There are two basic ways to make software sales. The first involves direct sales. There are three forms of direct selling. The first is to sell directly to customers. These customers and their needs are found through marketing-generated leads that are followed up by the sales team. Software sales can also be made through resellers. Resellers are any type of store that sells your product to customers and can include big box stores, software specialty stores, and office supply stores. This method is used to sell directly to the entire sales force and possibly to incoming calls as well, without undercutting the reseller price. Not undermining the reseller avoids channel conflict. The most common form within the high-tech industry is a combination of the two. The third way to sell directly involves selling to national chains. In this method, the sales force act as reseller sales managers. All of these ways are just examples of what you can do.
The second basic way to do software sales involves channel sales. This often involves the use of a wholesale distributor. Distributors are helpful in balancing inventory among resellers. Also, sellers don’t have to give credit to as many resellers if they use distribution. Instead, they extend credit to only a few dealers. The disadvantages are that distributors increase costs by 3 to 10 points and sellers do not always know which resellers are buying their products if the resellers are independent or regional.
Whichever way you choose to sell software, experts agree that the right training makes all the difference. Both initial and ongoing training will make your sales projects more successful and profitable. They say that no salesperson is born, they are made, and almost anyone can learn the skills necessary to be successful. An excellent salesperson is one who has thoroughly learned the steps of selling. These include prospecting, focusing, presenting, overcoming objections, viewing, and closing.
The two components to effective selling are soft skills and hard skills. Motivation, personality, developing relationships, and understanding people are generally considered soft skills. Hard skills include approaching, approaching, and overcoming objections. Proper training in these areas can make your software sales much more successful.
The world of software sales is competitive. Fortunately, there are a number of books, websites, and software programs to help you and your business succeed. These products can give your sales team the skills they need to be successful. There are also customer relationship management products to help you keep track of your growing business. There are also numerous services that can provide your business with sales opportunities that will make your sales team more efficient and successful. In today’s Internet-driven economy, those who will succeed will be those with the most effective sales force. Those who maximize sales and profits will be the ones who rise to the top, and with the right training and the right products, you too can be successful in software sales.
