Posted in

Finding the IoT Sales Experts of the World

by Francisco Maroto•

After years of evangelization and waiting for the promises of the Internet of Things (IoT) to come true it seems that we are finally close to reaching the trough of disillusionment phase. We begin to forget all the hype generated so far and focus on reality. A harsh reality that involves selling IoT and not continuing selling smoke anymore.

THE TIME TO SELL IoT IS NOW

Selling the Internet of Things is perhaps more complex than the sale of other disruptive technologies such as Big Data, Cloud or AI and maybe as complex as Blockchain today. In the article Welcome to the first Selling IoT Master Class! I commented how it should be the evolution of M2M Vendors to sell the Internet of Things and how it should be the evolution of IT Technology Vendors to sell IoT. However, many of these companies still have difficulty in forming and finding good (re)sellers of IoT.

The truth is that nowadays it does not make any sense to sell IoT as a technology. Enterprise buyers only want to buy solutions that provide measurable business outcomes while, on the other side, many IoT Vendors only want to sell their portfolio of products and services that have been categorized under the umbrella of IoT, either as quickly as possible or at the lowest possible cost.

During past 5 years, I have been analysing how IoT companies sell their products and services. Some of my customers (Start-ups, Device vendors, Telco Operators, Platform vendors, Distributors, Industry Applications, System Integrators) requested me to create IoT sales material to train their sales team about how to sell their IoT solutions and services. And sometimes I also helped Head Hunters or customers searching for IoT sales experts.

Based on this varied experience I have launched this year a new service: IoT Sales Workshops to help companies train their internal teams in how to sell IoT.

Here are some of the lessons I learned:

  • There is a time to act as an IoT Sales generalist and a time to act as an IoT Specialist.
  • You need to adapt the IoT storytelling based on your audience.
  • Being an IoT expert is not synonymous to being successful in selling IoT.
  • You need to show how companies can get more out of IoT by solving a specific business problem.
  • Make it easy for the customer to see the benefits of your IoT product or IoT service and what is the value you are adding.
  • Given the complexity and specialization of IoT by vertical, explain companies the need to focus more closely on business cases, on their IoT business model as well as the ROI over three to four years before jumping into technology.
  • You need to be patient because IoT selling is not easy and it takes time to align strategy and business needs with the IoT products and services you are selling.
  • Build a strong ecosystem and make it easy for the customer to adopt an end to end IoT solution collaborating with your partners.
  • Train your IoT Business and Technical experts to get better at telling stories. Design a new marketing and sales communications playbook. Keep it simple. Build your narrative from the foundation up “ one idea at a time.
  • If you want an IoT sales expert you need to pay for it (do not expect miracles from external sales agents working on commission base).
  • IoT Sales is a full-time job. You will not have time to other enterprise activities.
  • Selling IoT to large enterprises is a teamwork process.
  • Be Persistent. Do not expect big deals soon.
  • Be Passionate, Be Ambitious, Be Disruptive to sell IoT.

Summary

I do not consider myself an IoT sales expert. And of course, neither a superman of sales. In fact, I have shied away from classifying myself in the role of a pure salesperson even though over time, I have given a weight and value to this work that once seemed derogatory to me.

Selling the Internet of Things is not easy. In a few years, we will have forgotten the word IoT and we will be selling new hypes, but in the meantime, you need to be prepared for disillusionment, long sales cycles and a lot of work with sometimes poor results. However, I do not know if it will be 2020, suddenly if you persevere you probably will be awarded as the best IoT sales expert and you finally will earn a lot of money.

Be Persistent, Be Passionate, Be Ambitious, Be Disruptive to sell IoT

Thanks for your Likes and Shares

Francisco Maroto is CEO and founder at OIES Consulting, an IoT Consulting and Business Development company.

Business/technology executive with rigorous cross functional leadership experience in driving solutions for Telco, IoT, Edge Computing and AI.
Deep functional expertise in strategy development, product management, business development, alliances and partnerships.

Key Business Skills -- Creative problem solving | Self-Control and willingness to resist vacillation | Excellent Communication

Globally recognised as one of the top IoT and Telco advisor and leading voices on the state of the IoT market.

Prior to starting my own IoT Advisory firm, I lead the Telecoms industry working for leading companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Amdocs, SAP, HP, Vodafone and Indra.

Driven to advice technology vendors, enterprise customers and Startups in:
 - How to leverage emerging technologies and solutions to drive business and digital transformation initiatives
 - Business Development and Defining Go-To-Market Strategy
 - Establishing key partnerships
 - Develop new products and services with IoT, Edge Computing, AI, Blockchain, Cloud, Mobile and Data Analytics.
- Working with key customers

I regularly speaks at industry trade shows, conferences, and seminars and I write regular columns on IoT.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.