Module 10: Cisco SMB Support Assistant

Overcoming Objections

“I have a limited budget and I can’t afford to pay for support.”

This objection is common among SMB customers. They may have budgeted money only for the purchase of a product, and not service.

To address this objection, it’s important to ask questions that will help you and the customer better understand their environment.

Begin by asking questions like:

		How often does your IT team (or person) have issues related to the network?
		How do they resolve these issues now?
		How much time do they spend on such issues?
		What is the organizational impact of the downtime during the period in which the network issue is being resolved?

You can use the answers to these questions to help your customers understand the cost of downtime in their business and can show your customer how they can save time and money by adding support to their purchase.

Implementation of new technology creates questions.

Many of the calls that come into the TAC occur within the first few months of operation, while the customer is getting used to the new equipment and its functionality. More than two-thirds of these calls revolve around the implementation of applications on the network or human error. Without support, your customers would incur incident fees. An upfront investment in the Cisco SMB Support Assistant reduces your customer's overall cost of ownership. For example, the yearly fee for the Cisco SMB Support Assistant is typically less than one call to the SMB TAC.

Ask questions to understand what the customer is buying.

Is the customer buying a product (e.g. a router or a switch) or a solution to a business problem? Many customers think that they’re buying a product, when in fact they’re buying a solution to a problem.

Help your customer understand that looking at the purchase as a product may not fully capture the value of the solution to the business.

Help the customer understand how the features of the Cisco SMB Support Assistant program can reduce the amount of time their IT team spends resolving issues, and therefore save them money.

Remember:

		The portal customizes the information available based on the products they have installed on the network and the type of network they have. The information is written in easy-to-understand language. This reduces the amount of time IT teams spend hunting for solutions. You may want to demonstrate the portal to your customer.
		The Cisco SMB Support Assistant client provides tools to help your customer set up equipment, periodically check the health of their network, identify issues, automate configuration changes, and provide support information. The customer saves time and reduces the possibility of error.
		Without technical support services, your customer would have to pay time and materials for support. The cost of the Cisco SMB Support Assistant program is less than a few calls to the SMB Technical Assistance Center (SMB TAC).
		Advance Replacement eliminates the cost of keeping spare parts in stock should a part need replacement. Additionally, without Advance Replacement, the customer would have to wait for Cisco to receive the defective product before receiving a replacement. That could be a 10 day wait or more. Ask the customer what the financial impact would be in such a scenario.

Discuss the Cost of Cisco SMB Support Assistant in relation to SMARTnet

For customers who have limited budgets, explain that Cisco SMB Support Assistant costs a fraction of the total cost of SMARTnet. There are additional discounts for multi-year agreements.

Discuss Financing

You can attach Cisco SMB Support Assistant to the product lease or lease the Cisco SMB Support Assistant service separately for up to 36 months. This lowers the up-front cost to the customer and may allow them to purchase additional years of service at the discounted rate.

More information about financing can be found at: http://wwwin.cisco.com/FinAdm/csc/

Break Down the Cost into a Monthly Fee

Sometimes customers react more positively when they see the service cost as a monthly fee rather than as a total yearly cost. This may also help the customer to include service in their budgets. Have monthly cost information available just in case.

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