EON Sales Manual from 2001

Table of Contents

The steps to successfully sell realityBUY/EON solutions

1. Select the segment of focus
2. Identify and acquire leads/prospects
3. Written contact
4. Telephone call
5. Meeting
6. Follow-up
7. Proposal
8. Closing
9. Execution
10. Final comments
11. Appendix 1 – Appendix CD with marketing & sales material
12. Appendix 2 – Sample letters for retail, support and motorcycle segments
13. Appendix 3 – Integrated Digital Content Management presentation
14. Appendix 4 – Alternative Solutions Content Display presentation
15. Appendix 5 – A Practical Guide for Successful Partners presentation
16. Appendix 6 – Sample proposals
- BOC
- Sauder

1. Select the segment of focus

Segment Unique Value Proposition Main Return on Investment
Furniture See Try Buy™ capability (seeing your furniture, be able to try, open doors and then purchasing

Configure and combine – the ability to configure individual furniture such as chairs, different colors, different fabric
Combine, for example, desk with hutch, with file cabinets, etc.

Ability to put products into context – for example, the Office Planner™, to put the right chair in the room with the furniture of your choice Mainly sales increases
Potential cost savings on the installation procedure to reduce time for redundant FAQs and returns
In-store – reduce floor space and inventory costs

Computer/Electronics See Try Buy™, the ability to “Show Me”, demonstrate product functionality Increased sales – experience functionality, show unique features of the products
Support – to be able to install, maintain and repair products such as printers, etc.
Vehicles Configuration – to allow the customer to create a unique product in the blink of an eye by selecting individual components Increased sales – the customer doesn’t have to imagine how his customized product will look, but can instantly see it and experience it
Industrial Components Complete information about the product. The user can drill down and find all relevant information encapsulated within the sku

“Show Me” capabilities for how the product works, install it or how to maintain it Support and sustainable catalogs, reducing the cost to upgrade your content year to year by using interactive 3D

Training, installation and repair program
Building/Architecture See Try Buy™, for example, see an apartment/house

Customize kitchens and bathrooms

Configure different appliances

Plan and design in the environment

Also our tight link with Graphisoft, the third largest 3D architecture software company in the world. Mainly sales – design centers to design kitchens and bathrooms or online


Universities/Education EON as a versatile tool to be used to create interactive 3D environments

Access to proven curriculum to use for education, both in EON and specific segments

Established references with 42 universities around the world

Growing need for this type of knowledge for students, need to educate in these areas Authorized Training Center (ATC) program is very attractive. 90% discount on software, only paying maintenance fees, $37K.
Solid track record with universities such as UCLA, UCI, University of Virginia, Temasek, etc.








2. Identify and acquire leads/prospects

2.1 How to select the primary and secondary segments

• It is important to initially focus on just a few segments, preferably no more than two from the segment list
• Choose the right segments based on:
o Your existing established contacts in the industry
o The segments that are strong in the local territory
o Probability to close for the segment
o Sales cycle, length of time

The reason we would like you to focus only on two segments is to quickly get repeat business and revenues. Once the market penetration is achieved, then the secondary segments can be approached.

2.2 Identify and getting prospects
• Based on the selected primary segments, map your existing contacts and approach them
• Purchase a list, or look them up on the Internet, of the top 20-50 manufacturers/dealers/retailers within your focus segment
• Set-up speeches and presentations to create awareness about the new revolutionary approach to interactive digital content management
• Visit segment specific exhibitions, for example, furniture segment and approach manufacturers with our solution to increase their sales and reduce their costs
• Team up with manufacturer/retail associations that are representing your primary segments. Offer them an attractive solution that can differentiate their members, in terms of sales. Reimburse them with commission or discounts.
• Partner with non-competing technology or service suppliers in your selected segment. Companies that already have the customers or distributor network you want to get access to. For example, either technology suppliers like Oracle, Graphisoft, SolidWorks, system integrators like accenture, PR companies or marketing companies, etc.
• Participate in relevant exhibitions promoting the product
• Get publicity for being perceived as innovators - newspapers, TV
• Approach local companies that sell products already existing in our library. For example, local Canon, Dell, Epson, Lexmark, Intel suppliers or Harley-Davidson and offer them existing solution to increase their sales in the territory
• Approach local universities – offer them sponsorship and donation to set-up an ATC. Get access to their commercial network.
• Establish resellers in your territory in your secondary segments – people that know and understand those segments and can activate them while you focus on the primary segments
• Approach your customers suppliers – for example, Office Depot has 15 suppliers, and offer them the solution to use internally and also for their customers







3. Written contact

3.1 Purpose

The purpose of the written communication is preparation for the first contact by phone. Create credibility, excitement and interest for them to take your call. This is applicable when you do not have an introduction and you approach the contact cold and might not know the person.

3.2 Email

Quick and effective, and allows you to do volume, mass mails – approach many at the same time and attach demos. Disadvantages – you have low reply rate, you have to be careful and avoid spamming approach.

