The Best Time To Pitch New Products And Services

Of course, the kind of information the prospect is looking at on the VAR's Web site can be telling in and of itself. Someone who's checking out an ROI calculator online, for example, is at least thinking about buying the product.

Other sources of data on customer product life cycles should be explored as well. One place to look is at previous requests for proposals. An RFP often lists the time frame the purchase is supposed to cover, and that's especially true with hardware.

Another fruitful source of information are vendor announcements of increasing support costs for existing product lines or dropping support for old products altogether. Typically, vendors will use support price increases to encourage customers to move up to new products, and that provides savvy resellers with an opportunity.

Farajun says that part of the key to implementing a life cycle strategy is to begin working with the prospect well in advance of the actual expiration date.

For one thing, an early approach helps to build name recognition and facilitates sales contacts. For another, the earlier the VAR makes contact during the buy cycle, the greater the VAR's influence on the buying process. Early contact makes it easier to establish value and influence buying criteria. Since that influence can include in the deal such things as upgrading the customer's requirements, and auxiliary products and services, it can result in a more profitable transaction for the VAR and better meet the customer's needs.

Terian uses a series of direct mailings to keep its name in front of prospective customers during this period. "We try to do three letters within a month," Colesante says. "The goal is to get customers to go to our Web site or accept our call."

The other reason for early contact, Farajun says, is that many customers need to plan upgrades and evaluate new products before reaching a decision. This can take several weeks or several months, and VARs need to plan accordingly.

Making Life Cycle Selling Work For You
Even more than with most sales strategies, life cycle selling depends on information. The VAR has to track customers' and prospects' contract cycles to know when to make the effort. That means not just collecting information but storing it in a useful form as well.

"Get a good CRM system," Farajun advises.

One of the most important things about managing life cycles is to get everyone using the CRM software to store customer and prospect information. "It's important to have them [the sales staff] actually using it," Colesante says. "Having all that information in one place is really one of our most valuable assets."

Even though sales reps may have their own systems, often built around spreadsheets, it's important to get them to enter the information into the VAR's CRM system.

Of course, if you're the one with the existing sales and maintenance contract, you want to protect your customer base from life cycle selling by others. "In Chinese, the word 'crisis' is written with the characters for 'danger' and 'opportunity,'" Farajun says. "There's a danger to the incumbent VAR to lose business. Or there's an opportunity to sell something else."

One defense against cycle-oriented selling by other solution providers is to try to get customers to purchase multiyear agreements. Not only are they usually cheaper on an annual basis, Farajun notes, but they also reduce vulnerability to competitors.

NEXT: 4 quick ways to make the most of life cycle selling.