Archives des Stratégie

Identifying the different stages that lead to a sale and defining the best internal organisation to achieve this raises many questions. It is therefore never an easy task... And it is all the more difficult for software publishers, whose economic and commercial model is currently undergoing an unprecedented review.

From "On Premise" to "Saas": after the technological leap, taking the commercial step

Defining the business model of a company is a bit like designing the engine of a car: if you neglect this step, you can give it all the fuel in the world afterwards, but it is not likely to move forward or win any races!

In other words, to place your solution at the top of the "EY-Syntech top 250" and before recruiting an armada of sales people ready to fight, make sure you know what they will have to do, and in what order!

A goal that is not insignificant in the specific context of software publishers...

If the advent of the Cloud was primarily a technological challenge with a strong business impact (developing or migrating solutions to SaaS mode), this was far from being its only impact.

The gradual shift from the "On Premise" model (based on the sale of a licence, often accompanied by a subscription to a maintenance service) to the "Saas" model (based on a monthly subscription) has profoundly changed the economy of companies in the sector.

The impact on their cash flow has been enormous: where previously they could count on a large cash inflow at the time of sale and then count on a long-term "rent" thanks to maintenance and updates, they now have to wait 3 to 4 years for a SaaS solution sold on a subscription basis to achieve a turnover equivalent to that of its "On Premise" version!

The time taken to make a solution profitable when it is launched on the market is therefore quite different from what it was before! Especially as the R&D costs of this transition must also be covered.

A new economic model has therefore been established. Without publishers having always taken the measure of the evolution that this also induces at the commercial level... However, in this field too, the change of direction represents a real challenge.

What is the best sales organisation for a software company today?

Of course, not all publishers are equal in terms of the integration of the Cloud into their offering and the maturity of the commercial transition that accompanies it. It is difficult to compare the situation of new entrants "born in the cloud" who are banking everything on their technological lead, with that of historical players who have taken the transition in stride...

What is certain is that even if the "On Premise" sector still dominates to this day (as a share of the overall turnover generated by the sector in France), the trend towards switching to SaaS is strong and irreversible.

And a subscription to a SaaS solution is not sold in the same way as licensed software: the characteristics (technical, usage, etc.) of the product sold are not the same, nor are the sales pitches. The pricing grids are totally different. The priority is gradually shifting from acquisition to customer loyalty. And online demos are changing the relationship with the buyer.

The digitisation of sales methods has gone hand in hand with the digitisation of the offer, and it is not only affecting the software industry.¹We have gradually seen the emergence of business models in which (Inbound) Marketing and Sales Automation are of prime importance. But paradoxically, publishers are not necessarily the most advanced on the subject... The famous "shoemaker with a bad shoe" syndrome!

With rare exceptions (pure cloud players), the transition is gradual and the model is mixed (both in terms of the solutions sold and the sales methods themselves), and even constantly evolving. With all the risks and uncertainties that this entails...

Software publishers are therefore faced with the need to rethink their business model on a case-by-case basis. To do so, they have to answer many questions, including

- On which offers should we put the maximum commercial effort (Saas, Licences, Maintenance...)?

The definition of priority customer targets, in particular, is a point to which it is useful to devote a lot of attention. Contrary to the intuitive approach that one might have in the first place (assigning "Gold" status to the customers who have generated the most sales to date), a methodical and structured approach aims to cross-reference several criteria (company size, sales generated, projects detected, etc.) in order to determine the development potential that each customer represents for you, the probability that you have of selling your products and services to them in the future. And to establish the ranking of your targets on the basis of this criterion.

Taking a little time to define a "Gold, Silver and Bronze" customer typology will enable you to gain enormously in terms of efficiency of commercial prospecting, improvement in the rate of transformation of business pursued, and therefore, in fine, in turnover generated... At the same time, this work will be the basis for a clear and coherent distribution of the portfolio of prospects and customers between your different sales representatives.

This substantive process needs to be structured and methodical, to ensure that the right choices are made. Ideally, it should also be possible to test these choices and to go back and forth between the field and the decision-making process.

This is what the KESTIO Live solution offers you: a complete approach to all areas of reflection, a structured methodology to avoid "holes in the carpet" and long-term support to implement the defined strategy and to make it evolve as closely as possible to your needs and objectives.

Once you have done this work, setting up an effective sales organisation becomes much more obvious (which you will discover in our next article). And your car can start the race with the best chances!

To go further and learn more about the notion of social selling, and the different tools related to communication; you can watch this webinar:

This encouraging context is nevertheless accompanied by major challenges for French software publishers, both in the technical field and from an HR or commercial point of view.

