Selling Cisco Services
Contract Renewals
Welcome to the Selling Cisco Services Contract Renewals learning
module.
Cisco
Services
Program
This learning
module
is part of theAccelerate
Cisco Services Accelerate
Program, an
ongoing Cisco effort designed to help partners accelerate their service
For more information about the Cisco Services
practice profitability. The Cisco Services Accelerate Program includes:

Accelerate Program, visit
Training resources
www.cisco.com/go/accelerate
 Sales tools
 Incentives
More Info
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Selling Cisco Services Contract Renewals
The Selling Cisco Services Contract Renewals module is
designed to help Partners understand the benefits of
selling renewals.
At the completion of this module, you will have a greater
understanding of:
 Why pursue renewal opportunies
 Leveraging solution-led selling in the renewals
process
 Getting the timing right
 Next steps for accelerating partner success in the
renewals process
 Selling strategies
It should take you about fifteen minutes to complete this module. At the conclusion
of this module you will be directed to a quiz to test your knowledge and earn points
to increase your eligibility to win prizes.
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Selling Services:
Pursuing Service Contract Renewals
Renewal time is a critical contact point in the
customer lifecycle
 Opportunity to capitalize on the initial
investment in time and effort
 Potential to expand, upsell, and cross-sell
services and replace existing hardware
 Can help develop the customer
relationship, manage the customer base
and keep the customer loyal
 Opportunity to emphasize the value that
services can provide to the customer’s
business by addressing their business
challenges
Pursuing service renewals can create more sales opportunities.
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Selling Services:
Using Solution-led Selling to Capture Renewals
Partners who build an effective renewals process
into their Cisco Services practice are in a better
position to gain opportunities to:
 Increase profitability
 Improve productivity
 Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty
 Reduce risk in deploying and supporting
new and complex technologies
Selling service contract renewals is a process that requires organization and
planning, but can provide great rewards
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Positioning the Case for Services
The renewals process is an important time to emphasize the value that services
can provide to a customer’s business by addressing their business challenges.
Cisco Services can play a vital role in helping
customers to get value and return on investment
from their network by helping to:
 Lower the total cost of network ownership
 Improve operational agility
 Speed access to applications and
services
 Increase network availability, reliability
and security
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Applying a Solutions-led Approach to Selling Services
A solution-led selling approach can help partners
demonstrate the value the customer has
received when the time comes to renew.
A solution-led sales approach:
 Starts with a discovery or assessment
 Provides an opportunity to understand
the customer’s objectives and current
state of the network
 Provides the opportunity to agree on next
steps to progress toward the desired
future state of the customer’s network
Partners should use a solution-led sales approach to explore opportunities for technical
services, multiyear service agreements, and financing early in the sales process.
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The End-to-End Process for Securing Service Contract Renewals
1.
Identify contracts due to expire 2 to 3 quarters in advance
2.
Check contract accuracy, working with Cisco and the
customer to clean the contract if necessary
3.
Review customer’s business situation and service coverage
90 to 120 days before contract expiration
4.
Prepare quote and proposal for new services, renewal
services, uncovered services, and hardware and software
5.
Provide recommendations for financing options
6.
Manage objections and adjust proposal as required
7.
Close the sale on new and renewed contracts
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Critical Factors for Securing Service Contract Renewals
Securing service contract renewals is dependent
on:
1. Starting early (2 to 3 quarters in advance)
2. Preparation and management
3. Understanding the customer’s business
4. Starting communications early
5. Handling objections
6. Exploring renewal needs and opportunities
to upsell
7. Proposing a solution to meet customer
needs, including financing
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Timing is everything
Starting early: a minumum of 90 to 120 days in advance allows time to:
 Ensure the accuracy of the contract in the Cisco databases
 Clean the contract as necessary before quotation
 Forewarn the customer that a contract is coming up for renewal
 Engage the customer fully to understand their requirements,
handle objections and propose a valid solution
 Leverage Know the Network (KTN) to provide network
collections, a detailed inventory report and the installed base
intelligence needed to achive greater customer relevance
Customers with a variety of equipment and many types of service contract witll
require more complex negotiations and therefore more time – but they also
represent greater opportunities for upgrades, extensions and new sales
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Preparing for and Managing the Renewals Process
Cisco provides 2 tools that work together to help partners improve their means of
managing their Cisco Services Business:
•Cisco Service Contract Center
•SCC for Indirect Resellers and Disctributors (SMS3)
Cisco Service Contract Center provides contract management capabilities
such as managing contracts and identifying renewal opportunities.
www.cisco.com/web/partners/services/resources/CSCC/index.html
SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3) provides a globally
consistent method to order, manage and register new and renewal service
contracts.
www.cisco.com/public/scc
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Understand the Customer’s Business Needs
Success lies in getting the details right - leverage the Cisco Service Contract
Center and support it with additional research.
A basic understanding of the customer’s business and any changes can help
to identify issues that increase the criticality of the network and support the
business case.
Renewals time is an important opportunity to:
 Re-engage with the customer
 Understand the customer’s business needs
 Revalidate the customer’s business challenges, networking
requirements and service coverage models
Partners that have a better understanding of their customer’s situation will be in an
excellent position to retain them as customers
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Starting the Communications
Tailor the approach to the customer
Larger customers
Smaller customers
Customers with a variety of equipment
and different types of service contract
will require more complex negtotiations
and face-to-face meetings to secure
renewals.
For customers with few devices, the
renewals sales process will typically
revolve aound letters, emails and
telesales scripts rather than face-to-face.
