1. Selling Cisco Services Contract Renewals Designed for all Cisco Partners

2. Cisco Services Accelerate Program For more information visit:
Welcome to the Selling Cisco Services Contract Renewals learning module.
This learning module is part of the Cisco® Services Accelerate Program, an on-going Cisco effort designed to help partners1 accelerate their service practice profitability.
The Cisco Services Accelerate Program includes:
Training resources
Sales tools
Incentives*
Cisco Services Accelerate Program
For more information visit:
1 The term “partner” does not imply or signify a legal partnership relationship between Cisco and the Cisco reseller or other party. X
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*Incentives not available in all regions

3. Topic Overview
This module is designed to help all Cisco partners, particularly owners and managers and your service specialist teams, learn how to accelerate your success by capitalizing upon your initial investment of selling services by pursuing contract renewal opportunities.
This topic:
Addresses the process of pursuing renewals opportunities.
Provides sales strategies, best practices, and objection handling.
Contains information on the available Cisco tools and resources to assist with the process of selling service contract renewals.
It should take you about 30 minutes to complete this module.
At the conclusion, test your knowledge with the online quiz and earn points to increase your eligibility to win prizes.*
* Prizes not available in all regions.

4. Navigating the Module You can navigate this module in two ways:
Use the blue navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen to move through slide-by-slide.
Click the color-coded buttons at the top of the screen to explore a specific section.

5. What You Need to Know Customers’ Networks Must Always Be On.
Today, customers expect their network to be up and running 24 x 7. Downtime is simply not an option.
With increased reliance on a stable network to perform day-to-day operations, network performance must be at its optimum with little or no downtime.
Cisco Services play an important role in mitigating that risk and the associated costs.
The renewals process is an important time to emphasize the value that services provide to a customer’s business.
During renewal discussions with your customers:
Start by proactively promoting the value of Cisco Services.
Highlight the benefits of a services contract compared to the cost of providing network support internally or through the purchase of time and materials.
Cultivate your customer’s awareness of the benefits from services they have enjoyed to date.
If you help your customer understand the value Cisco Services brings to their business, then selling them a contract renewal will be easier.

6. What You Need to Know
Why are renewal discussions a critical contact point in the customer lifecycle?
It provides the opportunity to capitalize on the initial investment in time and effort made when your customer first bought a service contract and can help secure your organization at least another year’s revenue for a far smaller outlay.
It creates opportunities to open the conversation around upgrades of the service coverage, extending coverage to other equipment, or even replacing existing hardware.
It helps to keep the customer loyal to you.
Why renew services on time?
For your customer: Renewing services punctually contributes to higher levels of customer satisfaction as it prevents potential delays in service delivery which may occur if your customer’s service contract has expired.
For you: The timeliness of partner-led service renewals has a direct impact on your performance metrics and rebates.
Independent Cisco research indicates that the average service contract is renewed 3.5 times. Partners who have planned and implemented their renewal sales approach properly can secure significantly higher revenue for a far smaller outlay of time and effort than was required when securing the initial service contract sale.
Selling a renewal contract to an existing customer should be easier than selling a new contract to a new customer, but that does not mean that making a sale to an existing customer is a process that can be taken for granted.
Selling service contract renewals is a process that requires organization and forward planning, but can provide great rewards. X
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7. What You Need to Know Customer Business Benefits
The renewals process is an important time to emphasize the value that services can, and have provided to your customer’s business.
Cisco Services can play a vital role in helping your customers 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.
Renewing services in a timely manner helps your customers:
Make sure of continuous service coverage.
Protects valuable and often mission- critical network resources.
Minimizes entitlement issues when they submit service requests, enabling them to receive support promptly.

8. What You Need to Know Your Business Benefits
The potential to capitalize upon your initial investment of selling services: obtain at least another year’s revenue for a smaller outlay of time and effort than on your initial sale.
Pursuing renewal opportunities with your existing customers can help you manage your customer base by:
Creating opportunities to reengage with your customers.
Keep informed about their business challenges.
Uncover service opportunities.
Position yourself as a trusted advisor.
Contract renewals are important to your business because they:
Help build a predictable and renewable revenue stream.
Help enable you to use the relationship built during the initial sale process to extend your association and create opportunities for upgrades or modifications of existing equipment.
Help increase customer satisfaction and retention by protecting and optimizing your customer’s network investment.
Provide an added opportunity to illustrate the value of services to your customer’s overall business goals.