This is particularly true for start-ups and SMEs in the sector, whose reality differs significantly from that of the large historical players.

1. Leveraging current growth against industry leaders

Software publishing has experienced significant and confirmed growth in recent years, of the order of 10% per year and up to 16.5% in 2017, under the combined effect of trends that are driving the market: cloud computing, mobility, customer experience management, Big Data and IS security in particular.²

This good news for all the players in the sector should not, however, mask another reality, which is the extreme concentration of this market: 7% of publishers alone account for 70% of the total turnover generated.

Therefore, making the most of these new market shares is a major challenge for start-ups and SMEs in the sector.

2. Developing internationally

Another key trend in the sector: the French are going on the attack and going international! However, there is a considerable difference depending on the size of the company: while major publishers such as Dassault Systèmes and Ubisoft are resolutely turned towards the international market - with 91% and 92% of their turnover abroad respectively - the same cannot be said for start-ups and SMEs in the sector, 75 to 83% of whose turnover is still generated in France.

However, more than a third of French publishers are already established in the United States and the growing share of the sector's overall turnover generated outside France can also be explained by theemergence of start-ups that have been internationally oriented since their creation.

The considerable development prospects offered by internationalisation are therefore encouraging SMEs in the sector to consider deployment beyond our borders.

3. Recruit and retain the best developers

The growth of the sector is accompanied by the creation of many jobs, particularly in R&D. The mastery of know-how and the strategic dimension of innovation are essential for software publishers, and companies are currently facing a real "shortage" of talent for these key positions, which they are choosing to keep in France.

It is therefore not only a question of identifying and attracting the best developers, but also of retaining them, by offering them motivating prospects in the short, medium and long term, particularly through remuneration, profit-sharing and equity investment.

Hence the even greater need to develop a business plan that offers attractive and secure development prospects!

4. Financing R&D investments

Although it is part of the DNA of software publishers, innovation remains an economic challenge for the youngest companies and/or those with annual sales of less than €10 million: it requires massive investment in R&D, not only during the pre-marketing phase, but also throughout the commercial exploitation of solutions.

However, the financing of innovation is still mainly internalised (self-financing or debt), which directly impacts the profitability of software publishers. Market enthusiasm for the sector remains timid in France, despite the existence of dedicated tools (FCPI, PEA PME, etc.), and European research programmes seem complex and inaccessible to SMEs. Tax credits (CIR and CII) and simplified access to public contracts therefore remain the public measures most favoured by publishers.

This is a financial issue that the sector's managers must integrate into their strategic vision by favouring contracts that provide a significant cash flow.

5. Refine their economic and business model

The sector has also been affected for several years by a fundamental trend: the gradual disappearance of the On-Premise software model in favour of SaaS solutions.

87% of software publishers now offer all or part of their products in SaaS mode.

Since 2010, the share of software publishers' overall turnover derived from SaaS activity has continued to increase, reaching 32% in 2016. Today, French software publishers are choosing to focus on this activity, regardless of their size, but this is particularly true for start-ups.³

A major technological transformation (adaptation and development of services for the web, secure hosting of solutions and data, etc.) which also raises commercial questions: the transition from a perpetual licence model to a fixed-term subscription model is profoundly changing sales methods.

This evolution leads to commercial processes in which marketing takes on a new and decisive role.

In this context, it is essential for you, as an SME manager in the sector, to :

- Setting up a successful sales organisation
- Manage your sales teams effectively, both in France and internationally
- Identify and prospect effectively for your key accounts
- Fullyintegrate the marketing dimension into your sales processes

These challenges are added to your many strategic concerns (technological developments, financing of innovation, recruitment, vision and development of the company, etc.) and sometimes seem to be far removed from your main skills and your "comfort zone".

All the more reason not to neglect them and to seek support in these matters, which are crucial to the current and future success of your business!

We are here to help you: this is the vocation of KESTIO Live and the objective of the series of articles to be published each week on this blog!

To find out more about the use of specialised and appropriate tools to adopt, discover this webinar on optimising the return on your commercial assets:

In other words: I can easily represent my company and my offer, so my prospects can! It's possible, but not certain: so I'd better make sure I'm visible and not just believe it.

To do this, there are 6 key points to observe.

1- Plan, anticipate, forecast

Making myself visible to my clients requires strategic thinking in order to imagine what will be the most effective, to allocate resources and to organise. It is important not to undergo but rather to pilot all the actions.

