Top 3 challenges IT service providers face when selling to their customers

It’s well-known that the sales field is a challenging one to thrive in, and this is especially true for those selling IT support services or IT support desk solutions. It makes sense, too, with the field being highly competitive, ever-evolving, and with highly-informed consumers making it tough for even the best-equipped, user-friendly IT service providers to make sales.

This has many IT service providers and salespeople scratching their heads, wondering if there is a magic key to unlocking an increase in sales. The short and unfortunate answer is that there isn’t. But, armed with the right knowledge, service providers can shift their sales tactics, and even their offerings, to overcome sales barriers and, ideally, make more sales.

As such, we have pulled together the top three challenges IT service providers face, along with suggestions to help them understand and overcome their unique challenges.

1 Varying needs

An obvious challenge in any sales scenario is catering to multiple clients’ varying needs. One digital package does not fit all, and many service models don’t accommodate clients with different requirements. As such, a business needs to be versatile, shifting, and tailoring its offerings to suit each customer’s unique needs.

Imagine: a small business wants to purchase a mobile device management (MDM) solution. They have a relatively small staff of 26 field agents they want to track and manage. They contact the first, second, and third service providers that appeared in their Google search, but find each of them sells solutions designed to manage teams of over 100 employees, and are priced as such. These providers won’t shift their offering to suit the customers’ needs, so the customer doesn’t purchase the solution, and instead, continue their search for a better-suited provider.

While having target markets and customers in mind, like enterprise over small business, makes smart business sense, an IT service provider could overcome this challenge by shifting their offering to a base solution that the customer can add - or remove - the features they require. This enables service providers to capture sales from all markets, while also offering robust solutions to their desired customer base.

Solution: Before purchasing a solution, IT service providers should evaluate the flexibility and customizability of the pricing plan. Take AirDroid Business as an example. Its pricing plan has minimal restrictions on the number of devices. Users can select and pay for the features they actually need.

By assessing pricing plans like this, IT service providers can ensure that they can meet the specific requirements of different clients, such as small businesses with limited staff. This way, they can offer solutions that are not only cost - effective but also highly tailored to the clients' unique needs, thereby expanding their market coverage and increasing sales opportunities.

2 High client churn

With the highly competitive nature of IT, the challenge to retain customers is a monumental one. Factors like pricing, support, and competition all play into this struggle. As such, IT service providers must be vigilant in constantly strengthening their offerings and ensuring their existing customers are receiving the support they need.

Imagine: A customer has purchased a solution that enables them to turn any tablet into a mobile billboard using a ‘kiosk mode’. They use the solution happily for a few months, before reading about another solution that offers a more versatile kiosk mode, where tablets can lock down one or multiple apps, or other point-of-sale functions. They check with their current provider to see whether this is a possibility. Turns out the answer is no, and the salesperson doesn’t help indicate whether new features will be added in the near future. So the customer decided to change providers to the new one with better-equipped mobile device management features.

While having a base function is fantastic, service providers need to ensure they’re following the evolution of their industry to stay abreast of the competition. If adding new features isn’t possible, studies have shown that customers will stay with a company that offers excellent customer service. So focusing on making customers feel heard and supported should help to curb a high client churn.

Solution: When evaluating a solution, IT service providers should rate the customer support satisfaction of the provider. AirDroid Business MDM offers great customer service, responding promptly to customer inquiries and valuing customers' voices. The provider regularly collects customer feedback and incorporates the demands into its iteration plan.

By assessing customer support satisfaction in this way, IT service providers can ensure that they can offer not only a good solution but also excellent support to their customers.

3 Onboarding is time-consuming

Onboarding is one of the toughest stages of implementing a new IT service or solution, and it’s also where many customers form their first impression of a solution or service. It makes sense, too, with onboarding and training being both time-consuming and rife with frustration for customers as they familiarize themselves with a new solution.

As such, IT service providers should aim to simplify the onboarding process through hands-on customer service and training. Instead of simply selling a solution and letting the customers figure it out for themselves, service providers should - at the very least - offer to provide training to the managers who will be using the software. This should cut down on time and help curb any customer frustration as it arises.

Solution: Before making a decision, IT service providers should list the selected solutions and evaluate their supported onboarding methods, device compatibility, and system ecosystem diversity. They should also assess the convenience and time cost of the onboarding process.

AirDroid Business supports five device onboarding methods, including DO, AE, Zero-touch, KME, and regular enrollment. This diversity of onboarding options ensures that businesses have multiple choices to suit their specific needs and existing system ecosystems.

By offering a variety of onboarding methods, AirDroid Business can accommodate different types of devices and operational requirements, making the onboarding process more efficient and less time-consuming.

Following these suggestions, IT service providers can better arm themselves against the many challenges of selling IT solutions and hopefully increase sales, increase customer satisfaction, and optimize their solutions and services.