9. How To Get Started Applying a Solutions-Led Approach
A solutions-led sales approach is as critical when pursuing renewals as it is when selling the initial service agreement.
A solutions-led sales approach can help you:
Explore further opportunities for technical services, multiyear service agreements and financing.
Demonstrate the value the customer has received from Cisco Services.
Revisit your customer’s business needs and requirements and to discover new directions and plans, or to validate existing ones.
Contract renewals provide you with an opportunity to:
Build your business base.
Increase your revenue stream.
Develop your role as a strategic part of the customer’s team.
To do this, you and your customer need to have a shared understanding of the value received from Cisco Services and fully explore issues, concerns, and objections that might affect the decision to renew.
Using a solutions-led approach, and by consistently considering and introducing technical services at the right points in the selling process, you can improve customer intimacy and loyalty, and gain opportunities to improve your profitability. X
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10. How To Get Started
Addressing Services Opportunities from Network Discovery
The first step in a solutions-led sales approach is usually an assessment, or discovery, to build an understanding of the customer’s objectives and current state of the network.
This also provides the opportunity to formally agree on the necessary next steps to progress toward the desired future state of your customer’s network.
Network Discovery
A network discovery is a process that involves collection and initial validation of data about the devices running on your customer’s network.
A discovery process results in business intelligence that can be used as a foundation for decision making.
Inventory reports generated from a network discovery provide details of uncovered equipment and equipment approaching last date of support, so you can potentially propose new solutions, introduce a product refresh, and address service coverage.
Cisco offers a number of network collection and inventory reporting capabilities. To find out what is available in your region, contact your local Cisco account manager or distributor.
You can also use your own network collector during the process of network discovery to generate data that can be used to assess business opportunities in your customer’s network. X
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11. How To Get Started Contract Renewals Continuum . Term DefinitionX
Term
Definition
Last Date of Support (LDoS)
The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.
Active Opportunity
An opportunity that has not reached its service coverage end date or end of support date.
Overdue Opportunity
An opportunity is within 60 days after the service coverage end date. It is still eligible for renewal during this period.
Expired Opportunity
On the 61st day after the service coverage end date, the opportunity expires and is no longer renewable. If a service contract is taken up by the customer thereafter, it becomes a new booking.
Signed Opportunity
Service status of a new contract within the first 30 days of signing. Service level agreements are not binding during this period.
Important Links
Cisco Services Accelerate Program
Cisco Partner Central
Cisco Services for Partners
Cisco Lifecycle Services
Cisco Services
Cisco Technical Services
Service Finder
Cisco Service Availability Matrix tool
Cisco SMARTnet Service
Cisco Smart Call Home
Cisco Application Software Support
Cisco Routing and Switching Services
Cisco Data Center Services
Cisco Unified Communications Services
Cisco Unified Communications Software Subscription
Cisco Unified Communications Remote Management Service
Cisco Unified Workplace Licensing
More Info
It is important to make sure the service contract is renewed before the coverage end date.

12. How To Get Started Timing Is Everything Contract renewal process:
The most important aspect of successfully managing the renewals process is starting early: at least 90 to 120 days before service contracts are due to expire.
A minimum of 90 to 120 days in advance is recommended based on the complexity and size of your customer’s organization.
Engaging your customer to conduct a business review early in the process allows ample time to understand your customer’s requirements, handle any potential objections and propose a valid solution.
Contract renewal process:
Identify contracts due to expire at least two quarters in advance.
Check and make sure of contract accuracy. Work with Cisco and your customer to clean the contract if necessary.
Review your customer’s business situation and associated service coverage model days before the contract expiration date.
Prepare a quote for new services, renewal services, uncovered services, hardware and software.
Provide financing options.
Manage objections and adjust the proposal as required.
Close the sale.