In order to answer the questions asked during this phase, I need to know my prospects well, including where they are, how they get their information, what kind of information they need.

2- Acting online and offline

In order to make myself visible to my prospects, I choose online and offline actions. As far as digital is concerned, it will be a question of identifying the sites visited, the main types of searches, the variables according to age, social networks, the existence of blogs and influencers (particularly on BtoC markets), etc.

As far as the physical world is concerned, I identify events such as trade fairs, conferences, traditional media, professional networks, etc.

The rest is a combination of the available and most suitable options for being visible. In reality, there are no good or bad choices in the absolute: what counts is to align the actions with the strategy, the marketing and sales plan: participate in a trade show or a round table, lead a conference, be active and interact on the sites visited by prospects, produce articles...

3- Adapt my speech

The perception of what I say varies according to the medium. For example, I will not communicate the same thing or in the same way if I am giving a talk or posting content on Instagram.

So I have to adapt my speech. But be careful: adapting does not mean changing, i.e. the editorial and identity markers must remain present. Adapting my message also means positioning the volume cursor in the right place, in other words, that the message is sufficiently audible (quantity and quality of messages).

4- Consistent actions to increase their weight

Let's imagine a trade fair in November, with a stand and a speech on a subject that is supposed to interest the target prospects. To increase the impact and visibility, I plan an action before the show on the available media to prepare the ground. But I also work during and after the event in order to develop awareness.

In this way, I benefit from the online/offline leverage effect: an Internet user may want to come and see the stand at the trade fair for a real exchange, or a prospect who has attended the conference may wish to make contact afterwards via the site.

5- Don't forget the classic supports

The digitalization of the economy tends to make people forget about traditional media. However, they remain very effective if they are integrated into a global strategy: local or professional press, posters, flyers, etc. are media that must be used tactically.

In the context of the trade fair mentioned in the previous point, I can, for example, ensure that I have articles on the subject before and after the event, plan an advertising insert in a professional medium, etc.

6- Temporality

Develop my visibility and a regular, strategic and tacticalaction that theoretically never stops.

Firstly, because there are always new prospects to whom I must make myself known, and secondly, so as not to leave the field wide open to competitors.

What will allow me to be truly visible to prospects is therefore persistence, repetition. For Fabien Comtet, CEO at Kestio, "the house is never put away for good, in other words: you have to plan to be active all the time to be effective".

Deployment over time ultimately allows us to be remembered and to be one of the key service providers. So, if a prospect attends such and such a trade fair, reads such and such a magazine and visits such and such a website, I have to be on all three media, regularly, because the subject is not only to be visible, but to be visible in the long term.

To develop your company's communication tools, think of the Webinar! Webinars allow you to put forward attractive content and thus enhance your company's activity. However, it requires some rules: in this webinar you will learn how to organise a webinar that will generate more participants and leads.

Some questions...

Is it the customer who brings in the most turnover, or the one with the most potential?

Is this the profile you address most often, or a customer segment you would like to develop strategically?

Is it the customer who brings you a lot of business or the one on which the margin is maximum?

Is it the most loyal customer, or the one who negotiates the least with your prices?

Is it the client with the best reputation or the one who prescribes you the most?

Diapositive précédente

Diapositive suivante

Behind these options lies the question of strategy and tactics, and their projection into the future. The definition of the ideal customer does not exist in a definitive way, it corresponds to a precise objective at a given moment.

In other words, the description of the ideal customer is a multi-level and dynamic analysis over time.

The ideal customer, a strategic point of view

Depending on the current strategy and the objective pursued, the value of each client will vary according to its potential to meet this objective. We recently worked with an SME that was looking to strengthen its market and was in the process of conquering it, which led to the creation of a specific ideal customer, different from the one corresponding to a loyalty strategy, for example. Does the company wish to develop its offer on a new market? To develop a new offer? On a new segment?... As we can see, before talking about the ideal customer, it is necessary to specify its strategy.

In order to define its strategic positioning as well as possible, it is first necessary to take into account the company's assets in each of the potential market segments: its know-how, its brand image, its product range, the quality of its commercial relations, its ability to control prices, deadlines, the suitability of the sales force... In a second step, it is necessary to cross-reference these with the attractiveness criteria of each of the identified segments (opportunities, constraints, potential turnover, profitability, intensity of competition, etc.) in order to be able to define the tactical approach.

The ideal client, a tactical approach

Strategy is the overall plan, tactics is the adaptation to the field. Once the target segment has been identified and the prospect/customer portfolio established, a more detailed segmentation can be carried out to help you plan your actions.

