It’s not uncommon for companies to have several account managers looking after clients in a related field. In fact, the best time to bring in a Sales PaaS specialist is when companies have vertical sales accounts. That’s because, while each account manager’s individual customers is unique, they all have similar needs and require access to the same overlay resources to deliver the product or service the client has bought.

Here’s how it works now. Each account manager builds a relationship with her client. The client says yes and then the work to close the deal begins. Meetings with busy, in demand resources need to happen. There are emails to send, phone calls to make, PowerPoints to create and notes to take. All vital activities that take your highly paid account manager away from making her next big sale. And with more than one account manager looking for time with busy resources, it can be a real challenge to make those meetings happen.

So, instead of bringing in a project manager to work separately with each individual account manager, companies with vertical teams can brings in one Sales PaaS specialist to work with all of the account managers on that vertical sales team.

A Step-by-Step Approach to Engage Vertical Teams

A Sales PaaS specialist is an expert in streamlining the entire sales process. While your account manager focuses on the sale and the customer, the Sales PaaS specialist ensures everything is completed and everyone on the team stays accountable. See examples of how Sales PaaS at Sales Beacon has increased revenue and streamlined vertical sales.

Meet with all account managers in the vertical team
Because each account manager is selling the same products and services, meeting the same needs, overcoming the same challenges and solving the same problems, the Sales PaaS specialist organizes and facilitates a meeting with all account managers in the vertical team to discuss the interests of each individual customer AND the overarching needs of the vertical.

Develop the Plan
Based on the meeting with the account managers, the Sales PaaS specialist develops a project plan including tasks such as action item log development and tracking, meeting and cadence call scheduling, prep for meetings, status reporting and communications and customer team engagement.

Bring in the Overlay Resources
Multinationals with vertical teams often use the same overlay resources for various projects. When a single Sales PaaS specialist works with a vertical team, she communicates with these valuable, busy resources, scheduling them for regular cadence calls with all of the account managers to check in on action items and discuss strategy during a single meeting, rather than with each account manager separately. The Sales PaaS specialist aligns meetings to be strategically focused so resources know exactly when they need to be in on a call to discuss their focus. This means people aren’t sitting through parts of meetings that don’t involve them. It saves time, resource burden and potential burnout of those resources.

Behind-the-Scenes
In between meetings, the Sales PaaS specialist take cares of the logistical and administrative responsibilities including the transcription of meeting notes, tracking and follow-up of action items, the status reporting and preparation for future meetings. And this allows busy account managers to focus on building relationships with their customers, understanding their needs and helping them drive their business outcomes.

Benefits of Working with a Vertical Sales Team

Companies experience a number of benefits when they have a Sales PaaS specialist work with a vertical sales team.

Knowledge Sharing
When account manager X deals with company Y, his knowledge base is limited to that single experience and the conversations he has with his customer. When account managers on vertical teams meet, they are able to collaborate and share information that can benefit more than a single account.

Economies of Scale
Holding a single meeting with all account managers in a vertical team, rather than meetings with each account manager brings companies economies of scale because less meetings saves time, energy and money.

Time Savings
Usually within four weeks, account managers realize the time and effort they are saving. Meetings are more strategic and tactical. People come with their actions reported on, allowing for a quick summarization of what’s been done and the next steps needed to get to the end game.

Account managers appreciate no longer being responsible for tasks such as the management of invites or scheduling meetings with multiple, busy people. It lets account managers do what they were hired to do: sell!

Account managers are deluged by administrative details necessary to close complex sales deals, but working with a Sales PaaS specialist removes that burden. By implementing vertical strategies, a Sales PaaS consultant can help your vertical teams fast track strategic sales initiatives; focus teams on account strategy, not logistics; and keep on top of deliverables to move every sale forward.