13. How To Get Started
Customers with a variety of equipment and many different types of service contracts will require more complex negotiations to secure renewals.
They also represent greater opportunities for upgrades, extensions, and new sales.
For these customers, the objective is to obtain a face-to-face meeting well before the expiration date.
Pursue your customer aggressively for this meeting to help make sure of adequate time to discuss all the issues and propose a valid solution prior to the expiration of the service contract.
For your customers with very few devices, the renewals sales process will typically revolve around and telemarketing scripts rather than costly face-to-face meetings.
Begin or telemarketing efforts a minimum of 90 days before the service contract expires and continue until at least 30 days after expiration to increase the opportunity to secure renewals with these customers.
Whether your customer has a few devices or a large number, be sure to point out any devices for which service contracts are about to expire so they can plan and budget properly.
Engaging your customer early also allows time for you to make sure of the accuracy of the contract in the Cisco databases, and to work with Cisco and your customer as necessary to clean the contract before getting to quotation stage.
Utilize Cisco tools and take advantage of the reports to understand what opportunities are coming up and when, and plan your time to allow for account preparation before starting the communication process with your customer. X
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14. How To Get Started Preparing for and Managing the Renewals Process
Selling service contract renewals is a process that requires organization and planning.
Securing the renewal is dependent upon two critical factors:
Ensuring the customer recognizes the value of the cover they have had during the course of the contract period.
Smoothing the path to renewal time so that you can deal with any potential objections before the contract expires.
Your customer will expect you to know the basic details (product, serial numbers, etc), and the history of the contract. It is also important to make sure you are aware of any lengthy or unresolved issues.
Cisco provides a number of tools to help you better manage your services business and can assist you through the renewals process.
The following slides provide an overview of the available tools.

15. How To Get Started SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3)
Provides 2-Tier partners with a streamlined and globally consistent method to quote, order and register, new and renewal service contracts.
Includes a Renewal Business Summary, giving visibility into the renewal pipeline, enabling you to identify and act on high- value renewal opportunities.
SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3) 
2-Tier partners will be redirected to Cisco Service Contract Center from SMS3 when conducting searches from the drop-down menu.

16. Cisco Service Contract Center
How To Get Started
Cisco Service Contract Center (CSCC)
Used by 1-Tier partners to quote and book service orders and manage service contracts and renewal opportunities.
Allows you to focus your attention on selling and on providing service to your customers instead of waiting for reports, searching for information, reconciling prices, and re-entering data.
Cisco Service Contract Center   
Cisco partners who have a direct relationship with Cisco manage their Cisco Services contracts through the Cisco Service Contract Center.

17. How To Get Started Service Renewal Opportunity Reports
The Partner Opportunity Manager (POM) tool within Cisco Service Contract Center allows 1-Tier partners to look ahead at their service renewal opportunities.
POM functions by automatically pulling data from expiring service contracts, projecting opportunities up to 365 days in advance, while also updating contract data every 24 hours.
POM allows partners to create, edit or delete custom filter sets to sort through all of your upcoming expiring equipment.
Using POM, partners can download opportunity reports or have them ed automatically to periodically provide accurate, up-to-date renewal opportunity information.
Since partners are often rewarded based on renewals performance, effectively managing opportunities is important for obtaining greater discounts from Cisco.
To access POM, go to the Cisco Service Contract Center
For 2-Tier partners, the Renewal Business Summary within SMS3 provides opportunity management capabilities for resellers, and the Distributor Opportunity Tool (DOT) provides these capabilities for distributors.
Distributor Opportunity Tool 
The Distributor Opportunity Tool (DOT) provides Cisco distributors with centralized and standardized processes, online, on-demand reports, and timely and accurate information on their contract sales and renewal opportunities. The DOT is a platform that provides reports that can be downloaded on an “as needed”, “how needed”, and/or “what needed” basis. X
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18. Performance Metrics Central
How To Get Started
Performance Metrics Central (PMC)
A one-stop location for support performance metrics and indicators.
PMC provides online operational support data, performance metrics, and metrics detail to help you achieve best-in-class support performance as well as allowing monitoring of performance requirements.
Performance Metrics Central  
PMC helps enable you to manage your service operations more efficiently by providing up-to-date information about your operational performance metrics and allows you to fulfil your end-customer needs through timely and accurate service monitoring and reporting functionality.

19. What You Need to Know Starting the Communications
Having identified contracts due to expire at least two quarters in advance and undertaken your basic preparation by utilizing Cisco tools and resources, you then need to time your approach carefully.
In devising your communication strategy you should also consider the customer’s budget cycle. Communicate well in advance of the contract expiration to align with their budget cycles.
You also need to tailor your approach to the type of customer; larger organizations need to be handled differently from smaller businesses.

