• configuration management
• Performance management
• Reporting management
• Innovative mobile application based drive(walk) test
  

Network Performance Optimization Solution helps you harness the most from your expansive investments in network growth and evolution.

With the exponential data traffic increase in the current and future networks of the 3/4G services, the complexity of UTRAN and customer quality-of-service expectations are all driving the need for network operators to have a reasonable network performance optimization solution to do the followings :-

1.  Maintain the right balance between quality and coverage as traffic loads increase

2. Increase operational efficiency by reducing manual works and time on assessing network performance data

3. Reduce operating expenses and increase rate of returns from network investment

The recent IDC survey with Telcos have this interesting finding: “… the survey found that the industries perceiving software as the most important to their ability to compete -such as Telcos, which rely on software to provide their core services -also had the highest rate of open-source adoption. Other industries with high open-source adoption included financial services and business services……Companies buy open source because it’s better, not cheaper….”

This is an open source solution focuses on planning, optimisation, data management and analysis while delivering services that are cost effective yet maintain the highest performance and quality.

The company bundles it’s know how, powerful platform and skilled resources to deliver reliable and trusted solutions addressing various wireless network needs, problems and operational requirements. The solutions are aimed at easing the burden of designing, planning, operating and optimizing wireless networks and are tailored to the clients’ exact needs.

Current Situation faced by Network Operators

• Several proprietary and diverse software tools
• Distinct internal initiatives
• Manual optimization processes
• Introduction of added value services
• Reduce network cost

(based on survey, Network operation is typically between 25-30 % of the total  operation cost)

Our solution value propositions:-

• Lower TCO for software solutions
• Increase ARPU
• Enhanced service delivery
• Better quality of service
• Improve planning, pricing and marketing of services
• Control business drivers better
• Integrate Business Intelligence with Operational Decision Support Systems
• End-to-end view of the entire business life cycle
• Correlate business and operational drivers
• Improve customer loyalty and minimize churn

This blog is for business professionals who want to upgrade from tactical (transactional) sales which is mainly based on products, features, functions and price to a more strategic approach of selling which is targetted at the Business Decision Makers(BDMs) or the C-level Executives (CXO) of their customer’s organizations.

Why it is important to know strategic selling and how to sell to the  BDMs?

It is simple – BDMs make large purchasing decisions and unless you know how to align to their business drivers and KPIs, they will not want to spend a lot of time with you.  Most sales people are trained in selling products, their product knowledge and focus on selling features and functions are not enough to impress the BDMs or the C-level Executives of their customers.

“Unless we can identify a really clear return on investment, we’re not taking a lot of exploratory steps”  a CIO told the Journal.”  ……….Surveys by Goldman Sachs and Gartner – WSJ

Pareto Theory tells us that 80% of the sales people in an organization contribute to about 20% or less of the company revenues.  That is because most sales people are trained in selling products, they perform mostly transactional sales and operate mostly in what we called “comfort zone” which is at the low to mid level of their customer organizations.  They talked mostly about features, benefits and price.

In the low-mid level which is typically procurement or IT department where RFPs are evaluated, these are where most sales people are stuck at the price and function discussions.  At this level where 80% of sales people operate, these departments are what we called management by objectives – they are told by the BDMs to bring in the vendors and beat them down to the lowest price.  Companies lost huge profits when they lower the price and they will soon find themselves going under and sales people fired or retrenched.   To a strategic sales professional, RFP is too late in the sales cycle, customers already know what they want.

Strategic sales people on the other hand call high at the BDMs, proficient in engaging them, enter sales cycle early and not wait for RFPs.  Strategic sales people know “business value drivers” of their customers including where is the unrecognized problem, what is an unanticipated solution and where is unforeseen opportunity.

Gaining access to the BDMs is useless unless you know how to convert the access into value.  They know how to analyze their customers’ financial information, read analyst’s reports and validate BDMs business initiatives and know how their KPIs are measured.

Strategic sales people developed “business value centric” value propositions which will include ROIs and their solutions are linked to the BDMs business performance and KPIs which demonstrate clearly the financial benefits.  They are well prepared for an “elevator talk” as and when they meet BDMs of their customers.  Strategic sales people create and discover sales opportunities, they seldom wait for RFPs.

BDMs decision making behaviours changed according to the external factors which they have no control.  They are most concerned about their business performance and not you or your product. Unless you know how to change the way they do business, they will seldom make investment decisions with you.

Many well know sales methodologies will point you to engage BDMs and provide a process of tracking opportunities but they do not show you the actual execution of calling BDMs.  Sales people are mostly tactical and doing transactional business because they are trained in selling products.

Harvard Business Review in March 2009 issue called this provocative based selling necessary in today economic downturn to go beyond product selling and consultative selling.

Sales professionals of many successful companies including IBM, Oracle, HP etc. understand strategic selling framework.  We called this Business Value Selling framework (BVSF).  BVSF is a simple and easy to apply tool to sell successfully to the BDMs of your large strategic accounts or deals.  BVSF is not about doing the right thing, it is about doing it right.  It is a proven and tested way to engage BDMs successfully to improve win rates and close bigger and better deals.

BVSF is about changing sales behaviours and how to sell differently at the BDMs level.  In this tough economic time, many sales people had realized that they could not meet their targets as their customers are more careful with their spending and BDMs are scrutinizing closely their budgets.  Unless they know how to be proficient in engaging BDMs of their customer organizations, they will find it increasingly difficult to close sales and probably close to impossible to close larger deals.

Email me directly if you are interested to know more about strategic selling.

Dan

info@executivefocus.com.sg