The approach we call the "Sales Model " at Kestio allows, within a strategic segment, to specify "tactical" segments according to the "value" of the target accounts.

The ideal customer, or more precisely the customer value, is the result of a learned formula, according to variables specific to the company, its activity, its market, its ambition at the time, which makes it possible to better prioritise the accounts, and thus to define and pilot in the best conditions the distribution of the marketing and sales effort.

From customers that sales people need to visit at least twice a month to customers who are simply going to be dealt with remotely, a scale is being set up according to customer value, to deal with the whole market with the level of investment required to get a ROI.

At Kestio Live, we tend to talk not about the ideal customer, but about THE ideal customers!

To learn more about targeting and building a customer file, you can also watch our webinar:

Source: Invox
: Social Media Guidelines, Orange, http://www.orange.com/sirius/smg/FR_Guides_Medias_Sociaux.pdf

The users of this solution define the themes and plan the questioning campaigns with their employees. A simple and agile way to collect performance indicators, to help in management and administration decisions.

Created in June 2016, the startup has 5 employees and sees its turnover double every month. A fundraising is underway.

Caroline Jurado, CEO and founder, first heard about Kestio Live at a conference on complex sales processes. Targeting mainly large organisations, she realised that she needed to increase her sales skills to reach out to customers other than early adopters.

Kestio: What made you aware of the potential contribution of business methods?

Caroline Jurado Linkky markets its services mainly to large groups, which means complex accounts that require elaborate processes. I wanted the company to become commercially successful. In fact, I realised that the contracts we signed were in any case won in advance and that, on the other hand, we stumbled as soon as there was a difficulty. I needed to understand our prospects, their approach, their issues, how they functioned. In fact, sales activity is not just about feeling and oral fluency. There are many more techniques and methods than we imagine.

Kestio: How was the mission set up?

Caroline Jurado We started off very strongly, with one hour a week for three months. The priority was to deal with the outstanding accounts that I couldn't close. Very quickly, I was able to catch up with them! What worked well was really the operational dimension. We immediately tackled concrete questions, practical cases, very far from the theories seen in class. Then we tackled the Chessboard methodThen we tackled the "evaluation", which is a very pragmatic approach, with a method that structures. We are working on an opportunity score which mixes the key points by decision-makers, the stakes.

This principle allows us to rank prospects and validate the quality of qualifications before deciding where and how to direct our actions.

Kestio: How did the relationship with the consultant develop?

Caroline Jurado Laurence doesn't do things for me; she helps me to think, she gives me the keys. The method is very well-tried and adapted to small structures like Linkky. Instead of spending a day in a room with an overload of information, we spend an hour a week on my current questions. This way of organising things allows me to digest what I have learned and put it into practice. I have since recruited a sales person and we can start from a common base; I have been able to train her, explain the method, the difficulties etc.

Kestio: So, remote interviews are effective?

Caroline Jurado Absolutely. In fact, I did not meet Laurence in person. Video saves time and money without compromising efficiency. From my point of view, there is no loss of quality.

Kestio: What now?

Caroline Jurado We are coming to the end of the first three months. As we have progressed very quickly on the sales performanceI'm going to continue with 2 sessions per month and alternate with other themes such as our inbound strategy.

Thank you for this testimony!

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Explanations

A good approach is sequenced in 4 steps:

Attract
Convert
Sell
Build loyalty

Attract The discourse, i.e. the content to be disseminated, must be adapted not to the sender's offer (i.e. a self-centred vision - "we make the most beautiful plastic moulds") but to the current issues of prospects and customers (i.e. a vision turned towards external problems - "plastic moulds are revolutionising the market").

The challenge for the Inbound strategy is to find the right content for the right target at the right time in their decision cycle.

Convert To do this, you must be identified through your publications as one of the solutions to the prospect's problem. The aim is to make the user want to go further with the proposed result (and not the solution) and to encourage them to act by means of a "call to action" for example (download a white paper, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.).

The challenge for the Inbound strategy is to find the right setting for the conversion stage: the website must enable the collection of information on the visitor to continue the interaction, feed the prospect and make him want to go further.

Selling At this stage you are finally allowed to talk about your offer and present your solution! You have to show that it meets the needs perfectly and better than the others, and in the way the customer wants to treat them.

The challenge for the Inbound strategy remains to provide sufficiently qualified leads identified as "ready", and to ensure immediate commercial support for the transformation.

Building loyalty We can make the previous work bear fruit by transforming our clients into prescribers, by maintaining the relationship, by identifying other needs.

