I hear it over and over again – “my sales staff isn’t making their numbers.” It is said as if they are on an island by themselves and failing no less. Salespeople are expected to have a gift and perform the mysterious task of selling the product. There’s nothing magical about sales – save for where the passion for doing it comes from. It is a task that most people would rather chew their arms off than do. Sales are all method and strategy – two things that need support – rigorous, focused, evolving support. If you support your salespeople with good materials, expectations, and alignment – then the feedback salespeople bring back to you can be as useful as any. It is simple – If you don’t support your salespeople – they can’t do their jobs. When someone tells me they have the “wrong salespeople” I ask them what they’ve done to understand what’s missing.
Sales Support is Square One
Support. That’s the most important piece. Hands down. Very very few people do it well. I think that’s because 1) software developers don’t put themselves in the shoes of their users (or their managers, or their salespeople, or their support staff) and 2) everyone thinks too narrowly of “support.” Most people think support is a … Continue reading The single most important piece of taking software to market →
You’ve had a vision. You’ve got a prototype and an MVP that’s thrilling. You outsourced the development and got the product up and running – it took longer and cost more than anticipated but you’ve arrived. It wasn’t easy, but you’re here. You’ve put so much money and time into this beautiful little platform/app/service/site. It’s a … Continue reading So you’re done building, what about the support? →
The product you built – after careful market and user considerations needs to grow and evolve over time this can and should be done in a bunch of ways, through different systems, and frequently. It is not enough to just monitor the complaints you get on your helpdesk and address them – do that – … Continue reading Eating Feedback: Customer Product Advocacy →
Once someone has decided to buy your service or give your solution a try you’ve got to step into the support system boldly and strongly with four critical paths: Messaging, interaction, low barriers to entry, and in-depth knowledge of the user. The process of how people buy and why they buy a solution has been … Continue reading Life-cycle Support – On-boarding →
Related Products and Downloads
Getting Executive Buy-in
– A Workbook
Support. That’s the most important piece. Hands down. Very very few people do it well. I think that’s because 1) software developers don’t put themselves in the shoes of their users (or their managers, or their salespeople, or their support staff) and 2) everyone thinks too narrowly of “support.” Most people think support is a … Continue reading The single most important piece of taking software to market →
You’ve had a vision. You’ve got a prototype and an MVP that’s thrilling. You outsourced the development and got the product up and running – it took longer and cost more than anticipated but you’ve arrived. It wasn’t easy, but you’re here. You’ve put so much money and time into this beautiful little platform/app/service/site. It’s a … Continue reading So you’re done building, what about the support? →
The product you built – after careful market and user considerations needs to grow and evolve over time this can and should be done in a bunch of ways, through different systems, and frequently. It is not enough to just monitor the complaints you get on your helpdesk and address them – do that – … Continue reading Eating Feedback: Customer Product Advocacy →
Once someone has decided to buy your service or give your solution a try you’ve got to step into the support system boldly and strongly with four critical paths: Messaging, interaction, low barriers to entry, and in-depth knowledge of the user. The process of how people buy and why they buy a solution has been … Continue reading Life-cycle Support – On-boarding →
Related Service Offerings
Support & Training A complete and comprehensive support rubric is essential to a professional, low-cost, high-margin, online product. Support includes pre- and post-sales, in-product support, and traditional support mechanisms including user guides, helpdesk, knowledgebase articles, tutorials, troubleshooters, and videos. Without a comprehensive support process users can feel neglected to fail to renew, extend or initially … Continue reading Support & Training →
View interest and engagement internally Surface insights into member patterns and behavior Foster member to member engagement Refine event management and offerings based on real insights View data through a strategic lens … TELL YOUR STORY WITH DATA – TELL IT WELL “Wow, telling a story so clearly and clearly with data is hard. But … Continue reading Sales Support is Square One →
Orchid offers an array of planning and assessment services – focused primarily on the technical and operational infrastructure of the organization. Whether it is choosing and implementing a new system, integrating several or diagnosing issues – Orchid can help with comprehensive technical assessments that always come with action plans and baseline arguments for gains, losses … Continue reading Planning & Assessment →
Product Management Effective product management ideally involves the entire lifecycle of the product. For a new product that might include market analysis and a product charter. For a more established or functional product management includes prioritization, gap analysis, use case definition, and competitive analysis. Each of these areas has deliverables to keep the team, the … Continue reading Product Management →
Support – Development, Staffing, and Management You’ve got a great idea, a great product — the best of the best. But support issues are taking the shine off the success. There’s no rubric, no system, no clarity. Pre-sales is guessing, post-sales support doesn’t exist, in-product support consists of a single help dialog, there’s no helpdesk, … Continue reading End-to-End Lifecycle Support →
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