20. How To Get Started Starting the Communications: Larger Customers
120 days to no later than 60 days before service contract expiration:
Customers with a variety of equipment and different types of service contract will require more complex negotiations to secure renewals, and you might need to allow additional time for any contract cleaning that might be required. These customers represent greater opportunities for upgrades, extensions and new sales. The objective is to secure a face-to-face meeting well before the expiration date to give you the best chance of realizing maximum rewards.
15 days before contract expiration:
An essential reminder to those customers who have not yet responded to the first contact.
15 days after contract expiration:
If the first two rounds of contact are completed effectively, the reasons for any remaining non renewals should be clear. This last follow-up will secure a few late renewals from those who have simply omitted to sign on the dotted line.

21. How To Get Started Starting the Communications: Smaller Customers
90 days to no later than 30 days before contract expiration:
For your customers with very few devices, the renewals sales process will typically revolve around letters, s and telesales scripts rather than costly face-to-face meetings.
Upon contract expiration:
Remember, this is a percentages game; most will renew at the first reminder, but a significant number will need this second approach.
30 days after contract expiration:
At this stage, your customers either might be reluctant to renew or might simply be too disorganized. Many of the more disorganized ones at this point can be captured and discussions might still be underway with those who are more reluctant.

22. Strategies For Successful Selling
Validate your customer’s business needs.
Focus on the benefits of Cisco Services.
Explore opportunities to upsell.
Lock in revenue streams through co-termination.
Sell the advantage of multiyear options at every opportunity.
Adopt Best Practices
Avoid Common Mistakes
Always propose a complete solution.
Remember to use a solution-led selling approach.
Always sell the benefits of Cisco Capital® financing.
Be prepared in advance to overcome objections.
Don’t wait for contract renewals to initiate customer interaction.
Increase Your Skill
Manage the renewals process effectively.
Train staff in using Cisco tools.
Designate a service renewals specialist.
Formalize and document the renewals process.
Utilize Cisco Steps for Success.

23. Strategies For Successful Selling: Adopt Best Practices
Validate Your Customer’s Business Needs
The renewals process is an excellent time to revalidate your customer’s business challenges, networking requirements, and service coverage models, and to learn how your customer’s business has changed since they signed the initial service agreement.
Take advantage of network discovery to engage your customer. It supplies the installed base intelligence you need to achieve greater customer relevance.
Consider offering a risk assessment covering the stability of your customer’s network, its availability, and its security.
During your research analyze the history of your customer’s first (or subsequent) purchase of service. Did they buy exactly what they needed, or was there some compromise on service levels through lack of available budget?
This could be the time to re-open the discussion, especially since the move from one service level to another is not as daunting as the total initial cost of the higher service level.
If you have made use of Cisco tools and resources, the basics will be there, but a little extra research can more readily open up the opportunity for you. If you can gain a basic understanding of your customer’s business and the changes that have taken place since the contract was first sold, you may identify issues that increase the criticality of the network and support your business case.
Engage your customer to conduct a business review well in advance.
This allows ample time for you to understand your customer’s requirements, handle any potential objections and propose a valid solution.
Partners that have a better understanding of their customers’ situation will be in an excellent position to retain them as customers. X
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24. Strategies For Successful Selling: Adopt Best Practices
Focus on the Benefits of Cisco Services
Service is often positioned as a fallback in case things go wrong, accompanied by scenarios designed to scare customers into buying.
Your customers will buy service more readily if you show them the value it has delivered, or can deliver, given their business drivers and priorities.
Focus on the positive benefits of the Cisco services, showing how they enrich the functions and applications that have prompted them to buy the solution in the first place.
Services are an extension of what the solutions provide; a means of enhancing the value and competitive advantage that they deliver to the business, and protecting against a risk to the solution itself.
This core proposition can be reinforced with messages about business continuity, highlighting the potential cost of downtime in terms of lost business and wasted resources.
If you help your customer understand the value Cisco Services brings to their business, then selling them a contract renewal will be easier.
Service sells because customers need their networks. Customers buy networking solutions for what they do, not what they are. They want the benefits of lower costs, faster communication, competitive advantage and efficiency that networks can bring.
Today, very few businesses can compete effectively without some form of network, which means that nearly every business will eventually need networking service and support.
This is the principle that should underpin all your services sales messages.
For more information, see Accelerate Program topic: “The Value of Selling Cisco Technical Services.” X
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25. Strategies For Successful Selling: Adopt Best Practices
Explore Opportunities to Upsell
Explore whether this is strictly a renewal or an opportunity to sell additional products and services.
Discuss the changes that have taken place in your customer’s business that might affect the way they are using the technology.
Discuss changes in the network and identify any uncovered additions to the network.
Identifying any uncovered additions to the network helps you to increase revenue by selling services on previously uncovered equipment.
Example: In the event that your customer has taken on more staff, you can make a case for increased demand on switches and routers, meaning the existing service level might not be enough. If your customer has Cisco SMARTnet® Service next business day/same day ship coverage, your customer may be better off moving to a contract providing four-hour replacement.
Any item not covered by a service contract represents a serious threat to the integrity of your customer’s network and negates the value of their existing investment in service.
After all, what is the point of having new routers and switches covered when an old, unprotected piece of hardware could fail and bring the network down?

