Wish you were here? How to sell collaboration with scenarios
You might have seen it on TV. On Saturday mornings, tens of thousands of fans fill the arena. The green flag falls. Dozens of cars drive inches apart at 200 miles an hour, banking through hundreds of 30-degree left-hand turns. This is NASCAR, and it's two days of adrenaline-fuelled excitement, 36 weeks in a row.
Behind the scenes, though, things move even faster. More than 200 employees and vendors work together to produce some of the most popular sporting events in the world. To keep up with broadcast and race logistics, they need to stay in touch any time, on any device. So Microsoft SharePoint Online is their cloud-based digital cockpit.
This is a real world example of collaboration, powered by Microsoft. And it's the perfect way to tell the story, and sell what we have to offer.
Find their goal
What stands out in the scenario you just read? People, processes, and technology. It's not about any one of them, but how they all work together towards a single goal. Broadly speaking, this is what your customers want from collaboration. The first question you should be asking when building their scenario is: What's their goal?
If you read our security strategy blog post, you'll remember the conversation starters. These are top level talking points you can use to spot your customers' goals, and create the scenario that'll get them excited. If you didn't catch the post, or want a refresher, you can read it here.
For now, let's take a look at three conversation starters for selling collaboration scenarios in your customers' businesses.
Modern collaboration with effective teamwork
Connecting people to people. How do your customers' people like to work? With a strong foundation of security, they're free to share files, work on the move, and join virtual teams. So everyone's connected.
Employee engagement and empowerment
Connecting people to information. Do your customers get the most from their data? With a central hub, everyone can share their knowledge, brush up on their training, and streamline task management.
Business transformation
Connecting people to systems. What can collaboration do to put your customers in front? Business transformation finds new ways to use existing technology - and transform business processes.
The partner opportunity
Remember, these are just a few places you can start. Your customers will have their own ambitions - and it's up to you to find a scenario that fits. Make them wish they were here.
This is your opportunity. When you sell scenarios, not technology, there are lots of ways you can add value. Deployment, adoption, managed services, and developer and integration. You can use any and all of these to get your customers to their goal - and generate more profit for your business.
If you want to start using this collaboration strategy to sell scenarios to your customers, you'll want to get your hands on the playbook. Inside, you'll discover some more examples of successful scenarios our partners have sold. You'll also get more detail on the ways you can add value - and the Microsoft tech that can help - as you combine people, processes, and technology in your customers' businesses.