3.3 Fax

Quite unusual these days and tends to get companies attention. In this case, it gets past the secretary if you have a reference of some kind. It has a good reply rate, however, it is time consuming and requires focus and narrow number of people to approach.

3.4 Letters

You can attach brochures and other printed material, which facilitates establishing credibility and interest. Unfortunately, most of this material (in a cold call situation) ends up in the trash, so you have to find a novel way to package it.

3.5 General guidelines for content of written material
• Make sure to keep the written material, especially emails, brief and no nonsense
• Attach demos and animations, make sure demos are appropriate in size
• Provide food for the heart, excitement and awake curiosity
• Provide specific ROI benefits, appeal to the brain and logic
• Mention relevant references and case studies that provides confidence and trust, appeal to the stomach – (fear to do something wrong or be first)
• Create a sense of urgency – not to miss this opportunity, stop losing money on redundant FAQs, etc.
• Also, give them either a money back guarantee on the usage part of investment if they are not happy after the pilot or co-invest with them in the initial licensing fee
• See Appendix 2 for examples of letters (retailers, support and motorcycles)







4. Telephone call

4.1 Purpose

The purpose of the call is to sell the face-to-face meeting. Do the mirror test before you call.

4.2 Mirror test
• Look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that this customer will really benefit from this solution. Unless you are totally convinced, don’t make the call. That wastes both your time and your customers. Basically, make sure that you have selected a customer within the relevant segment and with relevant products, where you can make a significant impact.

4.3 Excitement – sell to the heart
• Provide quotes from relevant customers, for example, “the most exciting sales solution I’ve seen in the last 22 years of business”, quote from Suzuki.
• The unique approach of See Try Buy™
• No other way to do it – a must see!

4.4 Logic – sell to convince the brain (see Integrated Digital Content Management)
• Proven track record on ROI, incremental sales increase 10-40%
• Integrated content management reduces your content management costs by 10-15%
• Our solution reduces your support cost by 40-82%
• The solution exists and works today – let us show you!

4.5 Credibility – creating confidence, selling to the stomach
• Avoid fear of failing or being first
• Among our customers:
- We have the number one computer manufacturer, on line, Dell is doing it (computer segment)
- We have the number one office supplier in the world, Office Depot is doing it (furniture segment & retail)
- We have the leading manufacturers for industrial components and mechanics such as BOC, Shimano (industrial components)
- We have the leading manufacturer of motorcycles in the US, Harley-Davidson, Suzuki (vehicles)
- We have teamed up with Graphisoft, one of the leading providers of 3D architecture and building CAD tools (architecture/building)
- We are currently used by 42 leading universities around the world, such as UCLA, etc. (universities/education)

4.6 Creating sense of urgency
• We are in your neighborhood next Thursday at 2 pm. Are you available for a demonstration?
- Only 30 minutes, no strings attached
- Discuss a proposal where we are prepared to co-invest in a pilot because we are convinced this will increase his/her sales by 30-50%
- If and only if the pilot has revealed the benefits and you want to move forward with implementation, you pay the rest







5. Meeting

5.1 Purpose

The purpose of the meeting is to excite them, to convince them that they need this application. This is not a nice to have 3D, this is a necessary investment in order to long-term start reducing the content management costs and increasing their sales and reducing their support cost. A must have!

5.2 Preparation prior to the meeting - it is important to have the right people invited:
• The decision maker – the person that sits on the budget
• The VP of Marketing and Sales that will be affected by anything that can increase their sales
• Potentially, their maintenance/support departments/training to see how we can reduce their support costs
• CTO or technical department to evaluate the benefits of our technology and potentially the e-commerce division

In some cases, it might be good to have the CFO, who makes the financial decisions (optional). Not necessary if you have the person in charge.

5.3 Agenda

The agenda should consist of:

1. Introduction – 10 minutes (suggest to go around the table and introduce each individual. Each participant has 1-2 minutes. Listen to what they do, try to identify their position in the company and listen to what they want and also what they do not want. This is a very valuable component on how you will adapt your presentation.

2. Appetizer - create excitement, curiosity and anticipation for what will come (normally takes 5 minutes)
a. We are here to go through 3 questions
 Why this solution can benefit your company
 What exactly the solution is
 How can we implement this for you
b. Start with either a short relevant demo for their segment that looks very interesting, or a trailer, for example, Office Depot for furniture

3. Main presentation - appeal to the logic, the purpose here is to convince them that this is a must have (not more than 20 minutes)
a. Here you use the IDCM, see Appendix 3. Make sure to only focus on the aspects of the presentation that refer to their particular segment. You might want to adapt some pictures and highlight the animations that are relevant.
b. Adapt to their reactions
c. Focus on selling benefits – Return on Investment, not technology
d. Focus to sell to the person that is the decision maker, not the technology person at this point







4. Detailed demo (that should take from 10-15 minutes) - Purpose is to show what you think they want to buy
a. If you have done your introduction properly, you might have a good guess
b. The demo session should build up, for example, starting with individual skus, look at the configuration application, and in relevant cases, at the whole design, putting the product in context such as the Office Designer
c. Depending on the audience, you might also want to show the process of creation (EON Studio). Be careful not to lose the decision maker here.
d. Try to get reactions and focus more on the areas that they are interested in

5. Q&A session
a. Listen carefully to their questions
b. Understand what they want
c. If too many deep technical questions, suggest setting up a separate meeting for technical due-diligence
d. Ask them what they liked most
e. Is this applicable for their company? In that case, which areas, which product lines?
f. Is it sales or support?
g. How is the timing, the budget?
h. Is there any particular pain that we can relieve by introducing our solution?

