Technology Advisor
Our client, a technology-driven MSP based in Rivonia, is looking for a motivated and dynamic individual who wants to further their career in the IT industry. The salesperson, known as the Technology Advisor, plays a crucial role in solving problems for the company's customers and potential clients by helping them choose and integrate the right information technology for a competitive advantage.
Duties & Responsibilities
Business Development & Customer Management (60%)
Create value by executing the business's sales engagement process to an exceptional standard with predefined c-level decision makers.
Business Acumen
- Understand basic business models and how businesses are positioned.
- Understand the importance of business processes in ensuring a business can execute on a particular business model and position itself in a market.
- Understand the importance of systematization in driving business efficiencies, productivity, and predictable outcomes for customers.
- Understand how different business models rely on intellectual property to create value for customers and shareholders.
- Understand concepts such as total cost of ownership, operating expenses, capital expenditure, income, and net profit.
Technical Acumen
- Become a product knowledge expert for all technical products and solutions provided by the Company.
- Understand how to align the appropriate technology to meet the needs of different business models.
- Understand and communicate how certain technology frameworks can be aligned to managing specific business risks.
- Understand how different technology solutions can be leveraged to ensure a business is able to execute on its positioning and realize its competitive advantage.
Consultative Selling
- Build Business Insights
- Quickly build rapport and credibility with c-level decision makers by conducting a high-level business conversation while subtly probing for problems that the Company can solve.
- Use spin selling techniques to uncover how the prospect's business is positioned and how they rely on technology to maintain their positioning.
- Use spin questions to uncover problems the prospect is having with their technology.
- Use spin questions to understand what business problems and consequences exist when the prospect's technology fails or what business problems exist in the absence of the appropriate technology.
- Identify all stakeholders involved in the decision-making process.
- Diagnose Business Problems
- Build a business case with the prospect by using diagnostic thinking and questions to uncover and understand what explicit business problems exist for the prospect in the absence of the appropriate technology.
- Gain explicit confirmation and document business problems, technology causes, and financial consequences.
- Identify and quantify the cost of the financial consequences.
- Confirm key business efficiency objectives of the prospect and provide insights on how technology can support these objectives.
- Always take a security-driven approach to diagnosing business problems and technology causes.
- Co-Create & Align the Appropriate Technology Solution
- Effectively navigate the psychology of change by co-creating the appropriate solution with the customer.
- Through the co-creation process, adopt the trusted advisor role by providing insights and details on the options available to solve the prospective business problems and the trade-offs in terms of risk and cost.
- Discuss & share relevant customer success stories to build credibility and demonstrate a proven track record.
- Finalize the prospect's technology strategy by guiding them through the 4-actions strategy framework.
- Agreement Meeting
- Meet with the prospect to pitch how the final co-created solution will mitigate or appropriately manage the technology causes responsible for introducing business problems and financial consequences.
- Discuss the return on investment the prospect will receive by mitigating the cost of their business problem with the appropriate investment and related technology.
- Handle any objections & gain consensus from the customer.
- Close the deal by managing contractual negotiations and obtaining signed paperwork.
Customer Management
- Account Management
- Act as a strategic advisor to all appropriate stakeholders within a customer account by engaging in continued research and detailed analysis to understand and anticipate future customer needs as well as to provide new perspectives and insights.
- Ensure key customer relationships are maintained by meeting with them regularly or as defined by the business.
- Ensure the customer has the appropriate technology aligned to their business.
- Build annual technology business cases for key customers and ensure maximum wallet spend with the Company.
- Identify under-penetrated or cross-selling opportunities in existing customer accounts.
- After each customer engagement, log all operational activities with the Company help desk.
- Manage escalations by engaging with key internal and external stakeholders.
- Use the pipeline provided in CRM & a default diary to plan and prioritize revenue-generating tasks (money hours).
- Weekly, schedule big blocks of time to execute the required activity needed to move prospects/deals through the business’s sales engagement process.
- Build pipeline opportunities from existing/past networks, existing client lists, referrals & the Company’s LeadGen team.
- Attend weekly pipeline meetings to review the various stages of opportunities and tactics needed to move deals forward.
- Attend monthly Win/Loss review meetings with Sales Manager to inform performance improvement or to potentially win back a lost deal.
- Attend weekly sales team meetings.
- Attend weekly solutions architecture meetings.
- Consistently achieve the key leading & lagging indicators determined by the company.
- Attend annual meetings with Manager to determine and/or review the following: Budgets and targets, Key performance indicators, and Salary increases.
Revenue Generating Administrative Processes
- Update and maintain accurate records on CRM of all client interactions daily.
- Document research conducted in preparation for all meetings on CRM and in LDX Sales Way.
- Forecast and submit sales pipelines.
- After each prospect and customer engagement, send a follow-up email outlining commitments, action points, and next steps.
- After each prospect engagement, send a follow-up email with updated business cases, cost of the problem tabulator, and relevant case studies.
- Send all final proposals from CRM.
- Keep track of commission statements.
Research and Analysis
- Engage in consistent research to build a comprehensive understanding of current industry, market, and competitor trends and developments.
- Monitor and research development and changes in customer industries, competitors, and operations.
Product Knowledge
- Engage in continuous learning to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the Company product offerings through self-study.
- Attend bi-weekly technical product training sessions.
Individual Development & Mastery of Craft
- Dedicate time, thought, and effort to master the consultative selling craft.
- Dedicate time to building business and technical acumen.
- Attend weekly sales training sessions.
- Complete Individual Development Plan.
- Attend individual coaching and mentoring sessions with reporting Sales Manager.
Desired Experience & Qualification
Minimum Qualifications
- Matric Certificate.
- BCom Degree in any field.
Minimum Sales Knowledge & Experience
- One to two years of sales experience.
- Sales experience in the ICT field would be advantageous.
- Consultative selling experience would be advantageous.
Minimum Skill-Based Competencies
- Engage and network with clients and c-level decision makers.
- Analytical mindset with problem-solving skillset.
- Highly motivated and target-driven.
- Collaborative team player.
- Proactive self-manager.
- Self-confident.
- Excellent interpersonal skills.
- Professional.
- Appetite for learning and continuous improvement.
- Resilient.
- Willingness to deal with rejection.
- Honest and accountable.
- Flexible and adaptable.
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