Smart Sales Strategies: Practicing What You Preach

Many people in business are great at giving advice, usually unsolicited. However, how much weight do their recommendations hold if they are not following it themselves? Do they, as the phrase goes, eat their own dog food?

One of the biggest mistakes I see solution provider organizations make is not practicing what they are preaching to their customers. I am not talking about embracing technologies, trusting the cloud, securing their networks, infrastructure and data—I am talking about how they manage their workforce and business processes.

Much of what solution providers do when selling any technology service is guiding their customers into functional and structural change as well. This includes business process management, workflow, training and even what employees are allowed—and not allowed—to do.

Customers will see right through you if you tell them to function one way and they see you are not managing your company the same. What solution providers have in technology expertise they sometimes lack on the business or human resources side.

Take the BYOD movement as an example and the different benefits and freedoms it provides. Many solution providers I know are experts at mapping out a comprehensive telecommunications strategy for their customers that includes carrier services, mobile device management, integration, application management, device allocation and security. Th strategy is designed to add flexibility to the workforce and enable employees to access data not just from selected devices but from anywhere they may call work.

Some companies issue their own devices, while others support those brought in. Regardless, solution providers are critical in making mobile computing happen efficiently and securely.

However, they do not always embrace the same culture themselves. Solution providers need to follow the same advice they give their customers. I’ve seen too many solution providers continue to operate as a small business, forcing their employees into passé business practices that don’t apply today. They won’t pay for their employees' smartphone, but expect them to answer calls and emails after work hours. Even if they do reimburse them for their cellphones or smartphones, they won’t give them the freedom to work remotely.

Instead of enabling their employees through the use of mobile devices and giving them more freedom and flexibility with their time, some still treat their workers like 9-5ers. Then they are surprised when their employees don’t go above and beyond or are not reachable after business hours.

In the IT space, and specifically with Generation Y and Millennial employees, there is a need to have access to the most advanced mobile technology and to use it to be more responsive and productive and to better manage their personal lives. For these folks, their personal and business lives bleed.

A solution provider's business is a 24/7 model. Solution providers and their employees need to be reachable and available when their customers need them. My advice: Give your employees the tools they need and give them the freedom to use them wisely.