26. Strategies For Successful Selling: Adopt Best Practices
Lock in Revenue Streams Through Co-Termination
Where customers have purchased different service contracts at different times, you might find yourself contacting your customers repeatedly with the same messages relating to different pieces of equipment, which is a nuisance for both you and for your customer.
Co-termination means arranging for all service contracts to be renewed at the same time.
This is an excellent strategy for optimizing revenue streams and reducing administrative burden.

27. Strategies For Successful Selling: Adopt Best Practices
Sell the Advantage of Multiyear Options at Every Opportunity
Multiyear service agreements are yet another way of adding value early in the renewals process. Instead of having to renew every year, with multiyear agreements your customers have the assurance of uninterrupted service.
Offering a multi-year contract from the beginning improves your sales revenues dramatically with little added effort.
Facilitating more predictable cost planning for your customers can also strengthen your sales position and result in a stronger customer relationship over a longer period of time.
Tell your customers about the long-term value of multi-year service agreements, which include the ability to:
Lock in prices
Make sure of continuous coverage
Take advantage of discounts and incentives
Better plan and manage operating expenses
Improve cash flow
Reduce time spent renewing service contracts

28. Strategies For Successful Selling: Avoid Common Mistakes
Always Propose a Complete Solution
Selling Cisco Services contract renewals creates opportunities to upgrade or extend service coverage, or to expand the overall solution by selling new hardware, software, or financing.
By including services as part of a complete solution that aligns with your customers’ network and business needs, you can:
Position yourself to win additional equipment and service sales.
Enhance customer satisfaction.
Move up the value chain with your customers.
A renewals proposal will include the renewal of any existing service agreements, but the exploration of your customer’s evolving situation might also lead you to propose new hardware and software and new service agreements for any uncovered equipment discovered, as well as financing.
Partners that have a thorough understanding of their customers’ business issues will be in the best position to propose a complete solution that helps them achieve their business objectives.

29. Strategies For Successful Selling: Avoid Common Mistakes
Remember to Use a Solution-Led Selling Approach
Entering into the service agreement renewals process is a critical time to use a solutions-led approach. This is an opportunity to continue exploring:
Your customer’s questions about cost of ownership.
The effects of unexpected downtime.
The customer’s need to show a return on technology investments.
What a reliable network solution means to the long-term success of your customer’s business.
For your small business customers, Cisco Smart Business Roadmap for Small and Medium Business tools can help you to start talking about services as an integral component of your customer’s overall networking solution at the very start of the sales process.
The Cisco Smart Business Roadmap is a sales framework to help enable you to build long-term relationships with your customers by helping them address their top business challenges by developing a technology roadmap that provides immediate and long term results.
Use the sales tools and resources to learn how to take your customers through this planning process. X
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30. Strategies For Successful Selling: Avoid Common Mistakes
Always Sell the Benefits of Cisco Capital Financing
Always introduce the benefits of financing solutions early in discussions with your customers.
Offering your customers a financing solution that spreads the capital outlay over a number of years can help enable them to deploy the state-of-the-art network solutions they need to generate a more productive, collaborative environment, and manage their business assets more efficiently by utilizing short-term and long-term financing options.
Cisco Capital offers innovative and flexible financing solutions to overcome customers’ budget concerns.
Cisco Capital helps customers with their cash flow management by allowing them to purchase the services they need without large, upfront cash expenditures.
Cisco Capital can provide flexible payment terms that match your customers’ budget cycles. This provides a strong value proposition for multi-year service agreements.
Cisco Capital offers solutions customized to the needs of customers of all sizes and provides specialized programs for different geographic regions.