The challenge for the inbound strategy is to capitalise on the customers acquired and to create a sort of resonance chamber to multiply the distribution of its own content. That said, beware: the race for likes and shares is not an end in itself, the challenge remains to be heard by your target !

Discover the KESTIO webinars, where we discuss

all topics related to business performance with our experts:

Fabien Comtet, CEO

Dominique Seguin, DG

Nicolas Boissard, Marketing Director

Some keys to being really effective:

To be visible as much as possible and especially at the moment when the customer needs it, multiply the actions To be identified as a source of interesting and useful information , which allows you to create an enriching relationship and become attractive.

Question your content in relation to your targets. It is best to start from their issues, their problems, their ambitions. The content should also be adapted to the stage they are at (becoming aware of a symptom, looking for a solution, selecting a product or service, etc.). To reinforce your positioning, there is nothing to prevent you from relaying related information : a regulatory change, a trade show, a technological innovation, etc. Ask yourself the question of the format, which should be adapted to the target and the stage. There are many formats available today and technology makes it easier to implement: articles, case studies, videos, infographics, white papers, configurators, eBooks, templates, webinars, slideshares, etc.

Treat content as a business asset and follow the 5 steps to work it well:

Planning (the communication plan: for whom, what stage, what channel, what format)
Build (content)
Disseminate (choose channels, social networks, etc.)
Analyse (results, test content, titles, colours...)
Repeat (what works well, and reuse the content in a variety of adapted formats)

Finally, structure the process within the company: it is an important process for the growth of turnover, a complex process which is continuously improving and which cannot be done spontaneously and punctually. It is therefore necessary to mobilise internal and external resources so that the dynamic remains active and produces results.

Content production, making your brand a medium, i.e. a relevant resource capable of aggregating leads and generate leadsIt is clearly a change in the way things are done. It means giving yourself the opportunity to do business with contacts who are interested. It is clear that this approach must be able to mobilise a large number of people internally, around marketing, sales and communication, in order to be truly effective.

The webinar is an essential Inbound Marketing tool: through its audience and its content, it can generate many leads. Find out how in this webinar:

Would you like to know more?

Please continue to follow us as we will be adding to our production on this topic and if you have any specific requests you can contact us directly.
Check out our article "Inbound Marketing: what if you became interesting rather than interested?“

Kestio Live is the first platform of expertise that provides tools to support the leaders of SMEs and startups on their sales and marketing issues.

It is a very relevant way for managers to acquire all the information to structure and modernise the process and do business better. Commercial performance today requires a perfect control of all the ingredients along the chain to obtain results at the expected level and with optimised costs. Indeed, customers have changed and are increasingly reluctant to use traditional sales approaches.

Kestio brings together all expertise (former Sales Directors, Marketing, coaches, CRM, Web, Digital consultants) and the digital solution to help SME managers and accelerate their growth.

BFM Business is France's leading all-day economic and financial news channel, with advice for your finances from leading personalities in the field of economics, exclusive interviews with business leaders, politicians and experts. You can watch it on channel 46 of SFR TV and replay it on bfmbusiness.com.

Discover the KESTIO webinars, where we discuss

all topics related to business performance with our experts:

Fabien Comtet, CEO

Dominique Seguin, DG

Nicolas Boissard, Marketing Director

"It is not enough to be talented to be commercial

EarthCube is a startup founded in 2016. It develops satellite monitoring services for factories, pipelines and other industrial sites, both for malicious acts and natural accidents.

The Toulouse-based company has a staff of 15, including 3 sales representatives.

The company has just completed a €3 million round of financing to support the commercial development of its solutions for automating and improving satellite image processing and analysis.

Arnaud Guerin, one of the two founders and CEO of the startup, contacted Kestio Live on recommendation in order to optimise the entire commercial process.

Kestio : How did you start the collaboration with Kestio?

Arnaud Guérin : In our sector of activity, with a technical and innovative offer, the sales process is very complex, with upstream and downstream phases that require excellent preparation. We quickly realised that we had to review our sales management and that our sales process had to be organised and structured to meet the requirements of our market. But also, we had neither the skills nor the resources in-house to carry out this project. In order to be immediately efficient and not to "learn on the job", we therefore decided to call on external skills. In addition, we also wanted specific training on certain stages such as information research, mapping of key players, etc.

Kestio: What was your problem from a business development point of view?

