MSP Sales Tips to Help You Most Effectively Incorporate Financing Options into Sales
MSP sales teams would do well to consider how pervasive financing is in modernity. Car payments, house payments, rent-to-own furniture–these days, everybody essentially “rents” what they need at a monthly cost.
As an MSP, it makes sense to have some level of financing available for clients who have structured their purchasing decisions around such conventions. However, there can be complications.
The Right Time, The Right Way
Timing is an all-important feature of your sales conversion strategy. Present financing options too early, too late, or in a way that feels too synthetic, and such options will either be ignored, fall on deaf ears, or be considered only with caution.
However, strategically let this information into the sales pitch and there’s a better likelihood of seeing outcomes your sales team is seeking. With that in mind, consider these tips to help get the balance right:
Make Financing Options Visible Very Soon and with Regularity
First, “chum the waters” by dropping hints about financing options. You might let leads know such options have been successful for similar clients. Essentially, you’re providing mental “ammunition” which assists in their decision-making process. The more service alternatives they can explore, generally, the better. Financing usually helps clients feel they’ve got more control over a given service.
Provide Additional Information Rather Than Alternative Information
Your MSP sales team may incidentally “spook” prospects through poor presentation of available options. Financing is presented as an alternative rather than an additional possibility.
Expand on what the client tells you strategically. Look for an “in”. Some clients are more attuned to financing solutions than others. Getting information conversationally helps reveal who’s who, allowing you to structure pitches accordingly.
Leading The Witness with Non-Hypothetical Hypotheticals
As you drop financing hints into the conversation and learn about clients enough to convert the conversation into a presentation of options rather than alternatives, you can start sprinkling in data that “leads the witness”. For example, you might ask a hypothetical question that really isn’t hypothetical.
For example: “You would save more money through a monthly cost than a single payment, wouldn’t you? Couldn’t you devote more resources to core needs that way?” Though you’re presenting such questions as hypothetical, the idea is to lead the client to feel going the financing route was actually their idea.
Careful Introduction of Financing Options Will Likely Expand Conversions
When your MSP sales team “leads the witness” with strategic information, provides such options as additional solutions rather than black-and-white alternatives, and seeds information about financing into the conversation with regularity early on, there’s a higher likelihood of seeing clients choose this option. Presentation of financing solutions could be the difference between losing a prospect and converting them. When they understand this option, it changes how they consider products or services your MSP provides.
