Nothing happens until somebody sells something. — Anonymous
I admit it. I love salespeople. There are few things more precious to an enterprise than someone who can create demand. I have also been using my iPad for a couple months now, and as someone who studied the productivity of field salesforces for many years (see my 1996 research article on Knowledge Workers and Radically New Technology), I’m convinced that it has the potential to boost sales productivity significantly. There are three main reasons.
- In my research, I found that when customer know more about the product or service being peddled they are more likely to buy more and buy “higher up” in the product line. Most product lines are structured in such a way that the more expensive products are also more profitable to the company making the sale. I studied configuration software and found that when a customer could “walk-through” a sales process, aided by the combination of a salesperson and a technological aid, the customer learned why they should care about different product features, and they bought them more often.
- The main problem with technology used in the sales process today is that it is too individual. Whether it is your iPod or your laptop, it is largely a solo experience. The great thing about the iPad, as my friend Chris Curran recently wrote about on CIO Dashboard, is that it is a potentially social experience. The iPad is easily shared by two, three, or more people and vastly more communal than a laptop is. This means that it can be easily integrated into any face to face sales process with the right training and tools. This type of tool enables a great salesperson to be even better, and helps raise the mediocre to good.
- In selling, you often need to integrate a tremendous amount of data — some historical and some dynamic. For example, the best salespeople have a very clear idea of what you have bought before, and what the current price & availability are. It is an old yarn in selling, that there’s no meeting like the first meeting. If a salesperson can go online and find availability, price, and shipping — they can often make a multiple-step sales call into a once and done. And as they say, time hurts all deals so if the iPad can help close sales by being the platform for all relevant data in a facile manner, its worth its weight in gold.
What do you think? Is there a recent sales experience in which you wish your salesperson had an iPad or can you imagine one? I’d love to hear your stories.
Other relevant posts & links:
- How the iPad is Like the Tesla Roadster.
- iPad: The remote control for everything?
- Seeking Customers — a collection of HBR reprints edited by me and my dear friend Ben Shapiro.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I totally agree with you regarding the iPad’s potential although I have yet to meet a sales person with an iPad. The only “sales” experiences that I have had involving an iPad have occurred inadvertently when others see me using my iPad — either reading or taking notes — and ask for a demonstration. Showing them how it works is a very social experience. In short, I see a huge potential.
Hi John. Another example (non-Apple) is MobilePoint which has developed sales applications on a tablet PC. Currently focused on medical devices and supply I believe. But same idea of providing information as well as links to ordering systems and other sales tools. As mobile devices become more sophisticated and mainstream these will be commonplace.
hi there,
brad, i’m glad to hear your experience with the iPad so far reinforces its potential. ed, i hear what you are saying, but so far, the other tablets are not as “cool”. i think the cool factor is important in making it a socially acceptable sales too.
best
j
Your comments and observations are very interesting. I think there is an application inour industry were we use a lot of data.
Dear Bill,
Sounds interesting. In what way does it apply to your industry?
Best,
j
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