What if Willie Loman, Blake & Lou Gehrig Had Power Point?
"Death of a Salesman" is back on Broadway starring Brian Dennehey as Willie Loman. Ever wonder what poor Willie's selling techniques would be like today, roughly a half-century after Arthur Miller wrote the famous play? He'd certainly be armed with more than the product samples he lugged around in his tired old brief case. Today's Willie would carry a lap top computer. And, you guessed it, that lap top would be programmed with a Microsoft Power Point presentation promoting his product line.
Indeed, all an Information Age Willie would need to do is click on the "Wizard" in Power Point and choose "Presenting a Product or Service". Then, step-by-step, Microsoft partner Dale Carnegie will lead him through one of their "High Impact" presentations.
In order, Willie's slides would be titled: Product Name, Overview, Features & Benefits, Applications, Specifications, Pricing & Availability. Each slide appears on Willie's choice of a richly hued background with the main point supported by just the right number of bullets appearing in the recommended font and style. Willie can switch his brain off and let Microsoft and Dale Carnegie do his thinking for him.
The less famous, but to me even more compelling theatrical figure of sales, is Blake of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. Immortalized by Alec Baldwin on screen, I wonder how Blake would incorporate technology into his motivational talks?
"Put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers.
Mitch & Murray sent me here because you guys aren't using your Power Points.
(Answering Ed Harris) Why me? Because my Power Point presentations helped me make $950,000 last year. How much did you make?
I could go out tonight with the Power Point presentation you got and make $15,000! (To Alan Arkin) Could you?
A guy don't let you open your lap top lest he wants to buy. (To Lemmon) Are you man enough to make him sit through the slides?
Now, let me show you tonight's Power Point on:
Slide One: "This Month's Sales Contest"
Slide Two: "First place is a Cadillac"
Slide Three: "Second prize… a set of steak knives"
Slide Four: "Third prize…. You're fired"
Oh, did my Power Point get your attention …..
Oh yes, the ubiquitous Power Point. Hasn't it done for presentations what word processing did for written communication? That is, make them easy to prepare in a professional looking fashion.
Applying a SST® lens helps us see the limitations of Power Point presentations. While they appeal to Sensors of the population they can be a bad fit for those of who prefer Intuition for taking in information. Sensors like information that is presented in a step-by-step fashion loaded with specific facts and figures. Knowing that they will get to pricing in slide six, will put them at ease.
On the other hand, Intuitive types like to be free to make associations, or Intuitive leaps. During slide four's "Applications", they may want to explore novel ways of using your product and not want to go immediately to "Specifications" in slide five.
Power Point presentations not only numb the creativity characteristic of Intuitives, but they are also devoid of the emotional connection important to Feeling preferred decision makers. Can you imagine if New York Yankee immortal Lou Gehrig had used Power Point for his famous farewell?
For those of you who aren't baseball fans, Gehrig batted clean-up behind Babe Ruth on what most consider the greatest team of all time. Nicknamed the "Iron Horse", Gehrig contracted what is now commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. With Yankee Stadium awash in tears the stricken Gehrig told his adoring fans, "Today, I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I may have been given a bad break. But, I have an awful lot to live for. Thank you"
A 90's Gehrig, assisted by Power Point, would use the electronic scoreboard to flash a series of slides listing his career .340 batting average, his fielding statistics, and his record for 2130 consecutive games played. The "Pride of the Yankees" would never be a movie and Gary Cooper would be denied his greatest part.
While Thinking preferred decision makers will zero in on itemized "Benefits", dimming the lights for a Power Point shuts down the opportunity to build a personal connection important to many who prefer "Feelings" for their decision making. While you may never approach the emotion of Gehrig's farewell, Power Point presentations do limit your opportunity to stir the heart.
At the risk of being misunderstood, I am not contending that Power Point should never be used. In fact, it is a good fit with the ST "Stabilizer" types who are heavily represented in traditional management positions. SST® facilitator Russ Brooks has good success, for example, using Power Point with bankers. "Banking is an ST environment. Power Point works well there but I use other SST® methods in other settings."
The premise of SST® is that communication effectiveness is the key to selling. Power Point can be a good tool if your target consists of people preferring the ST language. Successful Selling to Type suggests more effective communication styles for the other three languages: SF, NF and NT. AJT
Neil Rackham brings to selling what Galileo brought to exploration: a little science. More than a decade ago, Rackham and his research team conducted a monumental study by investigating 35,000 sales calls to identify successful selling behaviors. The findings he reported in SPIN Selling (McGraw Hill, 1988). were considered as heretical as early assertions that the world is not flat.
Hold on to your hats if you still believe that slick closing techniques and handling objections make the difference in major account selling. Not only is the world round, but thanks to Rackham's research we have learned that the more of those tactics you exhibit the less likely it is that you will succeed. Instead, he discovered that the most compelling selling behavior is the question.
The formulation of a method for investigating client needs is the central contribution of Rackham's landmark SPIN Selling. Since then, Rackham has been the principal author for these other helpful contributions to the field of sales: Major Account Sales Strategy (McGraw Hill, 1989), Managing Major Sales
(Harper, 1991) and Getting Partnering Right (McGraw Hill, 1996).
In a Sunday edition of "Money & Business" The New York Times featured an article called, "Breaking the Mold: Salesmanship Without the Sucker Punch" (2/7/99). Disappointed that they did not give Rackham credit for his pioneering work, I sent a letter off to their editor which they chopped in half and then published (2/28/99). In appreciation, Rackham sent me a gracious reply and a complimentary copy of his just published, Rethinking the Sales Force (McGraw-Hill, 1999).
If, like many of our clients, you are trying to figure out how to sell value when your buyers are shopping for commodity like prices, Rethinking the Sales Force is a must read. Helpfully, Rackham provides insights from the buyer's perspective which, after all, is the only way we can learn how to add value. Simply communicating value, he correctly asserts, is no longer enough.
From Rethinking the Sales Force we learn that buyers are embracing a model called "strategic buying programs". Herein they weigh two variables: strategic importance and difficulty of substitution for the supplier's product or service. If your product or service is perceived as offering low strategic importance and competes against easy to find alternatives, be prepared for a commodity mentality.
Thankfully, Rackham does more than explain how we can fall in to a commodity trap. He also helps us sellers plan our most effective strategy to get out. The one size fits all approach won't cut it in today's market place. Multiple selling strategies offer the key to success.