First contact: No later than 60 days
before contract expiry
Reminder: 15 days before expiry
First contact: No later than 30 days
before contract expiry
Second contact: Upon contract expiry
Follow-up: 30 days after contract expiry
Follow up: 15 days after contract expiry
for any remaining non-renewals
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Handling Objections
By effectively promoting the value of Cisco
Services as part of a whole solution upfront,
many common objections can be preempted.
Useful strategies include
 Quantifying the customer’s use of service
to date
 Emphasizing the potential business cost
and impact of network downtime.
For a comprehensive survey of objections and responses, refer to
Appendix A, “Handling Objections” in Accelerate Topic “Selling Cisco
Services in Turbulent Times”
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Exploring Customer Renewal Needs
Partners that have a thorough understanding of their customers’ business issues and
how they are evolving will be in the best position to propose a complete solution that
helps the customer meet their business objectives.
In discussions with the customer, explore their current renewal needs.
Is this a straight renewal of an opportunity to upsell?
 Have any changes taken place in the customer’s business that might
affect the way they are using the technology? eg
 If they have taken on more staff, is the existing service level adequate?
 Does their contract reflect the urgency of any replacement needs? Eg
NBD, 4-hour or even 2-hour replacment
 Have they added or replaced equipment that might need coverage?
 Is there any uncovered equipment in the network?
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Proposing a Solution
Where appropriate, the final proposals will include
 Renewal of any existing service agreements,
 New hardware and software based on the
customer’s evolving situation
 New service agreements for any uncovered
equipement discovered
 Financing solutions
Don’t forget to tell customers about the benefits of
co-termination and multi-year service agreements
and include them in the proposal
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Knowledge Check
Click on the correct choice.
True or False: A critical step in the process of securing renewals includes
reviewing the customer’s business situation and associated service coverage a
minimum of 2 weeks before the contract expiration date.
Click the Next button to continue.
Incorrect. This statement is false.
True
A critical step in the process of securing renewals includes reviewing the
customer’s business situation and associated service coverage model
a minimum of 120 to 90 days before the contract expiration date.
Good choice.
False
A critical step in the process of securing renewals includes reviewing the
customer’s business situation and associated service coverage model
a minimum of 120 to 90 days before the contract expiration date.
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Next Steps for Accelerating Partner Success in the
Renewals Process
Designate a service renewals
specialist.
Train staff in using the tools.
Identify someone within the organization
who can become expert at
understanding how to effectively
manage Cisco Services contracts.
Cisco Service Contract Center and
SMS3 are crucial tools in the renewals
process. Online training is available to
all partners at no charge and contains
vital information for effectively managing
Cisco Services contracts correctly.
Use the tools to manage the
renewals process.
Formalize and document the
renewals process.
Cisco Service Contract Center and
SMS3 help partners manage contract
renewals and create renewal quotes.
Identify the steps necessary to manage
the renewal process and document the
actions required at up to 12 months
prior to expiration, as well as
cancellation notices upon expiration.
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Strategies for Selling Service Contract Renewals
An effective sales strategy will help partners increase opportunities to renew Cisco
service agreements.
Click on each topic to view the description:
1.
Use a solutions-led selling
approach
The Cisco Smart Business Roadmap provides tools
to help guide solution sales discussions with
customers.
2.
Quote Cisco Services on every
solution
Make it a practice to attach services to every
quotation.
3.
Lock in revenue streams through Cotermination means arranging for all service
contracts to be renewed at the same time.
cotermination
4.
Sell the advantage of multiyear
options
Multiyear service agreements are yet another way
of adding value early in the renewals process.
5.
Sell the benefits of
Cisco CapitalSM financing
Offering customers a financing solution that
spreads the capital outlay over a number of years
can enable customers to deploy state-of-the-art
network solutions.
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Knowledge Check
Click on the activities that are considered effective strategies for
selling Cisco Services contract renewals.
1.
Use a solution-led selling
approach
Correct!
2.
Quote Cisco Services on every
solution
Correct!
3.
Lock in revenue streams
through cotermination
Correct!
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Resources
Cisco Services Accelerate Program: www.cisco.com/go/accelerate
SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3):
www.cisco.com/web/partners/services/resources/scc/index.html
Cisco Service Contract Center:
www.cisco.com/web/partners/services/resources/cscc/index.html
Cisco Smart Business Roadmap:
www.cisco.com/web/partners/sell/smb/smart_business_roadmap.html
Cisco Partner Education Connection: www.cisco.com/go/pec
SMB Partner Practice Builder:
www.cisco.com/web/partners/sell/enablement/smbpracticebuilder.html
Steps to Success: www.cisco.com/go/stepstosuccess
Cisco Services Community for Partners:
www.myciscocommunity.com/community/partner/
Cisco Services for Small and Medium Business:
www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/ps6888/serv_category_home.html
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Resources (continued)
Cisco Services:
www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/svcs/services_area_root.html
Cisco E-Consulting for Partners: www.cisco.com/go/e-consulting
Navigate to Accelerate:
www.cisco.com/web/partners/pr46/other_nav.html
Cisco Capital: www.cisco.com/go/ciscocapital
Services for Partners: www.cisco.com/web/partners/services/index.html
Cisco Product Warranties:
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/prod_warranties_listing.html#~comparison
Cisco Partner Central: www.cisco.com/web/partners/index.html
Service Finder: www.cisco-servicefinder.com
Service Availability Matrix: www.cisco.com/techsupport/sam
Legal Contract Service Descriptions: www.cisco.com/legal/services.html
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Conclusion
Congratulations, you have completed the Selling Cisco Services Contract
Renewals learning module.
At this point you have the option of reviewing this module, taking the quiz or
searching for another topic.
Cisco Services Accelerate Program
For more information about the Cisco Services Accelerate Program and to gain access
to comprehensive training resources on this topic and other Cisco Services topics, visit
www.cisco.com/go/accelerate.
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