Can iPad help your sales presentation? Here's one example:
Second, check out the Construction Equipment Owner's Blogs podcast "Construction Uses for the iPad".
I had the chance to view iPads in the wild, so to speak, recently and my opinions - both positive and negative - have been reinforced.
First the good.
Kerning refers to the adjustment of spacing between letters during typesetting. When skillfully done, it can improve the appearance and legibility of text or a headline.
But watch out, careless kerning can have unintended results. For example:
Rubber flooring company nora is offering a free Blackberry app aimed at helping designers make color selections while on the road. Their page also offers an online color selector and, impressively, a QR code to download the app with instructions on how to use QR codes! Sales literature for the XYZ Skylight Company boosts that the firm offers "consistent quality" and their structural drawings are "professionally reviewed." Unfortunately, their sales corresponsdence and literature demonstrates neither of these attributes.
A recent cover letter introducing the company contains numerous grammar and spelling errors. For example, the letter's first paragraph states:
"XYZ is a manufacturer of commercial heavy-duty skylights; who delivers and installs."Maybe they mean that they, "also deliver and install their product," but who knows?
"Our skylight systems is designed based on the principals of pressure equalization, more commonly known as the rain screen principal."As my junior high school English teacher drilled into me, the, "The principle is that the principal is your pal."
I’ve always heard that customers make purchase decisions based on product benefits, not features. My product offers greater benefits than my competitors’, so I always try to stress them when I call on architects. But they just don’t seem to get my message. How can I improve my product presentation?—L.M., sales representative
Focusing primarily on benefits often works in consumer sales, but is less effective when selling to architects, engineers, and other construction specifiers. While product benefits such as “longer lasting,” “easier to install,” or “better looking” may initially catch a specifier’s attention, they are not enough to hold it. Specifiers are technically oriented, and therefore also want to know how a product works. Furthermore, their professional responsibilities require them to be skeptical about benefit claims.
To break through their skepticism, construct your building product presentation like a three-legged stool, with three elements: a list of product features, a description of the benefits resulting from those features, and proof of the claims. Depending primarily on benefits for your sales communication is as secure as sitting on a one-legged stool.
Three legs
Features, the first component of your presentation, are physical aspects of your product. They can be seen, touched, heard, or otherwise recognized by the senses or by laboratory analysis. The chemical composition of a roofing membrane, the shape of a masonry unit, and the appearance of a door knob are examples of features. Items such as product literature, packaging, and warranties can also be considered product features. They are all tangible and available for inspection.
Benefits are the functional advantages a user will experience with a product. A statement of benefits should appeal to a prospect’s emotions. For example, “I feel confident about this product because it provides a high degree of reliability and safety,” is a strong statement of product benefits.
Proof is the evidence that the features and functional benefits you claim really do exist. Laboratory test results, evaluations of actual installations, financial analyses, engineering calculations, and first-hand observations can serve as proof for various claims.
Proof addresses the specifier’s professional responsibility to be skeptical. Having strong proof of your claim is also critical to reduce your product liability exposure.
Link the legs
For greatest impact, each element of a feature-benefit-proof analysis must be linked: every feature creates a benefit, every benefit is substantiated by a tangible feature, and all features and benefits can be proven.
Consider, for example, an insulating concrete roof deck. By mixing a foam froth into a portland cement slurry, the installer can create a concrete mix full of small air cells. The air cells are a tangible product feature that can be clearly seen in a product sample or photograph.
The air cells contribute to the benefit of the roof deck’s light weight—another feature. This in turn, reduces the load on the building and the cost of the structural system. While lab reports or engineering analyses can be used as proof of the weight and structural savings, a more visceral proof can be made by handing the customer a sample of the lightweight concrete or by showing a photograph of the material floating on water.
If any part of the feature-benefit-proof triad is omitted, the customer will have an incomplete understanding of the product. Knowing the product has air cells is important only because it yields a structural cost savings. Similarly, the benefit of cost savings could sound like a hollow claim unless the customer sees it is a consequence of an intrinsic product feature. Finally, being able to prove your claims can help overcome resistance.
This example my seem intuitively obvious. Indeed, many building product presentations are built upon data that seems obvious to the manufacturer or sales rep, but that may elude the prospect seeing the product for the first time.