31. Strategies For Successful Selling: Avoid Common Mistakes
Be Prepared In Advance to Overcome Objections
Objections might arise through a lack of understanding of the level of service your customer has received under their service agreement, or they might not be fully aware of just how much they have benefited from their services agreement.
By effectively promoting the value of Cisco Services as part of a whole solution, many common objections can be pre-empted.
The more the value of services can be established upfront, the easier it will be for you to counter objections.
Useful strategies for countering objections include:
Showing your customers how much they have used their service contracts.
Quantifying the value that they have received.
Emphasizing that the cost of network downtime and/or time and materials expenses will likely exceed the cost of the renewal.
Pointing out the value that services provide in terms of solving their business challenges.
Offering multiyear or financing solutions to address cost or cash flow concerns.
For more comprehensive information on strategies to counter customer objections when renewing service agreements, see Accelerate Program topic: “Objection Handling.” X
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32. Strategies For Successful Selling: Avoid Common Mistakes
Don’t Wait for Contract Renewals to Initiate Customer Interaction
Cisco strongly recommends holding a customer business review on a quarterly basis rather than waiting for contract renewals to initiate customer interaction.
A quarterly review is an important time to stay in touch with your customer, learn about how their business needs are evolving and discuss any issues they have that affect your ability to keep them as a customer.
This is also a significant opportunity to discover new opportunities for selling services throughout the network lifecycle.

33. Strategies For Successful Selling: Increase Your Skill
Manage the Renewals Process Effectively
A vital key to success is having clear visibility to renewal opportunities available in the pipeline.
Renewal Opportunity Reports available from both Cisco Service Contract Center and SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3) provide actionable data so you can proactively identify and address renewal opportunities.
Based on your partnership relationship with Cisco, use either the Cisco Service Contract Center or SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3) tools to manage the renewals process effectively.
The Cisco Service Contract Center and SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3) tools help you manage contract renewals by:
Providing a summary of all items with service contracts that are due to expire within user-specified timeframes (30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etc) up to three years into the future.
Allowing you to view, sort, and select items to be renewed by customer, contract, or install site location.
Enabling you to create a service quote directly from renewal opportunity listings.
Allowing you to convert the renewal quote into an order.

34. Strategies For Successful Selling: Increase Your Skill
Train Staff in Using Cisco Tools
Online training is available to all partners at no charge.
Information contained in training courses is vital to effectively manage Cisco Services contracts correctly.
Training courses provides a wealth of information about pricing, managing renewal contracts, multiyear discounts, pro-rating and co-terminating contracts, consolidating contracts, and more.
For further information go to:
SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3)  
Cisco Service Contract Center 

35. Strategies For Successful Selling: Increase Your Skill
Designate a Service Renewals Specialist
Identify someone within your organization who can become expert at understanding how to effectively manage Cisco Services contracts.
This is an administrative role and does not require a technical background.
The service renewals specialist should be an expert at navigating the tools, should be an effective time manager, and should have excellent organizational skills.

36. Strategies For Successful Selling: Increase Your Skill
Formalize and Document the Renewals Process
Best practice: Leading partners 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.
You should define and document your own processes and customer communications templates so that the approach can be replicated.