Arnaud Guérin: To get started and build an initial common base of knowledge, we worked with the entire sales team in face-to-face sessions lasting 2 to 3 hours, which were shortened in time. In particular, we addressed the subject of customer discovery and adopted the Chessboard Method, which is particularly well suited to complex sales processes and which, in particular, makes it possible to improve the transformation rate by focusing efforts where the potential exists. For us, the contribution was fundamental: we had no sales culture to speak of and we realised that it was not enough to be talented to do this job but that it was based on real technical skills and method. Kestio Live provided us with theory and practice, but it is also the regular follow-up that allows the anchoring of the commercial strategy, the change of habits.

Kestio : In relation to your initial objectives, does the formula meet your expectations?

Arnaud Guérin: Kestio It allows you to stay within the framework, not to lose the thread. The principle of telephone or video-conference meetings means that the subjects covered are always active, and so progress is constant. Contrary to what can happen in the case of classroom training, which involves long hours and where the subjects covered are quickly diluted in everyday life as soon as you return to the office, we find that the learning dynamic remains operational. And the formula is very flexible: the time slot is used by one of the three sales representatives according to need, or even by two.

Kestio: More secure than large training blocks?

Arnaud Guérin: Yes, and we will maintain this positive tension for our commercial performance. We are gradually becoming more autonomous, but by going down the pipe we are also discovering new issues. And our topicality also plays a role in the themes we address. Questions such as " how to prepare for a trade fair " or "how to respond to a customer who asks for a free month" emerge regularly and we address them. "regularly emerge and we address them directly with Kestio. Over time, we find ourselves with a toolbox that allows us to be more productive. One of our challenges today is to have a common platform so that everyone can update themselves as they join the company.

Thank you for your testimony!

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Il en devient le Directeur Général en 2016 et se fixe comme objectif de restructurer le service commercial afin de gagner en efficacité et d’adresser d’autres segments de marché comme les parcs à thèmes, les musées et les stades.

Kestio intervient dans ce contexte.

Kestio : Comment s’est déroulée la prise de contact avec kestio ?

Sébastien Vergnon : En fait nous avions répondu favorablement à une proposition d’audit sur notre organisation commerciale. Les résultats ont été sans appel ! Notre mode de fonctionnement, hérité de notre histoire, n’était plus adapté au marché ni à nos objectifs. Nous menions des actions commerciales plutôt routinières et opportunistes qui ne nous permettaient pas de faire progresser nos parts de marché. Comme nous l’a expliqué Fabien Comtet, « tous nos moteurs de l’efficacité commerciale n’étaient pas allumés ! ». L’avantage d’un regard extérieur tient dans ce qu’il apporte une autre parole, un autre cadre.

Kestio : Comment avez-vous exploité les résultats de l’audit ?

Sébastien Vergnon : Tout d’abord les livrables apportaient des éléments factuels et chiffrés indiscutables qui ont nourri notre vision empirique de la situation. A partir de là, nous avons pu faire le tri, travailler sur ce qui fonctionnait, ce qu’il fallait améliorer, ce qui devait être supprimé et enfin ce qui était à créer. Nous nous sommes réorganisés et nous avons ensuite planifié des formations en utilisant notamment la méthode de l’échiquier.

Kestio : Et vous ne vous êtes pas arrêtés là !

Sébastien Vergnon : Effectivement. Suite à ma formation puis celle des commerciaux, nous avons eu envie d’aller plus loin, de poursuivre le changement interne de l’entreprise, et surtout de garder un accompagnement dans le temps pour ne pas nous perdre et ne pas prendre le risque de laisser les vieilles habitudes reprendre le dessus.

Kestio : Vous recherchiez une forme de coaching…

Sébastien Vergnon : Exactement. Une fois la stratégie précisée et l’entreprise réorganisée en conséquence avec des responsabilités redéfinies, nous avons démarré la formation KestioLive avec la mise en place d’un Plan d’Action Mensuel pour chaque collaborateur. Et effectivement le suivi régulier a démontré tout son intérêt. J’ai pu construire les outils avec un expert, adapter une trame fournie par Kestio, et même simuler un entretien qui m’a permis de me familiariser avec le wording. Le tout en plusieurs étapes : je n’ai donc rien perdu en cours de route de ma dynamique initiale !

Kestio : Du point de vue utilisateur, quel est l’avantage d’un business coaching online ?

