Using Technology to Enhance Sales

Zing! Using Technology to Enhance Sales Presentations

Question:
My sales manager wants me to carry a laptop on my sales calls and use a computerized presentation for my customers. I don’t feel comfortable with this. What should I do?

Answer:
This reminds me of a friendly discussion I had with my direct supervisor a few years back. We used to debate what the sales people should take with them on their calls. He insisted that our sales team should carry a book with an explanation of every product that we offered, and that the sales person should follow a systematic approach to their sales calls. I on the other hand insisted that the salespersons take very little and be prepared to talk their way through the presentation. We were inflicting our own individual preferences on our salespeople. In order to be effective on sales calls, we should be prepared with several different tools and be prepared to adjust to whatever is most appropriate for the situation.

Technology can be intoxicating. Technology offers many wonderful new sales tools. You have to remember that whatever support materials you use on sales calls, they're just that — support materials. Don't rely on any support piece to do your selling for you. Otherwise, why are you needed? If you feel uncomfortable using technology, talk to your sales manager. Don't use the technology until you are comfortable with it, or that discomfort will be communicated on your sales calls.

Every Customer is Unique — Today's selling environment requires a more consultative approach to presenting information. Sales tools should be utilized to pique interest, help explain concepts that apply to each individual buyer's unique interests and support solutions that you can provide to specific customer needs.
Whatever medium you choose to communicate what your company's capabilities, make sure it's flexible enough to address individual needs & solutions. If you use a generic approach you'll be communicating to the customer that you don't really care about their needs, only about what you can do. You don't need to tell your customers everything that you can do. You will seem more capable if you focus on what you can do to support their needs and emphasize those capabilities only.

If you are unsure about the type of presentation that you should make, ask your customer! You may simply say something like, “How would you like to see the information presented at our meeting?” or "Would you like to see a more formal presentation of our capabilities or an interactive exchange?" By gaining insights about the customer's needs and who will be attending the meeting, you will gain insights as to the type of presentation to make.

Laptop presentations are typically more "formal" than other sales methods. Don't let your laptop become a pitchbook. Here are some guidelines for utilizing technology effectively in a sales call or presentation:

Know Your Technology — If you are preparing a laptop presentation, be sure you understand how everything works and how to fix anything that could happen during your presentation. If you are not comfortable with the technology, take a class and practice utilizing it prior to your calls.
Make Prior Arrangements With The Customer — If you are presenting to a committee, or large group of people make sure that you understand room set up, lighting, power needs, etc. prior to arriving for your meeting. I was recently involved in a competitive sales situation. I saw my competition leaving with suitcase in hand prior to my meeting. When I was greeted by who is now my client, she expressed how frustrated she was with the sales person. She went on to explain that she didn't know they were planning on using a projector system, they spent valuable presentation time setting up, their system crashed three times and all while the president of her company waited patiently for an interactive discussion of their needs.
Choose your written words sparingly—Use bullet points and talk to these points. Don't read to the customer. If you have technical information that you think the customer needs consider leaving a handout when you leave. Or, send information prior to your presentation for your customer to read, and be prepared to discuss the information at your meeting. Use a serif font, they are easier to read. Be sure to incorporate all learning styles into your copy. Use words that will help visuals see, auditories hear and kinesthetics feel what you can do for them.
Involve the Customer — Plan questions that you can ask the group to engage them in your presentation. If you are working one on one with the customer, technology can be a wonderful way for the customer to customize their own solutions. For instance, formulas calculating return on investment are a wonderful way to emphasize cost-benefit relationships in a meaningful way for the customer. If you are working with a kinesthetic (a customer who prefers hands on) invite them to operate the system and enter information.
Emphasize Value for The Customer — Too many presentations focus on features and benefits. Take it a step further by emphasizing value. In otherwords, why should the customer care? Use value statements as bullet points and talk about how you accomplish those values through the benefits and features of your products. For instance if you were selling a car you may want to emphasize cruise control. The value of which is lack of fatigue from driving, the benefit is that you don't have to break and accelerate, and the feature is cruise control which enables you to accomplish this.
Your Technology Should Be Transparent — Regardless of the sales tools that you employ, they should be transparent to the customer. If the customer is focusing more on your medium than on the solutions that you can provide, you've missed the boat. Afterall, you're not selling Powerpoint are you?

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