Are You A Master? Take The Quiz And Find Out!
Questions and Answers
- 1.
When selling managed services, it helps to explain how your service can help your customer reduce staff.
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
You want to avoid discussions about reductions in staff - let the customer come to that conclusion on his own.Rate this question:
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- 2.
The most important component of your Managed Services department is
- A.
Your monitoring system
- B.
Your ticketing system
- C.
A Runbook
- D.
Your technicians
Correct Answer
C. A RunbookExplanation
99% of you will say "your technicians", but in this case the correct answer is a Runbook. The Runbook is the foundation on which your managed services team operates. Without a Runbook, even the best technicians will have a difficult time providing the consistency necessary to run an elite Managed Services operation. A Runbook makes less talented technicians far more effective than they would otherwise be, and it makes your best technicians even better. The others are important, but they are not the most important.Rate this question:
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- 3.
It's important to make sure your customers can easily get in touch with your technicians
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
You don't want your customers contacting your technicians directly. Your technicians want to help their customers, and they'll end up doing "free" work, and working more hours. Worse, calls won't get logged, SLAs will get missed, and the team won't be in the loop with what's going on. Have your customer follow an identical support process that doesn't involve getting in touch with your technicians.Rate this question:
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- 4.
What is the BEST way to track service utilization?
- A.
Number of billable hours worked per technician
- B.
Amount of service revenue billed per technician
- C.
Number of billable hours worked by the entire service team
- D.
Amount of service revenue billed by the entire service team
Correct Answer
D. Amount of service revenue billed by the entire service teamExplanation
Service Utilization is a measure of how effective the service team is. Ideally your service team should be billing 3x the combined salary of the entire service team.
You want to know the amount of revenue service team brings in as a whole.
Tracking by billable hours worked, or service revenue billed per technician is difficult to track accurately, creates friction during "non-billable" work, and affects customer service.
Tracking by billable hours worked by the entire service team is easier to track accurately, and is a good statistic to have for other reasons, but it is too focused on a "one to one" ratio of available billable time to revenue billed, which is limiting.
The best way to track individual utilization is to track total hours worked (of all kinds) by technicianRate this question:
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- 5.
Your engineers should be selling services to customers whenever possible
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
You don't want your engineers acting as sales reps. Your customer views your engineer as an expert - not a sales rep. If your engineer tries to sell services to customers, then that view will change.
Have your engineer look for services, and work directly with the sales rep to engage the customer.Rate this question:
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- 6.
When selling managed services, it's a good strategy to highlight the tools you use to deliver the services
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
Whenever possible, you want to avoid talking about the tools. Focusing on the tools will lock you into a comparison argument, and it will be difficult to change your tools later on down the road if you desire to do so.
It's better to focus on the service you provide instead of the tool you use to provide the service.Rate this question:
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- 7.
Your service team should have incentives based on billable hours worked
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
Tracking by hours focuses them on a one-to-one ratio and causes friction on the team. Focus on total revenue instead.Rate this question:
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- 8.
Out of the following, on what should your sales reps focus first:
- A.
Selling service projects
- B.
Selling products
- C.
Selling managed services
Correct Answer
A. Selling service projectsExplanation
It is far easier to attach a managed service to a project at the time of sale, therefore your reps should focus on selling service projects first, and attach managed services to those projects.
If it is obvious that a particular opportunity has no service project potential (i.e. straight procurement) then focus can be on the product, ideally with a connected managed service.
Managed Services, while more lucrative in the long run, are typically more difficult to sell on a standalone basis, and are generally outside of the comfort zone of most sales reps.
The key word here is "focus" - your GOAL is to sell managed services, but the focus should be on the easiest way to sell those managed services.Rate this question:
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- 9.
Small managed service contracts add little value in comparison to the cost to run them
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
Small, targeted contracts can make money with little or no effort if built correctly.Rate this question:
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- 10.
Having a Facebook site should be an important part of your company's marketing strategy
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
Social Media itself should be an important part of your company's marketing strategy, but unless you have the resources and skill to dedicate to maintaining content on another website, you are better off focusing on your company website and spreading the word through other business-oriented social avenues such as LinkedIn and Twitter.Rate this question:
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- 11.
It is generally best to bill Projects on a:
- A.
Time and Materials basis
- B.
Fixed Price basis
Correct Answer
B. Fixed Price basisExplanation
Fixed price projects are more profitable and are easier to sell.Rate this question:
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- 12.
The best way to sell Managed Services is
- A.
As a standalone product
- B.
Attaching to a service project at time of sale
- C.
After a service project is completed
Correct Answer
B. Attaching to a service project at time of saleExplanation
Your customers are far more likely to buy a service contract when attached to a project at the time of the sale.
Selling managed services as a standalone product is far more difficult than attaching the contract at the time of a service project sale.Rate this question:
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- 13.
When selling managed services to a technician, what TWO features about your service should you stress?
- A.
Ways your service will help the department run more efficiently
- B.
Ways your service reduce the number of employees needed in the IT staff
- C.