Sébastien Vergnon : Habituellement, dans des formations classiques ou du coaching traditionnel, on passe beaucoup de temps sur la théorie. Généralement, j’arrive assez bien à saisir l’idée, mais la mise en pratique ensuite est plus complexe. Avec KestioLive on garde le lien entre l’idée de départ et sa réalisation. La posture change également. Nous ne sommes pas dans une logique « voici ce qu’il faut faire » mais dans une interrogation adaptative « de quoi avez-vous besoin ? ». Je me sens également challengé avec bienveillance, et donc sécurisé.

Kestio : Pourquoi avoir choisi Kestio ?

Sébastien Vergnon : J’ai choisi Kestio pour pouvoir mener à bien le changement dans l’entreprise. J’étais d’accord avec les livrables de l’audit mais je n’avais pas les moyens, dans une PME de 28 personnes, de les mettre en place seul. Avec KestioLive je suis juste à l’intersection entre mes besoins et mes moyens.

Kestio : Concrètement, comment allez-vous utiliser le service ?

Sébastien Vergnon : A raison de deux entretiens mensuels. Les thématiques sont définies à l’avance de manière à ce que l’expert Kestio puisse les préparer. La visio permet de partager les documents sur lesquels nous travaillons, mais il arrive fréquemment que le téléphone suffise.

Kestio : Donc Kestio intervient régulièrement dans la conduite du changement des équipes ?

Sébastien Vergnon : Oui, on est pas seulement à distance finalement. Nous avons organisé notre premier séminaire en octobre 2017. Nous l’avons construit avec l’aide des experts Kestio ce qui a permis de bien condenser et optimiser la journée et nous avons bénéficié d’interventions pendant le séminaire ce qui a également apporté du contenu. Le résultat était au-delà de nos espérances. Les équipes, un peu sceptiques au départ, constatent que les choses bougent et que les résultats commencent à se faire sentir. Nous allons donc poursuivre encore un moment, pour éviter de poser les mêmes questions dans 10 ans !

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Un potentiel de développement commercial important se dessine, à une condition : être capable d’évoluer dans les méthodes, la stratégie, la relation client.

Alors comment ces professions, habituées à gérer des appels entrants, peuvent-elles profiter de cette opportunité ? Quelle organisation prévoir ? Quelles sont les stratégies gagnantes ?

Le changement de législation résulte de la convergence de trois facteurs :

– la volonté de l’Etat d’instaurer un environnement compétitif afin de diminuer les coûts pour le public,

– l’innovation technologique qui permet de travailler différemment et de gagner sur les tâches à basse valeur ajoutée, avec une réduction des coûts de production et une fiabilité des résultats,

– le comportement des consommateurs, lesquels ont besoin d’information et sont toujours plus autonomes dans leurs recherches et leurs comparaisons.

Les règles vont donc évoluer et pour les avocats, les notaires et les experts-comptables, inscrits depuis toujours dans le triptyque « recevoir un appel entrant /réaliser la prestation / facturer », c’est une véritable révolution qui va s’opérer, un changement de paradigme à 180 ° ! Et donc de belles opportunités de développement pour ceux qui sauront s’adapter à leur nouvel environnement !

Passer des besoins aux enjeux de développement commercial

Pour en tirer profit, la clé sera de passer d’une approche centrée sur les besoins des clients à une posture qui prend en compte les enjeux dans leur ensemble. Autrement dit, on ne pourra plus se contenter de répondre à ce qu’exprimait le client. Il s’agira plutôt de resituer la demande dans son contexte général afin de prendre en compte d’autres facteurs, d’ajouter des éléments complémentaires à la seule expression des besoins et d’amener le demandeur, le client, vers une prestation enrichie.

Là où, par exemple, un expert-comptable répondait au besoin de déclaration de la TVA, d’élaboration des fiches de paye et de dépôt de la liasse fiscale, il lui faudra demain considérer le secteur d’activité de son client, son environnement concurrentiel, ses caractéristiques pour proposer des solutions de gestion optimisées. On le voit bien, cette inversion de la relation représente un potentiel important de ventes additionnelles pour peu que les acteurs soient en mesure de développer leurs capacités à conseiller de manière fine et pertinente. Ce changement va réclamer beaucoup de travail en interne, de réflexion, d’analyse stratégique pour chercher à différencier son offre sur le fond et la forme et pour passer d’un mode commercial passif à un mode commercial actif.

Comment solliciter ses clients ?

Clairement, la démarche de prospection ne se fera pas naturellement car elle ne s’inscrit pas dans la culture ni dans les habitudes des professions concernées. Ceci dit, avant d’aller chercher des parts de marché, il faudra d’abord travailler son propre portefeuille clients.

