(Newswire.net — May 23, 2018) — Ever had a prospect go cold from your sales process simply because they didn’t get a full grasp of how your product could help solve their pain points?
You’re not alone!
Statistics show that 79% of marketing leads will leave a sales funnel without converting, if the sales team can’t convincingly show to them how the product can help improve their bottom line.
But hey, how can you effectually show to prospects what your product can do, and more so, in the middle of a live sales meeting?
Well, one option is to be physically present with the prospect. But that comes with a lot of headaches like outrageous travel budget and absurd time requirement. So, it turns out your best bet is to share your screen!
Screen sharing allows remote participants to view your computer desktop on the fly. You can share the full or partial screen to show your audience a given process or a demo of how your product works, with no prior buy-in from them. Convenient, huh?
Now, in sales, sharing is caring. And it’s crucial to closing — the better you are able to share your value proposition and proof of how your solution can help solve clients’ problems, the more likely you are to convince them to buy.
This makes screen sharing such a powerful sales tool… because it lets you share the right thing with the right people at the right time. There are even tools like screen mirroring that work with your smartphone.
So whether you are looking to collaborate during your webinar, or show prospective customers how your new software can benefit them, screen sharing not only makes your work easier as a salesperson, it can also ameliorate your results. Impressively!
Here are ten ways screen sharing can work for the good of your product demos and sales meetings:
1. Faster closing
We’ve said that sharing is crucial to closing. The thing here is, it’s easier to close a sale when prospects can see, firsthand, how the product or service can help them.
If the decision-maker is present at the screen sharing session, you won’t have to wait to send a demo video later via email (which might not even get opened!), but can easily walk them through right off the bat.
They can ask questions and have the answers immediately.
This increases your chances of closing the sale faster, as possible negotiation bottlenecks are removed and wait time is greatly reduced.
2. Real-time, instant demonstration
This point is somewhat tied to the one above, but we’re more about real-time sharing here. When it comes to closing sales, timing matters.
For example, Harvard Business Review carried out an analysis of about 2,240 American companies and found that those who attempted to reach leads within an hour of receiving an enquiry were nearly seven times likelier to have meaningful conversations with decision makers than those who waited even after sixty minutes.
What this means is that, in sales, just as crucial as what you share is when you share it.
Which would you rather do? Share a product demo at the exact moment your prospect is most interested, or hours later by email, when your prospect might not necessarily even view it?
Any smart sales team would prefer to share immediately. Why not when only 24% of sales emails get opened?
Instant screen sharing becomes even more necessary when you realize that more than half of prospects want to see how the product works on the first call.
And with live demo through a worthwhile screen sharing tool, your work of explaining how the service or product works become far less tasking as you won’t have to burn out your tongue getting your message across with too many words.
3. Enhanced visualization
Humans are visual beings. The majority of people, 65% according to studies, are visual learners.
This means people learn better when they see versus when they listen.
And the same goes for sales demo — prospects get visual demonstration better than when you’re just explaining without visual aids.
Screen sharing opens opportunity for this sort of visual learning. It allows you to better engage potential customers and help them retain your information longer.
In fact, a 10-minute screen sharing session can be more effective than an hour of explanation over the phone (or a series of emails) in terms of minimizing potential misimpressions and getting the core of your message across to your audience. After all, seeing is believing!
4. Improved trust
Another way screen sharing can impact on your sales demos is breeding trust.
By now, we believe you already know the importance of trust in sales and business in general.
According to a recent survey of over 24,200 Internet users in 24 countries by CIGI-Ipsos, 51% of global citizens with internet access are discouraged by the lack of trust online. These respondents won’t buy from a company they don’t trust. Who would?!
In another study, HubSpot reports that only a mere 3% of people consider salespeople to be trustworthy. That’s a problem!
And it becomes even more difficult when you’re trying to sell to someone who doesn’t know you. In general, people are more willing to buy from people they have an affiliation with, because they can trust them.
Screen sharing can help you build that affiliation quickly. How, you ask? Screen sharing offers a faster way to get the right information to your prospects. If done well, prospective clients will sense that you’re being honest with them.
Sharing your screen also helps you demonstrate to your prospects that what you are offering is the best solution they can have, which again, builds trust.
5. Better clarity
One of the causes of loss of sales is ambiguity — nobody buys what they don’t understand.
Screen sharing can bring in a lot more clarity to your sales meetings and product demo sessions. It can help prospects understand exactly how your product or service functions and can benefit them.
This is possible through the visual experience associated with screen sharing.
6. Clear-cut showcasing of product features and their benefits
Sometimes, your technology might have features that prospects would need to see being put to work, to fully understand the solution you’re offering.
In some cases, no matter how well-written your product description and sales copy are, if prospects do not get a pragmatic grip of the workings and benefits of such features, you can as well consider them a loss lead.
But not necessarily when you have a screen sharing tool like ClickMeeting in your sales arsenal.
What’s more? Screen-sharing your product features during demo will also help users later on, as they won’t have to go through any hiccups in finding and using those features. That’s a win-win and a positive customer experience.
7. More effective communication
Communication is the bedrock of any sales meeting/demo. The ability to visually guide your prospect makes your sales communication more effective.
One research found that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual and 70% of sensory receptors are in the eyes.
Screen sharing takes a lot of things you would otherwise have to verbally describe and places the idea literally right in front of prospects’ eyes. Again, a win-win and a positive customer experience created.
8. Less redundancy
Having to explain a process or use cases to customers without appropriate visual demo can result in you having to repeat yourself again and again (and again!) because users may not get it at first. Redundancies like this can negatively touch on your closing rates over time.
It can also increase follow-up support time because if users didn’t get it during your onboarding session, they’ll keep calling or emailing you for support.
The result? You get stressed and strained.
Instead of unnecessarily spending long hours on answering emails and calls, it’s more intelligent to connect through a one-time screen sharing demo where there is less chance of miscommunication and more of a feeling of security in the prospect taking the reins with what you have to offer.
9. Kiss goodbye to location limitations
One of the biggest challenges some sales teams face on a regular basis is the challenge of traveling to potential customers’ offices to carry out live demo. This results in unnecessary stress and waste of time and money.
Wouldn’t it be better to ditch the hassle and cost of traveling, plus the uncertainty that comes with it? With screen sharing, you can!
Travel isn’t cheap, especially for small businesses. And even if you had the money to travel, could you leave your business unattended while you made the trip? What about how the travel expenses couldn’t be justified if the prospect doesn’t get to buy eventually?
Risky, right? Screen sharing takes care of all of this.
It also opens you up to the global marketplace.
Put differently, you can reach anyone without having to travel 5,000 miles, but right from your office… thus growing your business regardless of where you are.
10. Live feedback
As if connecting to the world right from your office isn’t enough, you can literally get live feedback and respond accordingly. No question about that!
This is possible through the collaboration element in screen sharing. You and your potential customers don’t have to be involved in a time-consuming back-n-forth emailing and sharing of documents, but can discuss everything at one go and seal the deal.
Let’s wrap it up
To any sales team, screen sharing can be a powerful tool for effective communication, collaboration, and demonstration during sales outreaches.
With it, prospects can get to temporarily experience a larger, more expensive product for free, thereby being able to make an informed decision.
If you have yet to try out the wonder of sharing your screen, we implore you to do so. You can start with ClickMeeting, a webinar platform with an above-the-par screen sharing tool.
Happy sharing!