The feature-benefit-proof analysis is not always so simple. In one curtainwall system I analyzed, I identified more than 50 features that could be linked to benefits and that required proof to substantiate. Not all the curtainwall features, benefits, and proofs were of equal significance from a marketing perspective. Still, a comprehensive analysis provided invaluable insight into how the product should be positioned and promoted.
Every product or marketing manager should conduct a feature-benefit-proof analysis of his products and competitors’ to gain a better understanding of his competitive strengths and weaknesses. New building product salespeople can also use the exercise to gain product knowledge.
Armed with a richer understanding of your product as a result of this analysis, you will be able to point to a product feature and explain what it does, associate that feature with a benefit your customer can use, and then offer proof when necessary. Or you can begin by discussing a benefit your customer requires and then point out the specific product features that delivers the necessary benefit. Either approach gives your customer a better appreciation for your product than if features and benefits were presented without being linked.
Have a question you'd like us to answer?
Send an email to michaelchusid@chusid.com
By Michael Chusid
Originally published in Construction Marketing Today, Copyright © 1998
In addition to dedicating her valuable time and knowledge to Chusid Associates, our associate, Norah Lally, reaches out to the community by educating young children in Los Angeles.
Norah was named Tutor of the Month by the School on Wheels Program and her student was named Student of the Month. We are so proud for Norah and April and are lucky to have someone so special on our staff.
Take a look at this website. Do you notice any major differences between your website and theirs?
They have a very extensive collection of social media that includes one site we don't see used by building product manufacturers too often-- Google Earth.
As a building product manufacturer, you need to know where your consumers' marketplace is. There is strong evidence that it is now the internet marketplace.
The other day I was listening to a public radio station and they mentioned that Amazon.com now sells 80% more electronic books than hard copy books. This number probably doesn't reflect the general public, since most of the customers that make purchases via Amazon.com are more likely to be regular internet consumers.
However, your customers probably aren't used to shopping through a local store, sifting through the tons of products on the shelves anymore. They are also more likely to be buying things in an online space. Make sure your products are readily available for purchase online and that they are listed in as many online purchasing portals as well.
As both an important environmental story and a creative use of social media technology, the "Be The One" effort deserves your attention. From their website:
In light of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, Women of the Storm is rallying to restore America’s Gulf coast now and for future generations. The “Be the One” effort intends to galvanize the nation around the cause of coastal restoration in order to demand that government leaders address this critical issue.
Considering one of their sponsors is YouTube I'm not surprised they're using social media well, but I was impressed by their use of QR codes to encourage people to sign their petition. Note the simple, but effective, customization.The merging of Bing into Yahoo search is changing the way pages get indexed; that means your page could get dropped. Microsoft released new webdeveloper tools to help users adjust their sites so they display correctly in search results. If Bing or Yahoo are an important part of your search engine marketing plan (hint: they are), have your webmaster check out the new tools and update your page.
I know there are issues combining concrete and glass... I want to set old bottles into bases of concrete. Will I get degradation of the concrete segment that holds the bottle? Is there a additive I can use to eliminate the problem? I do use metakaolin in my mix; will this reduce or cure the issue?Two days later, Andrew responded:
Reposted from AWCI Members Only Online
Construction professionals expect the industry recession to start to turnaround by the end of the year, according to an ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index (CICI) survey for the second quarter of 2010. The survey shows that construction and design firm executives believe the worst may soon be over, according to Engineering News-Record.
Buildipedia.com bills itself as "an online network of information encompassing every aspect of the built environment."
Oct. 12-13: Building Products Manufacturers Alliance Meeting (BPMA) The next meeting of the BPMA is scheduled for October 12-13, 2010, at Stanford University. This meeting will be held in conjunction with the Center for Integrated Facility Engineering (CIFE) Industry Advisory Board Meeting, and will include a reception for both groups providing an opportunity to network with leaders of some of the largest and most prominent Design, Construction and Owner organizations in the world. If you serve in a senior leadership role in your manufacturing firm, the BPMA is for you! Contact Susan Konohia skonohia@csinet.org
Should I continue advertising to and calling on architects? My products have gradually become commodity items and aren’t very different from my competitors’. So even when architects specify my brand, they usually accept any substitutions contractors propose. Wouldn’t I be better off targeting contractors and dealers, the people who really make the buying decisions?–F. O., general manager
Generally, your sales and promotional efforts should concentrate on reaching those most likely to benefit from your product’s unique features or sales propositions. Promote special performance characteristics, for example, to building owners or the architects who represent their interests. Promote installation advantages to contractors and installers. If your product is essentially similar to your competitors’, you must make it attractive to dealers and contractors by offering favorable pricing, availability, terms, packaging, promotion, and service. But even in this instance, you may still be justified in directing some of your marketing attention toward specifiers.