Ways your service are a useful tool to the technician
- D.
Ways your service focuses on mundane and/or difficult activities
Correct Answer(s)
C. Ways your service are a useful tool to the technician
D. Ways your service focuses on mundane and/or difficult activitiesExplanation
The key to this question is "technician".
You want to tell a technician how your service takes care of the mundane and/or difficult activities, and that the technician can use your service as a useful tool.
You do not want to talk about how it will reduce the number of employees - that's his job you're talking about.
Talking about ways your service will help the department run more efficiently would be something to discuss with higher level management - Directors or "C-Level" executives. Individual technicians are generally not concerned about more global benefits.Rate this question:
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- 14.
Selling services is fundamentally no different than selling products
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
The two are totally different paradigms. Selling services is always about promoting value, and are difficult to "shop around". Product selling is almost always about the best price for a specific item.Rate this question:
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- 15.
Your primary managed services goal is to have a service available for as many service projects as possible.
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
A. TrueExplanation
Every service project should have a managed service attached to it.Rate this question:
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- 16.
Which is more valuable to the company? Guaranteed sales of $100,000 per month in products, or sales of $5,000 per month in new managed services contracts?
- A.
$100,000 per month in products
- B.
$5,000 per month in contracts
- C.
They are basically the same thing
Correct Answer
B. $5,000 per month in contractsExplanation
The contracts. After less than two years the monthly revenue from the contracts will equal the monthly revenue of the product sales, and the managed service will generate project revenue on its own.
Not only is the base revenue amount equal, but the profit margin on services is generally far higher than for products, making it much more lucrative to sell contracts.Rate this question:
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- 17.
A customer asks you to provide a specific Cisco VoIP solution, but your company has never done a VoIP solution before. Your best, most trusted technician is a wizard with Cisco routers and switches, and is convinced he can engineer a solution for the customer. The deal is potentially worth over $50,000, and customer is ready to cut a PO right away. What is a recommended way to handle this?
- A.
Have your technician take a crack at the solution
- B.
Refer your customer to a trusted VoIP partner, even if you will make little money on the deal
- C.
Convince your customer they don't need the solution
Correct Answer
B. Refer your customer to a trusted VoIP partner, even if you will make little money on the dealExplanation
Don't sell solutions that are out of your core offerings. Even if your tech is able to make it work, he will be the only one in your company who can do it. You lose trust when you sell this way.Rate this question:
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- 18.
It's easy to track billable hours per engineer
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
You can track individual hours worked, but it's difficult to track true billable time due to a large number of factors.Rate this question:
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- 19.
You want your monitoring service to look for as many events as you can.
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
B. FalseExplanation
Monitoring systems can look for an incredible amount of events, and opening the system up to look for as many events as you can will quickly overwhelm your staff.
You want to tune your monitoring service as much as possible - only monitor what you'll act upon, and discard the rest.Rate this question:
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- 20.
Which is generally the better method of configuring systems?
- A.
Ship the materials directly to the customer and have the engineer configure on site
- B.
Ship the materials to your site, configure them, and ship to the customer
Correct Answer
B. Ship the materials to your site, configure them, and ship to the customerExplanation
Whenever possible, you want to configure systems in your own warehouse.Rate this question:
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- 21.
You have a customer who constantly complains about your services, demands refunds, and is very specific about which technicians are allowed to work on their site. The service manager and sales rep have both tried to meet the customer's expectations, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference. Your other customers are generally very happy with your service team and the sales rep. What's the best course of action?
- A.
Transfer the customer to another sales rep
- B.
Fire the technician
- C.
Have the CEO set up a meeting with the customer
- D.
Fire the customer
Correct Answer
D. Fire the customerExplanation
You could have the CEO set up a meeting with the customer, but in this case it seems this customer just isn't going to be happy with anything you do, and the complaints are killing morale on your team.
Key to this scenario is that your other customers are generally very happy with your service team and sales rep - this tells you that, on the whole, your team is getting it right.
Some customers just aren't a good fit - it's better to fire the customer and lose his business than keep a customer who isn't a fit and who's complaints can do significant damage to your company's reputation.Rate this question:
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- 22.
The social media technique where you or your employees regularly participate in relevant forums in order to build a reputation as an expert is called:
- A.
Forum Selling
- B.
Social Selling
- C.
Insight Selling
- D.
Tweeting
Correct Answer
C. Insight SellingExplanation
Insight Selling helps you build a reputation as an expert by giving your insights on a specific topic.
Insight Selling is more specific than Social Selling, which is used more broadly as a way to generate a feelings of "know, like, and trust" toward a specific person.
Both concepts are important, and can be used together to form a powerful sales strategy.Rate this question:
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Our quizzes are rigorously reviewed, monitored and continuously updated by our expert board to maintain accuracy, relevance, and timeliness.
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Current Version
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Mar 20, 2023Quiz Edited by
ProProfs Editorial Team -
Sep 20, 2012Quiz Created by
Achievepros
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