Expert Tips for Drafting Your iPads for Sales Strategy

[The following post is by Ashley Furness of Software Advice.]

When Steve Jobs walked the iconic stage to reveal the first generation iPad two years ago, a light bulb went off in Boston Scientific CIO Rich Adduci’s head.

“Trying to show innovative therapies in a way that is easy to understand and see was challenging in the old world, particularly as health care professionals’ time was increasingly difficult to come by,” Adduci said. “When we saw the iPad, we all thought, ‘that’s it!'”

Immediately, the company scrapped all mobile development plans and zeroed in on the iPad. They purchased more than 2,000 devices and launched what would become their most ambitious outside sales plan yet. When asked today about the initiative, Adduci said it wasn’t the iPad that made the biggest difference in their sales afterwards. It was the strategy.

Below are several tips from experts for companies beginning their iPad implementation strategy:

• Monitor Usage—Specify utilization goals and performance indicators for measuring success. For example, if you launch a new product, mandate the team go through training videos, view competitive analyses, and download marketing materials. Then, watch which marketing assets (shown on the iPad) lead to the the most conversions and shift attention to those with the best success rate. This can be done with tools such as SAVO Mobile, Jive Mobile, or any other sales enablement software.
• Go Beyond PowerPoint—One of the iPad’s most powerful assets for sales is its vivid display. Sales and marketing leaders should work together to craft presentations that make full use of flip, swipe, pinch, and rotating maneuvers. Myriad companies now offer presentation generators specifically for tablets, such as MediaFly, Showpad, and Upsync. These solutions integrate interactivity, sharing buttons, video, HTML5, and other tools for dressing up your digital assets. They can also serve up material on the fly so presentations can be catered to a specific client.
• Think Big—Don’t just mobilize CRM or create one app for your team right out of the gate. Involve a mobile solutions developer that can create a platform specifically for your team. Too often companies just want to create something immediately and end up spending excessive time and money on disparate apps that frustrate more than enable sales. The best solutions to unify all of the sales processes into one portal.

When implemented into the selling process with careful planning, iPads can be a useful tool for any sales rep. But skimp on the proper strategizing and your investment could go to waste.

About the Author

This post was contributed by guest author Ashley Furness. Furness is a Market Analyst and Blogger for research firm Software Advice, where she reports on CRM software, sales, marketing, and other business topics. Previously, she worked for six years as a business reporter for publications in Texas and California.

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