La première étape consistera donc à le segmenter afin d’identifier ceux qui affichent le plus de pertinence en termes de potentiel de business et de développement commercial. Il faudra pour cela définir et caractériser le client qui est le plus aligné avec l’offre de service du cabinet ou de l’étude. Et d’entamer ensuite une action proactive auprès de chacun d’entre eux afin de mieux comprendre leurs contextes respectifs et proposer des offres avant que le client n’ait exprimé un besoin. Un avocat par exemple peut multiplier facilement son volume de contacts avec ses clients. Mathématiquement, en concentrant du temps sur ceux au potentiel le plus élevé, il se donne toutes les chances de développer son chiffre d’affaires.

Les cabinets et études qui sauront créer des occasions et des prétextes à de bonnes conversations commerciales auront donc toutes les chances de faire grossir le panier moyen des clients actifs.

Apprendre à gérer la relation client !

Pour ces professions, le risque principal réside dans la fuite des clients vers des concurrents plus compétitifs. Or la clientèle n’est pas éclatée sur plusieurs prestataires, à l’exception peut-être de la clientèle des avocats. Un client qui part, c’est 100 % de son budget perdu ! Il est donc impératif de générer et consolider les points de contact, d’être aligné sur les besoins des clients. Et dans la mesure où les prestations, réglementées, sont sensiblement les mêmes, la différence se jouera aussi sur l’aptitude à cultiver la relation client.

Pour fidéliser leurs clients actifs, et proposer une offre compétitive, les cabinets et études pourront chercher à identifier les tâches à faible valeur ajoutée afin de produire moins cher et plus vite (la technologie le permet facilement aujourd’hui, chez un notaire par exemple on ne doit plus avoir à signer autrement qu’en électronique la centaine de pages d’un acte de vente !). En restant performantes sur ces offres, elles gardent un point de contact pour amener ensuite le client sur des prestations à forte valeur ajoutée.

Mais aborder la relation client, c’est également évoquer l’expérience client. C’est-à-dire qu’au-delà du ciblage et de la connaissance client les avocats, notaires et experts-comptables vont devoir revisiter la manière dont ils offrent leurs services à leurs clients pour leur développement commercial.

L’enjeu ? Faire passer le client d’un « je suis satisfait » à un « waow ! ce qu’on me propose est unique ! »

Cette approche est déjà mature dans le retail et dans les activités non juridiques en B2B et il existe aujourd’hui des outils, des techniques et des méthodes qui permettent d’être performant. L’objectif pour les notaires, les avocats et les experts-comptables qui souhaitent profiter du nouveau cadre pour réellement développer leur business sera de se les approprier le plus rapidement possible afin de structurer leur développement commercial.

Et cela ne se fera pas en quelques jours de formation dans une salle. C’est au contraire une évolution qui réclame une action durable et régulière. Kestio répond précisément à ce besoin de pilotage continu, pragmatique, et permet non seulement de travailler en amont sur le fond mais également de rendre opérant les changements pour les inscrire dans la durée. Ses experts maîtrisent toute la chaîne de valeur de la relation commerciale et le format court et régulier garantit l’imprégnation des bonnes pratiques et la réussite d’une conduite du changement annoncée !

From "On Premise" to "Saas": after the technological leap, taking the commercial step

What is the best sales organisation for a software company today?

1. Leveraging current growth against industry leaders

2. Developing internationally

3. Recruit and retain the best developers

4. Financing R&D investments

5. Refine their economic and business model

In this context, it is essential for you, as an SME manager in the sector, to :

1- Plan, anticipate, forecast

2- Acting online and offline

3- Adapt my speech

4- Consistent actions to increase their weight

5- Don't forget the classic supports

6- Temporality

The ideal customer, a strategic point of view

The ideal client, a tactical approach

Explanations

Some keys to being really effective:

"It is not enough to be talented to be commercial

What are the areas of work for you to improve your sales performance? Get the first elements of answer by realizing your free commercial dynamics score by clicking on the button below:

Etes vous prêt à lancer cette démarche au sein de votre société ? Lancez-vous dès maintenant en obtenant gratuitement votre score de Dynamique Commerciale en cliquant sur ce lien :

Le changement de législation résulte de la convergence de trois facteurs :

Passer des besoins aux enjeux de développement commercial

Comment solliciter ses clients ?

Apprendre à gérer la relation client !

Prêt à vous lancer dans cette démarche ? Obtenez dès maintenant et gratuitement votre score de Dynamique Commerciale en cliquant sur ce lien :

Newsletter Kestio : Toute notre expertise commerciale et marketing à portée de clic !