The lights in the hotel meeting room are dimmed. I’m standing in front of 27 equipment finance professionals, ready to launch into a PowerPoint presentation about doubling sales volume. I press the play button on the remote control of the projector. Nothing happens. I press “play” again and hold my breath, still nothing. I’m starting to sweat. My thumb is frantically pressing the remote like it’s a morphine pump, but the screen is empty. Finally, I walk across the room, turn on the bright lights and commence the workshop with no multi-media.
We are living in truly extraordinary times. Exponential leaps in digital technology have changed the way we buy and sell. Accessing knowledge and
information has never been easier. Through the growth of mobile devices, lessees and salespeople can reach each other anywhere and anytime. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are advancing efficiency, forecasting and transparency in our businesses.
Unfortunately, the expanding digital revolution has given sales managers an unquenchable thirst for data. Sales representatives are becoming bogged down trying to fill in every blank space of their company’s CRM system. What happened to all the time we were supposed to be saving by using technology?
Many CRM systems are a burden to work with. They end up penalizing reps by labeling something a “lost sale” when the rep was simply trying to capture the customer’s basic information and there was never a “sale” to begin with.
The challenge is to figure out how to input and extract useful information and not drown in meaningless, mind-numbing data entry.
14 Tips to Increase Sales With Technology
The seminar that I delivered without the help of PowerPoint received my highest evaluation ratings to date. I walked out into the audience, looked people in the eye and gave a relaxed and spontaneous presentation. The audience was pleased to experience an interactive and engaging seminar. I was glad I didn’t have a heart attack when the technology failed.
Technology is an exciting and continually evolving tool, but it doesn’t conduct meetings or think through problems — people do. The beauty and magic of equipment finance typically happens in conversations with vendors and lessees. The proper combination of people, technology and capital is the future of our industry.
3 Replies to “Digital Revolution: 14 Tips to Increase Sales With Technology”
Linda: i had a short consultation with you a few months ago. I’d like to setup an appointment with you. will you email me, and we can setup an appointment.
thanks,
Utilising sales intelligence can be the next step forward into converting leads into customers and is certainly something to consider.
I really appreciate your hard work an giving us some information and inspiring others to follow.