Technical Support Management

At Time of Product Sale

High value solutions selling includes the necessary services – training, consulting, support to make sure the early experience with the product is a successful one. A well trained sales force is effective at properly positioning services with the product sale. This can range from simple we will help you get started for consumer products, to full training and implementation services for complex enterprise products.

For consumer products a warranty or first year support offering is typically included in the product sale. For slightly more complex products it may be mandatory. For the subscription model including the SaaS, support is included with the product. To make this model successful, adequate training on selling services as an added value for the sales force is necessary. Crucial to successful services sales is a compensation plan that rewards selling all components of the offering at fair market value. Many of us have experienced the dreaded "give services away" to get the product sale.

Maintenance/Support Renewals

Several models exist for the organization responsible for renewals – from the sales force to finance to a specialized renewal team in the support organization. In more complex enterprise environments, the complexity of the install base implies that there is a substantial amount of clerical work to ensure an accurate record of the existing install base. By unhooking the renewal process from additional product sale, and having a specialized team, it becomes an opportunity to reduce the discount rates, and increase the annuity based revenue stream.

The initial contract should have a provision for "automatic renewal". The contract has language that indicates that at the end of the contract, maintenance/support automatically renews for one year unless notified in writing to cancel 90 days prior to the end of the contract. The renewal process is facilitated by a letter reminding them that the contract is about to expire, and cites the automatic renewal clause 90 days prior to expiration. This will trigger the dialog.

Effective execution of selling the value of services and resisting heavy discounts means an ongoing revenue stream that can significantly contribute to the gross margin of the support business.

Entitlement Checking 

Support should assist the Renewal process for follow on revenue by verifying that the maintenance/support contracts and payments are current in the support process.  This works most effectively when there is a dedicated renewal team to team with.   Read More.