From the moment a potential new customer contacts you to buy SOLIDWORKS Desktop Perpetual license, your main target has always been to "close the deal", and the bigger the deal, the better. This strategy worked really well in the model of perpetual licenses. However, in our new SaaS model, we can no longer follow the same strategy. The focus has shifted to selling the right solution and nurturing the adoption of that solution by the client.

That's why Pre-sales engagement needs to align with this goal. You will need to ask the right question early to validate your customer's outcomes, evaluate their potential platform engagement level and gather crucial information from your customer to ensure a smooth onboarding process. Failing to address these 3 topics during pre-sales will lead to wasted time down the line, customer frustration and dissatisfaction.

🧑‍🏫 What changed in July 2023?

It is critical for everyone to be aware and comfortable with our Sales strategy. You can find here some recommended training and content for your team

It is crucial to understand your customer's needs, in their own words. The solution will have to answer these.

It is also strategic to ask questions to identify other potential outcomes, current or future, that the solution will address.

You should make sure that this information is recorded and shared with the CSM once the order is placed:

• During onboarding and beyond, the CSM will need to make sure that your customer can achieve their outcomes, to ensure effective adoption.
• This information will also be valuable to initiate value-up conversations.

We have provided a simple table to record Customer Outcomes in

More on the topic of "Selling Outcomes" in this 3DEXPERIENCE World 2023 presentation.

🌡️ Evaluate the adoption level

Because of the nature of the SaaS model, it is crucial that your customer adopts the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. It is your responsibility to make sure "Cloud Services" and 3DEXPERIENCE Works benefits are relevant to their needs.

We believe that all customers can find value in using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform from the "Share and Markup" workflow, at a minimum. Some customers will also be interested in "Store and Revise" and "Manage and Control".

To help you evaluate your customer's adoption level, please use this 2 pages document: "July Announcement Summary"

It's good practice to highlight the value of Cloud Services. You should also mention the activation process to access it, and the importance of completing it early to then have the platform ready when they will need it.
If your customer is already interested in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and has more complex needs, this wiki section will be highly valuable for you.

📝 Gather customer information

To meet your activation rate target, it's crucial that the process goes smoothly. The biggest source of challenges for activation is when the wrong person activates the platform. That is why it's critical that you identify early who will act as a "platform administrator" and explain to them what their responsibilities will be.

The next wiki section "Order to Activation" will explain how to correctly process this information in DSxClient.

📅 Sell small, Expand later

As explained earlier, the sales target can no longer be to sell as much as possible. Here are some reasons why "selling small" works better with Cloud Services:

• Selling the right amount of subscriptions will make it easier to achieve your activation targets.
• Only selling what your customer needs now will make it easier for them to see the value of the solution and adopt
• Research from TSIA recommends to "expand before renew": this strategy will grow your revenue and secure your customer's renewal. You can find more on that topic in this 3DEXPERIENCE World 2023 presentation.

🤝 Smooth handover from Sales to CSM

It is as crucial to gather customer information as to make sure that it is passed on to the Customer Success Manager.

The CSM will become the next point of contact for your customer, so to avoid duplicating efforts and asking questions twice to the customer, it is best for the Sales representative to pass the information to the CSM such as:

• Customer account information
• Order details
• Admin contacts
• Customer outcomes (present and potential)
• Customer Adoption level

As Sales, on top of ensuring information is handed over to the CSM, you may also want to consider introducing the client directly to the CSM who will continue to work with them. This shows the client how well your teams work together and should leave them with a positive mindset moving forward.

Conclusion

These Best Practices for your Sales team highlight the importance of collecting and then passing on information once the deal is closed. The Sales team should share all this information with the Customer Success Manager so they can nurture and grow the customer effectively.

The Sales team has a role that also goes beyond closing deals: they need to engage the potential customer with the value of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and capture crucial information to enable your team to nurture and grow your customer.