveal a different angle—to consider yourself more of an artful, skilled, outcome-driven practitioner of the cloud? 

During a recent cloud solutions presentation, Carlos Nouche, vice president of Visualize, a company focused on providing a value-focused sales framework, used a compelling metaphor that struck a chord. He likened the methodology of medical diagnosis to that of sales.

“What if your doctor approached your health concerns like a typical sales person would?” he asked. “What if he said, ‘So your knee’s hurting you? Fantastic. I’m doing a great job with knees these days. I’ve got a 98% approval rate and, by the way, if you buy before the end of the quarter, I’ll give you twenty percent off. What do you say?”

If you’re feeling uncomfortable with the scenario, you’re not alone. But why would this set most of us on edge? Doctors are experts, right? They know what they’re doing; they’ve studied. Why not trust them to have all the answers? It may seem obvious that a doctor can’t possibly know how to diagnose a problem and suggest a solution without asking questions, right? Not so with sales—but it should be.

A good doctor will start by asking questions in order to diagnose your problem. They’ll want to hear about your lifestyle and history, as much as understand your recent challenges and pain points. A good doctor will probably have done some homework if they know you’re coming in for a visit.

What if we approached selling cloud services this way? Could it help us break down barriers and build relationships? Absolutely. Here are some simple ways to get started.

Assess the Opportunity

You might be the foremost expert on cloud solutions in your area, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to instinctively know the right outcome for any given customer. Prospects may expect—or at least hope—that you can give them a quick and easy answer, but don’t get caught in this trap.

“Take the time to ask the right questions,” Nouche says. “If the customer doesn’t allow you to go through this process—to get to know them—then recognize that you don’t have a qualified deal.”

Plus, asking the right questions will differentiate you as a qualified consultant, build trust and help you discern the right outcome for your customer.

“Lack of differentiation very seldom indicates poor product functionality or service limitations,” Nouche explains. “It usually means we failed to find out what was important about our unique capabilities in relation to the customer’s business.”

Create a Sense of Urgency

Don’t try to diagnose everything at one time. Instead, think like a practitioner—look for the biggest pain points and find the urgency. Sell them the “must have” not the “nice to have” because that is what will cause them to make a change.

 “Whatever it is, you have to find it in order to understand how to sell them a solution,” Nouche says. “Know your client, find the sense of urgency and then differentiate yourself.”

Differentiate with Service

The market is shifting toward service: consulting, selecting, deployment, optimization, education, support and management. You—and your sales staff—need to embrace and understand how to sell and manage these services because that’s where the big opportunity is.

“You can assess and recommend, even outsource the IT,” Nouche explains. “There are all sorts of options. This is the way that you can compete with your bigger competitors.”

Margins in product are small. Not so with service. Leverage service offerings as a part of your outcome package. It’s a value-add and a differentiator.

Become the Trusted Advisor

Remember that building trust starts before you ever make contact with the customer. Think like a practitioner. Research, assess, diagnose and prove that you are interested in providing the right outcome to meet their needs. You won’t just be selling something, you’ll be selling the right thing for their company—including the service they need to leverage cloud solutions.

This article is used with permission from Tech Data’s Authority magazine: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/28de1aa2#/28de1aa2/22