If you have done a good job by this point they will ask questions about costs, both for object creation and application software. It is an interesting balance. On one side, you have the decision maker; you can actually get a preliminary commitment. On the other side, you can dig a deep hole by providing the wrong information and creating false expectation or appear too pushy. I am afraid that you have to play this one by ear. The conservative approach is to say that you will put this together in a package and provide them with this information later.

Another way is to actually go through the presentation, Alternative Solutions Content Display (see Appendix 4) that takes you through the different costs. Finally, introduce the pilot approach. If they are very keen to go forward, you might want to offer them the co-investment approach. Be prudent and don’t offer something too soon. If you have done a good sales job, they might ask for a quotation by the time you leave.

6. Next step

• Make sure that you have a contact person, hopefully, that person is also a champion for you
• Make a list of all their questions that you couldn’t take, make sure to send the information
• Establish a next contact opportunity, potentially, a telephone meeting. As an alternative to a pilot, you could suggest a diagnostic of their current content situation. (Probably too sophisticated to begin with.)







6. Follow-up

• Make sure to send a thank you note, send information that further solidifies our credentials and also suggest the follow-up meeting
• The follow-up is normally done by telephone or with a face-to-face meeting. The purpose is to sell the pilot
• If due diligence is required, make sure to get the technical team and answer all their questions, map their needs, get the discussion to a specific project
• Try to understand the application they are interest in, number of skus, budget issues and type of data available, etc.
• Finalize by suggesting to present them with a written proposal








7. Proposal

7.1 Purpose

The purpose of the proposal is to define the pilot project and get the order. I have attached generic proposals (see Appendix 6).

Keep it simple and clear.

• Include an introduction
• The benefits from an ROI prospective
• The functionality from a technical prospective
• The product solution description
• General guidelines
• Picture of a storyboard
• Assumptions
• Payments (see Appendix 5)
• Payment conditions
• Right of ownership
• Joint marketing
• Additional costs







8. Closing

• Follow-up with the customer to confirm that you have matched their requirements
• Answer all their questions and remove all the obstacles of potential objections
• At this point, if you have done a good job, they should agree to sign the proposal
• Many times, especially in the US, it is normal at this point, that they would like something extra to make the decision, such as a discount. In that case, rather than a discount, you could offer them the potential to co-invest, which means they will still pay you if they decide to go from the pilot to a full implementation.
• If customer is hesitant, prudently create a sense of urgency such as, we have now reserved resources, specialists in this area, match this vs. certain marketing or product launch events they have to do it, etc.
• Finally, as you know eye to eye is best when signing the contract (many times this is not possible)
• The golden rule to close is silence, put the pen in front of the customer and wait – until they sign








9. Execution
• Once the proposal has been signed, set-up a follow-up technical meeting where the storyboard is provided and accepted.
• For further detail on execution, please see the technical approach manuals.







10. Final Comments

It is impossible to summarize a sales training in 12 pages. I am afraid that this introductory document can only assist you a little bit in approaching sales of our solutions. There are many excellent books on sales techniques that go more in depth on how to approach this.

As the last words before you go out to approach, identify and prospect the prospects, remember that the initial key to selling this is benefits and ROI, not technology. Focused approach on a few segments, getting your customers so satisfied that they become your promoters, and finally an energetic and positive mind-set.

Feel free to contact me at any time by email (dan@eonreality.com), telephone (949/460-2000) or fax (949/460-2004) with questions, suggestions, etc.

Lets do it!

Dan Lejerskar







Appendix 1 - Marketing and Sales Material on the CD


1) PowerPoint Presentations and Documents

1. Sales Manual
2. Integrated Digital Content Management with animation
3. A Practical Guide for Successful Partners
4. Alternative Content Management

2) Letters
1. Retailers
2. Support
3. Motorcycle

3) Animations
1. Trailer, short version, Integrated Digital Content Management
2. Extended trailer
3. Office Depot trailer

4) Demos – see separate list

Vehicles

Industrial Components

Components/Electronics

Retail/Furniture

Building/Architecture

5) Brochures EON
1. EON Studio™
2. EON Server™
3. EON Planner™
4. EON Mobile Visualizer™
5. EON FastView™
6. EON ATC™
7. EON Collaboration™
8. EON Collosseum™
9. EON SDK™
10. EON Immersive™
11. EON VAR™

6) Brochures realityBUY
1. iViz™
2. Sales Support™
3. SupportViz™

7) Images/Customer References from the Wall of Fame