A significant challenge faced by cutting-edge technical businesses is the misalignment between their ground-breaking product innovation and the lacklustre way they deliver their message.
For example, a space tech pioneer wants to talk about their advances across multiple service technologies. Their goal is to position themselves as a knowledge expert so they are attractive to their entire stakeholder audience – from potential investors to future paying customers. However, all too often their audience is presented with a ‘one size fits all’ approach to messaging that fails to capture their imagination. And these guys are developing amazing tech which needs to be showcased!
And here’s the challenge: how do we bring this innovation to life with an engaging, flexible narrative which delivers both understanding and excitement?
This initial 'discovery' discussion phase is a crucial part of the development process.
I want to understand the customer journey. How do they talk about their technology? What do their audience want to know? Then, we can start to create a tool for them which is captures their audience's imagination and engages them to ask questions. Instead of having to follow a linear conversation – one overly-detailed technical slide followed by another, and another – we can empower them to choose whatever direction they wish to take the conversation, bringing up explanatory animation or motion graphics whenever they wish.
Let’s explore this more closely…
Imagine being able to pivot the sales conversation any direction you wish.
Traditional sales presentations don’t allow any flexibility in which direction you’d like to take the conversation. There are a few key pivot points, where you or your customer might ask questions and change the direction of the conversation.
Possible pivot points include:
- Deeper dive: Start with a lightweight share of your content (5 or so slides), then gauge whether the prospect wants to take a deeper dive or move on to another topic.
- Decision-maker type: Some prospects are better persuaded by detailed metrics, others by big-picture stories and insights. Create content breakouts specifically for the roles you need to convince.
- Industry insights: Instead of trying to maintain numerous decks for the industries your company serves, create breakouts for industry-specific content that can be accessed at any time.
- Success stories: Why limit yourself to one pre-selected success story? Have all of them available and decide in the moment which will resonate the most with your prospect.
- FAQs: Scared of going flexible for your core presentation? Save it for the Q&A with a navigable slide addressing your most frequently asked questions. Fire away prospects!
Here's a recent client testimonial on the different taking this approach is making to how they showcase their expertise to a global audience.
So, think about the narratives you could tell to your customers, and how can you bring this alive in an agile, engaging way.