The summer is off to a great start at Chusid Associates (minus the June Gloom extending into July (yes, contrary to popular belief, California actually has a few months in which clouds block our beloved sun)).
A recent issue of Architect Magazine had an interesting report on architectural compensation and other practice-related issues. Instead of using conventional bar, line, and pie graphs, the article explored new ways of constructing charts. One of the resulting graphics was even featured on the cover:
While visually interesting, the graphic is almost impossible to understand. A simple bar graph would have been much easier to read and understand, allowing trends to be identified at a glance. This chart contains data, but it obscures information.
Perhaps one can forgive an art director that wanted to create a cover that would catch the eye. But the charts in the body of the article were equally confusing. This reflects a tension in architectural practice: the drive to create new forms versus the need to create structures that perform well.
Building product manufacturers and their ad agencies can also experience the same tension. Sometimes, in the drive to create visual excitement, they end up with an ad, website, or brochures that no longer communicates usable information.
For useful guidance on how to create useful charts, I recommend How to Lie with Charts by Gerald Jones, an interesting read and a handy reference in our office.
Few architecture or engineering firms still maintain large libraries of building product catalogs. The following news item suggests that "hardcopy" libraries will continue to shrivel at design offices:
Stanford University is eliminating 85% of the volumes in its engineering library.
The reason: the materials are now available online, and the students find it faster and easier to do their research online. Click here to learn more.
This trend has caused each of our clients to rethink their product literature and marketing communication strategy.
A recent call for papers from the American Concrete Institute got me thinking about the amazing pace of R&D and new technology in the construction materials industry. Within my lifetime, concrete has gone from a relatively simple mixture of cement, aggregate, and water to a "high tech" industry.
Change of this magnitude can leave design and construction industry professionals baffled and struggling to sort out the winning and losing technologies and to understand the standard of care expected of them.
The call for papers suggests the number and breadth of fronts on which the technology is advancing:
While most industries are moving sales online at a rapid pace, construction material sales are still stuck in the physical world. One of the reasons the industry has been relatively slow to make the transition is that what we do has such as strong physical basis; when you're selling someone bricks, at some point they want to actually hold a brick. Salesmen excited by the potential of social media as a sales tool are frustrated by this inability to put bricks in prospects' hands.
Now they can.
A credible source at AIA told me that 18,000 architect members are delinquent on earning their Continuing Education Credits. Are they too busy or out of business? This number is commensurate with design/construction industry unemployment figures which are now beginning to improve.That message comes from Peter H. Miller, President of Restore Media, LLC, publishers of Traditional Building, Period Homes, and other media. This could indicate a huge demand for continuing education units (CEU) before the end of this year, and opportunities for Building Product Manufacturers to generate leads and open doors by offering continuing education programs.
Cranial Soup has some great advice in Friday's post "How can you rank well on search engines, without fussing with SEO?" Ironically, April's advice does contribute to good SEO, since so much of SEO comes down to putting good, useful content on a well-structured site. I agree with all but one of her points, which, since I have written enough to satisfy her 3:1 ratio of commentary to quotation, I can now insert here:
Don't copy other people's stuff, write your own.If she means don't plagiarize or rely on form-letter posts, email chains, etc., then I wholeheartedly concur. If, however, she means write your own stuff instead of linking to others, I respectfully disagree.
My calendar lists July 19 as "Ocean Day (Japan)". We've been discussing a lot whether "blue" is becoming the new "green" as water-conservation awareness grows, so I did some quick research on the holiday.
In last month's ASHRAE Journal, Price Industries ran a full-page ad including a Microsoft Tag - their proprietary version of QR codes - and used the Tag almost exactly correctly. Unfortunately, the one rule they broke is the big one.
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