One of the most important aspects of strategic selling is maximizing your recurring revenue potential. This means building a strong installation base of customers who are likely to buy from you again and again.
There are several benefits to maximizing your install base as a technology sales professional. When you have many satisfied customers, you can be more selective about the new customers you choose to work with.
The most effective recurring revenue model starts with your existing customers. In a customer survey, Gartner found that 65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers; and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one.
You also have a larger pool of potential referral sources, and those customers are more likely to return for future purchases.
Additionally, a large installation base can help you win larger deals and contracts, as decision-makers are more likely to trust your company if you have a proven track record. Overall, there are many benefits to maximizing your install base.
Here are a few tips on how you can increase your install base and grow your annuity revenue:
1) Establish a long-term vision for the future of your business.
This means thinking beyond the initial sale and considering what you could do to grow your customers’ business. It also means looking at opportunities to upsell additional products or services that might benefit them further down the road.
Use this opportunity to craft a narrative for your own business.
2) Prioritize strong partnerships.
These are relationships that will help you to grow your customer's business, as well as give you access to new opportunities that could benefit both parties. For example, if you're selling a product to an automotive manufacturer, look for ways you can add value for them if they add your product to their upcoming models.
You could even investigate offering complementary products or services that would work in tandem with the OEM product to provide a more complete solution.
3) Build and manage customer relationships at scale.
It's not just about the initial sale; you want the customer to buy from you again and again.
Take the time to build relationships with each of your customers.
4) Identify opportunities through quality data.
It's vital that you're collecting and analyzing the right metrics in order to make data-driven decisions about how to market, sell, and continually develop products. This is especially true if you work in technology sales. Data integrity is unrivaled when it comes to accurately identifying important OEM performance metrics, such as penetration rate or account attrition.
5) Ask for referrals.
The best salespeople leverage their network to generate new business leads.
Remember, not every new lead will turn into a sale, but if you keep asking your customers for new leads over time, it can help you grow your pipeline.
Even if your customer isn't immediately in need of a solution, they may know someone else that is. It never hurts to ask.
What if you've implemented all these strategies but still don't see the results you want?
If you've done all the above and you're still not getting the results you want, it's time to take a deeper look at your sales approach.
The OEM market is extremely competitive, so if you want to stand out, you need to have the right tools that complement your strategic selling system, such as an annuity management PaaS.