Tablets will change how businesses sell

Opportunity Knocks

With a tablet, a sales guy can walk into a new prospect business with a tablet and: show a presentation, have a client interact with product features, show product images and price sheets email them on the spot.

If the sales system is set up for mobility a sales person could calculate costs, make estimates and have clients sign contracts for orders right in that office.

If I’m a company with a sales force, I’m thinking “Gold Mine.”

Tablets will change how companies do sales, no question.

We’ve been in a paper based sales system since…well since Egyptians tracked bought and sold inventory on it. We’ve seen a move towards paperless, but the technology that made it possible was still clunky and impractical for mobile sales. I mean what business owner wants to wait for a sales guy’s laptop to boot up just to see some product shots or a video? No, it was better to send him a link online that he could view later.

Now a sales person doesn’t have to miss the opportunity to watch it with him. It’s all readily available without all waiting and you can interact with it!

Hands-on swiping through interactive catalogs, image libraries and videos make products are making it more engaging and when planned properly it’s a dead ringer for a sales team.

Why aren’t we seeing them being used more?

Sure there are some companies and industries who’ve seen the potential and are using tablets for business. But with the forecast of 1/3 people having tablets by 2015 I find it interesting that I’m not seeing more examples of companies getting a jump on this for a head start on the competition.

Looking for examples

It isn’t just about a cool design or the newest tablet you are using. It’s how the tablet is used to support the sales activities and process that sets a company apart.

I’m heading off to the Adobe Max conference in 2 weeks to learn advanced mobile publishing. Much like the print world had to adapt after the introduction of web sites, graphics designers like me are having to rethink how audiences view and now interact with what we create.

I’d like to go with some examples of what’s being done on the sales front with tablets in businesses.

I welcome any stories of businesses who are using tablets for sales well. Do you have any?

Outsourcing Your Design Headache

“I hate doing flyers. I’d like to have an idea for a product flyer and a few days later have a sample for me to approve.
That would be great…Is that possible?”

Yes it is.
For many companies the answer is outsourcing.

I got into this business because I love what I do. Many entrepreneurs do the same, the trouble is we can’t be good at everything and the things we aren’t strong at drain our time and energy.

Creatives like me hire book-keepers because they can do the books three times faster, it’s right the first time and we are free to work on billable work. Outsourcing work to a graphic designer is no different.

You know your business

You know your market and likely have a sales manager or business development person who comes up with great ideas to go after those sales. The gap in growing sales with materials is often design.

Here’s some benefits of outsourcing design:

1. Saving time and money

A good designer creates templates that are used and evolve as your business grows. Templates allow for consistency and quality while keeping your costs predicable and manageable. Turn arounds are faster and with a schedule done in advance, approval schedules are more predicable. All of this without the commitment of hiring a full time designer.

2. Building your brand

With time and repetition your audience gets to know you and your look. They spend less time trying to figure out who is sending them information and more time paying attention to the product sale you want to tell them about. With each new edition they recognize you more. Quality and consistency builds trust and loyalty, a foundation to growing a business and sales.

3. Expand sales initiative

You and your team have the ideas, a graphic designer creates the materials to support it and get it done. Your team works on developing outlines for things like product sheets and catalogs while the design work is done. Your staff now have the time to get the sales you’ve hired them to get.

Outsourcing Communications

There’s so much more to business communications: Marketing, web site design, writing, media relations and photography are just a few categories. There is an abundance of independents out there hungry for your business and wanting to help companies grow.

If you are considering hiring a communications professional I highly recommend checking out the Halton Peel Communications Association, I’m privileged to regularly meet with this group of professionals. Check out the membership directory or post your request.

Of course, should you ever need a consultation for graphic design work, I’d be happy to talk to you

 

Surviving with pre-planning, help and a little luck

Sometimes it’s like the stars align and it all works out. It rarely happens without pre-planning on my part, but I have to acknowledge that there is an element of good fortune that must come along for it to work out without a hitch.

Exhibiting at the 2011 BNI Corporate Showcase last week was fraught with last minute clients, supplier snags and topped off with a fried motherboard on my beloved MacBook Pro… but enter the cosmos to give a hand and somehow I came out on top thanks to some help and pre-planning. Here’s how I did it.

I blocked time in advance

Back in November I knew this show would likely bring last minute clients, I booked only the bare minimum of work for the 2 weeks prior to the event in anticipation for the rush and when it hit I was ready. I ended up having 8 print deadlines within 5 days, only 2 had been booked the month before. All jobs were sent out on time.

Factor for Snags

I’m slightly crazy with this one. I always factor cushion time into every print deadline to offset potential snags – when display mounts were shipped regular instead of over night the problem was addressed and the delivery made in time for the show with just an hour to spare.

I had a Goal:
It kept me focused when mayhem hit

With only 5 minutes of final changes to make on my own trade show handouts, my computer died. With just 16 hours before the show, my own materials yet to send to the digital printer – I simply had to suck it up and reassess what had to be done. My goal helped ground me, prioritize my tasks and get focused.

I went out that night and picked up the show items and back up handouts I’d planned to get the following day and with that taken care of I was able to  put my computer 1st on my priority list the next morning.

I had a Wing Man 

I would have been sunk if it hadn’t been for my sales guy. Stuck at the Apple Store waiting for my computer to be fixed a mere 2 hours before the show, I was able to call him and arrange for him to pick up the late mounts and boards. He arrived to the show in time to deliver them to the clients and help me unload my own car and exhibit with time to spare.

I tell clients to always have a second person to help them man their booth, this week I learned they are also invaluable when trouble hits and you need help.

Lessons Learned

#1 Back up your computer. I kept putting this off – I’ll do it next week, tomorrow, etc.. I was VERY lucky my files were okay – needless to say as I sit here now – my computer is backing up.

#2 Do the best you can and learn to breath. Somethings are just out of your control, you do the best you can and learn to live with the outcome.

Special Thanks:
To the Square One Apple Store: They are absolutely fantastic. They honored my just barely expired Apple Care warranty and saved me $1500.00! They were fast helpful and very sympathetic. I am very glad I am a MAC owner.

C.I.M Solutions, Sean Jennings: For trouble shooting my computer way to early in the morning and getting me set up with my new Back-up system!

What do you want to get out of a trade show? Being Specific.

A trade show floor can be busy, crowded and create a sense of overload. How do you decipher what exhibits are important and who you need to talk to? Before exhibiting or attending a trade show, it’s important to ask yourself what your goals are. Your goals may change from season to season, but the core reason is always the same – business development.

To get real return on your time spent here are a few common goals and objectives companies use when exhibiting and attending shows.

Exhibitors

When designing exhibits for clients I always start with the question, “what are your trade show goals?” It’s important to know what you want and design to attract the results you are looking for. Some sample goals may be:

• Promote or launch a new brand or product
• Selling Inventory
• Establishing a defined number of prospects
• Booking a certain amount of meetings
• Doing market research
• Building a database of contacts
• Finding investors
• Building visibility with industry leaders
• Conducting market research

Once you know what your goals are, you can make sure that whatever you say, show or handout is geared to achieving your objectives. It also makes measuring the success of a show that much easier.

Attendees

Walking a show can be a strategic way to build your business. Having a clear outline of goals can help you prioritize what shows are must to attend and can be a great way to stay focused on the trade show floor. Attendees can in a very short amount of time find a great deal of information and contacts that would other wise take a great deal of legwork. Some common goals are:

• Booking  meetings with suppliers/distributors/companies
• Speaking with a  predefined list of industry leaders
• Signing up for specific mailing lists and industry information
• Keeping current: seeing new technologies and innovations in your industry
• Researching recruiting prospects
• Social networking: connecting and building your social profile/visibility withing your existing industry network.

What kind of goals do you have when attending trade shows? How do you measure the return and success? Feel free to share.

Does your brand need a prescription?

I’m often asked how I diagnose identities and brand health before I begin work with a client. Getting a quick impression isn’t as complex as some may think, there are a few key indicators to looks for.

Identity Health

This is the easy one. An identity is really just about the mechanics. Do you have the right pieces and do you use them consistently? If you’d like a basic idea of where you are at here’s what you can do:

1. Put together a folder that contains a sample of documents that in some way touch your clients. Ex: invoices, letterhead, envelopes, brochures, business cards, promotional flyers, catalogues, promo/sales kits, product sheets, etcetera. Anything that when seen by a client or target audience connects them to you.
2. Spread out the contents of your folder and check for the following:

• Is your logo the same on all the material? Shadowed on one and not on another, one is outlined another isn’t, or even two different logos from different eras.
• Do you use the same font in your formatting? Ex. same fonts for headers, same for body text in all the documents.
• Are your colours consistent? Certain colours are hard to reproduce, but if your blue looks green in one sample but purple in the other, it’s a hint that you don’t have established colours.
• Do you use your colours consistently? Ex. Your colours are used in graphs, headers all coloured the same, consistent graphics or lines in company colours, etcetera.
• Do your images match? This is harder to assess, but essentially you want them to look like they belong together. They can be tied together by colours, backgrouds, or subject matter. You want to avoid the cut and pasted look.

Brand Health

Brand is the impression an audience makes of you, so this is a little trickier to assess. What you want to do first is sit down and answer:

• Who is my target audience? Who do I want to attract?
  (Note: People often make the mistake of being to general here. Be specific, the more specific the better. I for example look for growing companies around the 3-5 million dollar range that are family owned of have an admin person doing the marketing flyer that they find stressful. The admin person is usually valued therefore they are motivated to find support for them, while they have the money to pay my rates and see it as worth the value if it will give them a more professional appearance.)
• What do I promise to deliver? Tie in the emotional component in here as well. My flyer says ” We help you Stand Out at the show.” What does your service or product provide?
• How am I different from my competitors?

If you don’t have the ready answers for these questions, there’s a good chance that your brand message and target isn’t strong. I recommend solidifying the answers, it will give you direction on how to move forward.

If you have the questions answered, spread out your materials once again (particularly sales materials) and ask yourself:

1. Would my materials attract my target audience, does it belong in the same arena they play in?
2. Am I communicating what I promise to offer? Is it included?
3. Am I presenting my unique selling features, benefits and differentiators in my materials?

This is by no means the full picture, a brand analysis goes further and includes all kinds of demographics and industry research. But on the visual end, a quick glance through this list should give you a pretty good indication of your brand health and if you should be looking at aligning your current business materials.