Key Insights
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While many organizations have transitioned from hardware-based data storage systems to cloud services, cloud adoption is still at its early stage
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It puts immense pressure on cloud salespeople to make a successful pitch
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Selling cloud solutions requires a definite change in how you approach your prospects who are looking for service providers
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You must emphasize the value to the business and not the underlying technology
When speaking with enterprise buyers about cloud solutions, you may have faced the same set of questions, repeatedly. Questions about compliances, security risks, and guarantees.
Those involved in selling cloud-based solutions faced numerous barriers.
In fact, the odds are stacked against them with only 18% of B2B buyers viewing salespeople as their trusted advisors.
If your buyers don’t believe in you, it would be a mammoth task for you to sell cloud solutions.
But more and more enterprises are opening up to the idea of introducing cloud software to their environments.
In such a scenario, you must proactively anticipate their concerns and address them. If you don’t, then you end up losing high-paying and reliable enterprise customers to your competitors.
So, you have got your work cut out for you when it comes to selling cloud computing services.
In this blog, we break down the best tips that will help you deliver results, from gaining a larger foothold in the companies out there or simply expanding your footprints in your existing accounts.
What are Cloud-based Solutions?
Cloud-based solutions are any applications that can be accessed with an Internet connection through a provider’s shared cloud computing framework.
On a pay-for-use basis, enterprises can get access to as many resources as they require such as storage space, software, networks, and other on-demand services.
Consequently, you have three types of cloud-based systems at your disposal:
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IaaS- Infrastructure-as-a-Service allows enterprises to rent storage, networks, virtual machines, and other resources from a cloud service provider
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PaaS- Platform-as-a-Service provides companies with a “space” to build, deliver, test, and manage various apps. The goal is to help such organizations to focus on software development and not the underlying infrastructure
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SaaS- Software-as-a-Service refers to the delivery of cloud-based solutions. In this case, cloud providers host the app as well as the infrastructure
6 Effective Strategies for Selling Cloud Solutions
With the COVID-19 pandemic, digital business transformation has entered a more urgency-driven phase.
The sudden shutdown of offices, educational institutions, and enterprises has increased the demand for cloud-based solutions and services.
The cloud landscape is continually evolving. According to a report by Research and Markets, the global cloud computing market size is expected to grow from $371.4 billion in 2020 to $832.1 billion by 2025.
Sales organizations that make the necessary adjustments to successfully navigate through will benefit from the ability to capitalize on the growing market opportunities.
Let’s walk through some of the most effective tips for selling cloud-based solutions.
1. Start Small
Start with helping your prospects choose applications that are right for them and deliver the value they are seeking in the short term.
This is especially important if you are dealing with an enterprise that has no prior experience in cloud implementation.
For organizations not born in the cloud, the decision to bring off-premises technologies into the fold can throw up some challenges.
Most enterprises, at this stage, can run into an overdrive– establishing business cases, scoping the project, and formulating the approach– leading to the cloud program tumbling down.
When selling cloud-based solutions to such enterprises, identify and address any implementation-related challenges. Once your prospect starts seeing value in the investment, it becomes easier for them to ramp up.
2. Know the Language that Your Lead Follows
Technology can be confusing to understand.
Shifting your messaging and working is the key to selling cloud services to small businesses.
If you assume your lead doesn’t know much about technology, you might come off as condescending. Your lead might also get lost in your jargon and feel overwhelmed or confused.
Making a successful pitch will be incomplete without listening to your leads. Find out more about the cloud services that they are currently using. Know more about how they manage their data. Ask a few questions and listen intently.
This way you will get to know where they are, and you can start using their language.
This will also make your sales pitch more conversational and authentic, allowing you to connect with your prospects on a deeper level.
3. Position Yourself as the Innovation Partner
Enterprises have many trust issues with those selling cloud-based solutions. This is why it is crucial that you showcase your innovative side and how your offerings are a mark above the rest.
Your prospect wants to get a hold over the state of cloud adoption. Helping drive innovation requires approaching your clients and prospects with an empathetic understanding of the entire landscape.
You can make this happen by regularly publishing authentic content that is tangible and actionable, helping you to be a trusted partner who understands the industry.
When you do land your meeting, don’t just tell them the key features of what you are selling but speak about the entire cloud ecosystem.
In this way, you can build a more future-centric approach to selling your cloud computing services.
4. Work with Different Team Members
You must pitch to different stakeholders across various departments. It is not just one person who decides if your services are the right fit for the enterprise.
Instead of seeing each member as a new obstacle to overcome, use this process to win more stakeholders and convert them into advocates for your cloud solutions.
Additionally, work with stakeholders at all levels of your prospect organizations.
A middle manager might have more understanding of the space than you can imagine since chances are that they are the ones managing such services on a day-to-day basis.
5. Tie it to Concrete Benefits
You might be dealing with someone who doesn’t have an IT background and has limited knowledge about the cloud.
In such cases, it is important to mold the pitch to their experience or something they would understand.
Your solutions should make way for a better employee experience since poor technological solutions can lead to lower productivity, higher disengagement, and increased turnover rates.
60% of workers said that new software had occasionally or frequently frustrated them in the last 24 months, according to a report by Gartner.
Even if you pitch to a prospect who isn’t tech-savvy, you can still highlight the dangers of losing the very employees who are.
6. Alleviate their Concerns on Security
Most enterprises are deeply concerned about cybersecurity, creating unique challenges for selling cloud computing. It makes the job trickier when almost 52% of IT decision-makers whose company uses cloud services agree that their data is more secure on-premises.
So, try out your cloud solutions as a strategic shift in risk and not as an additional risk. The idea is to help them understand that they are essentially putting the risk factor in you by choosing your services.
The Way Ahead
Selling cloud solutions involves many challenges, whether security, risk, cost and lack of trust. These challenges are one of the few reasons why cloud adoption is still in its infancy.
However, this does not mean that you can’t employ some effective strategies to turn the landscape to generate better results.
To succeed in selling cloud services, be prepared with new services, combinations, and customizations.
Keep a plan ready, and you can do it too!