37. Strategies For Successful Selling: Increase Your Skill
Utilize Cisco Steps to Success
Business owners and managers will benefit from utilizing Leading Practices for Partners and Service Practice Templates available from the Steps for Success website.
Leading Practices for Partners and Service Practice Templates are designed for Cisco partners who want to build, grow, or expand their services business.
You can use these resources on any project to enhance your delivery capabilities and reduce your time to market.
To access Steps to Success, visit:
Steps to Success
A Web-based resource that provides Cisco partners with step-by-step methodologies for selling and delivering service and support throughout the network lifecycle.
The Steps to Success portal is divided into technology areas, with step-by-step tasks for selling, delivering, and supporting each technology presented by lifecycle phase.
Partners can download a full complement of resources, from how-to-sell and why-to-buy presentations to tools, templates, checklists, guides, manuals, articles, case studies, Q&As, and white papers

38. Before You Meet with Your Customer
Action Plan
Before You Meet with Your Customer
Identify contracts due to expire at least two quarters in advance.
Review your customer’s business situation and associated service coverage model 90–120 days before the contract expiration date.
Begin or telemarketing efforts a minimum of 90 days before the service contract expires and continue until at least 30 days after expiration
Secure face-to-face meetings a minimum of 90 to 120 days in advance of service contract expiration date.
Check and make sure of contract accuracy. Work with Cisco and your customer to clean the contract if necessary before getting to quotation stage.
Prepare a quote and proposal for new services, renewal services, uncovered services, hardware and software.

39. During Conversations with Your Customer
Action Plan
During Conversations with Your Customer
Promote the benefits of Cisco Services early in your sales conversation.
Quantify your customer’s use of service to date and emphasizing the potential business cost and effects of network downtime.
Introduce an assessment, or discovery, to build an understanding of your customer’s objectives and current state of the network.
Use a solutions-led sales approach to explore further opportunities for technical services, multiyear service agreements and financing.
Make sure that your discussions on products, services, and financing always map to the higher level business needs that your customer must address.
Discuss co-termination for all service contracts to be renewed at the same time.
Propose a solution to meet your customer’s requirements.
Include a financing option that can help to position the benefits of multiyear renewals.
Manage objections and adjust the proposal as required.

40. Before You Close the Deal
Action Plan
Before You Close the Deal
Explore opportunities to upsell.
Offer multiyear service agreements.
Offer Cisco Capital financing solutions.
Arrange for all service contracts to be renewed at the same time.
Counter any objections.
Recommend a quarterly review to stay in touch with your customer to make sure their business needs are evolving.

41. Further Resources
The following Accelerate Program topics help you expand on the knowledge you have gained during this learning topic:
1-Tier Partners: Services Contract Management
1-Tier Partners: Services Estimates and Quotes
2-Tier Partners: Creating Service Quotes and Contracts
The Value of Selling Cisco Technical Services
Selling Multiyear Cisco Service Agreement
Selling Cisco Capital Finance Services
Objection Handling
Cisco Partner Practice Builder
Visit the Cisco Services Accelerate Program  website to access additional training material that can enhance your knowledge related to this topic.  

42. Important Links Cisco Services Accelerate Program
Cisco Partner Central
Cisco Services for Partners
Cisco Capital Partner Portal
Cisco Partner Marketing Central
Cisco Technical Services
Service Finder
SCC for Indirect Resellers and Distributors (SMS3)
Cisco Service Contract Center
Performance Metrics Central
Steps to Success
Legal Contract Service Description
Cisco Online Privacy Statement
Important Links
Cisco Services Accelerate Program
Cisco Partner Central
Cisco Services for Partners
Cisco Lifecycle Services
Cisco Services
Cisco Technical Services
Service Finder
Cisco Service Availability Matrix tool
Cisco SMARTnet Service
Cisco Smart Call Home
Cisco Application Software Support
Cisco Routing and Switching Services
Cisco Data Center Services
Cisco Unified Communications Services
Cisco Unified Communications Software Subscription
Cisco Unified Communications Remote Management Service
Cisco Unified Workplace Licensing

43. Congratulations, you have completed the Selling Cisco Services Contract Renewals learning module.
At this point you have the choice of reviewing this module again, or challenging your knowledge by taking the online quiz. You also have the option of taking the quiz at another time.
Cisco Services Accelerate Program
For more information about the Cisco Services Accelerate Program, and to gain access to comprehensive training resources on this, and other Cisco Services topics, visit:
Congratulations, you have completed the learning module.
At this point you have the option of reviewing this module again, or challenging your knowledge by taking the online quiz. You also have the option of taking the quiz at another time.
Cisco Services Accelerate Program
For more information about the Cisco Services Accelerate Program, and to gain access to comprehensive training resources on this, and other Cisco Services topics, visit: