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Wednesday 25 May 2011

Sales Presentation on the web using PRO-WEBPITCH








The advent of 'real-time conferencing' systems such as GoTo meeting are making salespeople more productive, empowering them to accelerate sales, reduce selling cycles, improve customer service, streamline communications, and control costs.

GoTo Meeting is easy to use . I have adapted some of their guidelines for salespeople ( scroll down for Goto meeting link at bottom of this post) .

It enables even the non geeky sales professional to set up online meetings and events in just a few minutes and allows client attendees to join in just one click.

Its free voice-conferencing service makes it simple to set up audio conference calls, and attendees ( both supplier and client) can get a single meeting ID number for both the online meeting and the audio conference.

• Performance - The Web conferencing technology that a supplier organisation uses to present and share its offering to customers and prospects is often perceived as an extension of the organization itself.


If customers or prospects have a poor experience with the online meeting , they
will most likely have a negative perception of the product that the organization is
selling.

(Scroll down for free Summary Buyers’ Survey of Salespeople Research Study)
For this reason, online meeting and Webinar performance is crucial in a Buyer / Seller interaction.

GoToMeeting offers an excellent collaborative experience that keeps customers focused on the sales messages.


Selling and Buying 2.0 requires systems that are simple to use, cost effective and perform well.


Here is a model that could prove useful to salespeople embarking on a virtual sales presentation on the web.
PRO-WEBPITCH

P lan Time of meeting
R egister ID details
O bjectives of meeting entered

W elcome client attendees
E licit feedback from attendees
B ig Picture Overview
P resent and Share
I nvite questions
T reat any client problems
C ALL FOR ACTION
H old de brief meeting offline

Here is a more detailed checklist adapted from the GoTo guidelines
Before the virtual sales meeting


If you intend to share your entire PC desktop to your client audience, turn off any instant-messaging applications, notification software or other programs that may interrupt or distract your audience for your presentation.

• Switch off any streaming media applications that may take up bandwidth and resource-intensive applications that may be exhausting your PC’s processor ability.
• Pre-Set your desktop display to a neutral background and adjust display settings to a mid-range resolution (e.g., 1024 x 768) to improve the display for attendees with lesser settings. This will also be the optimal setting should you wish to record the presentation.
• Tidy up your pc’s desktop before a meeting. Remove wallpaper and icons that may distract your client audience.
• Pre-load the documents you wish to share ready to be accessed in one or two clicks. Clients dislike being held in limbo while additional documents are being uploaded.
• Hold a dry run rehearsal with a team colleague to anticipate any questions and to acquaint yourself with the set up of your online sales presentation.




Running the Meeting

• Log on a few minutes early to greet your client attendees as they arrive and start your meeting on time. It also helps to have a welcome presentation running during this time. Your presence in these opening minutes can help establish the tone and direction of the meeting.
• Create a welcome message under the Meetings category of Preferences to greet your client attendees as they click onto the meeting.
• Provide a 'Big Picture' agenda at the start of the meeting, including estimated times, and keep to it.
• Explain to your client attendees what the purpose/goal of the meeting is, what to expect and when and how to ask questions and participate in the meeting.
• Issue information on how to use equipment or services and how to get assistance if needed
• Nominate a colleague or co-worker to monitor and respond to the chat log when someone is presenting.
• Encourage participation by using open questions such as “Who What When Where How...?"
• End the meeting clearly with a call for action if suitable. Ensure all your attendees know that the meeting is formally over and stay on the line to address any last questions.
Hold a de-brief meeting with your colleague off-line to ensure


Best practice in Conference Call management

• Phone in to the meeting from a location where there is little background noise.
• Switch off system prompts and sounds for when attendees join or leave a meeting. It is worth reading the Voice Conferencing section of the help files to familiarize yourself with the conference call features.
• Avoid using mobiles and cordless phones because of static and use the phone handset or a headset instead of speakerphones because of background noise, tunnel effect and sentence clipping.
• Switch off your call waiting. The beep of a new call on another line is heard by everyone in an audio conference.
• Don't put your phone on hold during an audio conference. The hold music will play into the conference call, and make it impossible for the other client attendees to continue the meeting.
• Introduce yourself when you begin speaking and ask other attendees to also identify themselves before speaking. Not everyone in the meeting may know everyone else’s voice

http://www.gotomeeting.co.uk/fec/web_meeting

Click for free executive summary of the Buyers Views of salespeople research www.tack.co.uk/executive-summary study


7 comments:

  1. Excellent Hugh, thanks.
    I have used Go To Meeting and WebEx alot within my sales role. They are a great resource and help in building solid relationships. I would agree that you do need help and support on large pitches. An example of this was a meeting I held via WebEx where I was operating a powerpoint presentation, using my company website and client website, whilst taking notes. It's useful to have someone to operate the technology on big pitches, allowing you to focus on content, answering questions and taking notes.

    Cheers,
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Mike
    What do you find good from a Sales presentation point of view with Webex?

    Good selling
    Hugh

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  3. Hi Hugh - good posting

    I used to use GoTo Meeting to do virtual sales presentations and found it really straightforward to use.

    'Webinars' as I call them are a great way of making sure you don't miss out on potential sales due to busy diaries and travel distances. But beware - a bad webinar is easier to do than a good one - you need to practice your presentation skills and concentrate on your delivery style.

    I really like the PRO-WEBPITCH acronym you've come up - great tips.

    Thank Hugh

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks

    Yes preparation and rehearsal is always key.

    Good selling

    Maybe I should adopt the sign off " Thank Hugh"?!

    Hugh Appeal

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a very useful artical and I am finding that this method of communication is becoming more popular not only for internal company communication but with clients. With so many platforms that you can use for these I would always recommend an internal run through before using 'live'.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes Practice makes Perfect!

    Hugh

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey, you can even use RHUB web conferencing servers for making sales presentations and conducting online meetings. It works well.

    ReplyDelete