At the SIC Focus Talk of the Digital Sales focus group on May 14, 2024:
Experts reveal strategies to increase efficiency and retain customers through innovative techniques.
The future of sales lies in the clever combination of visual techniques, artificial intelligence and data protection-compliant solutions. This allows you to make the sales process more efficient, address customers specifically and create emotional connections. At the SIC Focus Talk led by Bernd Buchegger with numerous participants on site and online, 4 professionals provided helpful tools on how you can polish up your sales with visualizations.
Talk less, listen more
Gerald Zankl from Kickscale emphasized the importance of structure and emotionality in sales discussions. By analyzing 5,000 sales conversations with AI, it became clear that the best salespeople do not speak for more than 50 percent of the conversation time. He says: “It is extremely important to talk less and listen more. Ask targeted, open questions that make the customer think and enable a structured conversation.” The key is to arouse emotions and trigger motives that motivate the customer to buy. AI can help analyze conversation parts and automatically create follow-up emails. He has also written a book that will be raffled off among the participants.
Develop ideas together
Gisela Taschner-Carl-Hohenbalken from the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt advises simply picking up a pen when visual selling in sales discussions. By scribbling on whiteboards, salespeople and customers can develop and record ideas together, which can shorten the sales process by up to 30 percent. Studies show that 22 percent more products are sold through visual selling. She says: “When you write something down, it becomes anchored in your brain and has a strong effect on the person you are talking to.” Tools like Miro, Concepts and GoodNotes support this approach and make it easy to present even complex concepts in an understandable way.
Personalized trip
Christian Kollegger from Streamdiver offered a not very exciting thesis right at the beginning of his lecture: “Sales is on the verge of burnout.” Because more and more is being demanded, which can only be cushioned by additional staff. But many can’t afford that. That’s why he relies on interactive videos that can make the sales process more efficient. You don’t need a lot of equipment. A smartphone with a good external microphone is enough to achieve satisfactory results. These videos can be automatically transcribed and translated by AI. Interactive elements such as links to web shops or newsletter subscriptions offer the customer a personalized journey. Data protection plays a central role in that activities are tracked and leads are used in accordance with data protection regulations.
Awaken emotions and build trust
Finally, Thomas Stornig from Picnoa took the participants on a journey into virtual space and showed what possibilities augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) offer in sales. VR makes it possible to take customers into a virtual world, be it through 360-degree product presentations or virtual tours of real estate. This virtual experience can awaken emotions and build trust. AR makes products appear alive by integrating videos and interactive elements. By using high-quality cameras and embedding shop systems, sales become a unique experience. He says: “Take advantage of these opportunities. Because if you only follow in footsteps, you can never overtake.”
