Have you ever wondered what happens after you send that dynamic presentation to your prospective customer? Wonder if they viewed it all? Did they share it with others? If you had the ability to learn the answers to these questions, would it be a benefit in your sales efforts?
Brainshark provides those answers and more with their business communication products and services. I have been a Brainshark customer and user for almost two years and have been able to enjoy the benefits it provides.
In its simplest form, Brainshark allows you to upload your PowerPoint presentations, add audio and voice and then send the link to your prospect or client. Brainshark provides the ability to add voice to your slides over the telephone, and then manage the slide transitions, duration and pace from the online dashboard. All very easy to follow and the results are very professional.
It is after you send the email that it gets interesting. First of all you do not send the multi-megabyte file in the email, just a brief message and a link to the presentation. Once you send the email, you have full visibility to any activity with your presentation. You know if and when the presentation is opened. You know how many slides have been viewed. You know how many times the presentation has been viewed. You also are able to track if the presentation link is forwarded to others, and if they have viewed the presentation, how many times, etc. and the cycle will continue as long as there is activity.
Consider this scenario that happened to me when “hunting” for new clients:
“After developing a brief six slide, four minute presentation in PowerPoint and uploading to Brainshark, adding the audio and transitions, I had a message that I was happy with. Having identified a group of preferred contacts at companies with no previous history with my company, I sent a brief email with the link to the presentation that evening, expecting to begin the follow-up calls in the next few days.
When I opened my dashboard on Brainshark activity the following morning, I learned that the CFO from one of the targeted companies had indeed received and viewed my presentation. She viewed the presentation at approximately 7:00 p.m. in her time zone. She viewed all six slides three times. Then she forwarded the email on to two additional people. Those two people opened and viewed the presentation the following morning a bit after they began their work day. They both viewed the presentation more than once.
With this information on my screen, I took a breath and called the CFO. Come to learn the bank was experiencing a challenge that the message happened to address spot on, and one of those that she had forwarded the message to was responsible to fix the problem that they were experiencing. They became a customer with significant purchases within six business days.”
Brainshark has added many other features and capabilities since that customer win. Here are a few examples that might stimulate some ideas for you:
- Turn Your Cold Calls into Warm Calls-introduce buyers to the value of your offerings using multimedia presentations they can view at their own schedule and convenience.
- Prioritize Follow-up Activity-engage in timely and precise follow-up when interest is at its peak. With individual tracking and instant notification, your sales reps can be notified by email or with a task on their CRM home page that alerts them to follow up with actively interested buyers.
- Keep the Momentum throughout the Buying Cycle-keep the conversation going with buyers in between calls and visits. Use Brainshark to answer frequently asked questions, gain consensus from stakeholders, and accelerate education with timely, differentiating messages for every stage of the sales cycle.
- Gain Insight into Purchase Decisions-when many influencers are involved in a purchase decision, it’s a challenge to get face-time with each and every one. Use Brainshark to make your pitch and present your proposal to every influencer – even if you aren’t there in front of them. You’ll not only know who viewed your presentation but who they passed it to. Watch your message travel along lines of approval to understand who is influencing the decision and to measure their level of interest.
Brainshark does a terrific job with support and training of their customers. They have one of the more robust Certification programs I have seen for a WebTool. I am now a Brainshark Certified Author and Certified Administrator and have the Shark Bucks and Certificates to prove it.
The Customer Connection support site is robust, and very thorough. Add to this the integration into Salesforce.com and Custom Branding in some versions and you have what could be your next WebTool.
Here are a few Brainshark Sample Presentations:
- Lead Generation-Texas Math Campaign
- Event Marketing-Summit 2008: Return on Integration
- Bored with PowerPoint-See what’s possible
- 2009 Sharky Awards – this presentation is longer than the recommended Brainshark presentation but provides the award winners from Brainshark in 2009
Visit Brainshark and register for their free service to begin with. It will provide you the ability to experience the ease of creating your own presentation and to experience the quality of your results. Share the links to your presentation in the comments area below for the rest of us to see.