Your personal time is too valuable to sell digital signage as a box. At DSE 2018, Robert White and I will co-present on successfully selling digital signage as a value proposition and why it should be sold that way.
If you have tried selling or have sold digital signage in the past and it was not a profitable experience for you and certainly not a referenceable outcome for your customer, consider changing your selling strategy from spec and speeds to a value proposition.
This will certainly require some changes in your overall sales strategy and your sales presentation, but the outcome is noticeably different than digital-signage-as-a-box sales.
Continued Importance of Content
For at least the first 10 years in this industry, we all struggled to understand and identify all the essential elements of digital signage, but that is history now. The digital signage ecosystem has been clearly and concisely defined.
It is said that the most important element of a digital signage system implementation is content – and it is. Content remains a very important consideration in budgeting for and operating a digital signage system, but when it comes to making a sale, the most important element of digital signage ecosystem is the value proposition. Without it, there is no sale and no long-term relationship.
Just a few short years ago, anyone implementing a digital signage system struggled to find key components like a CMS (content management system) – that was not “vapor ware,” or a system that was de-bugged and produced by a software house that would not disappear over night; a media player that would work dependably, a monitor that could support the duty cycle (24/7) and a network with enough bandwidth to support a digital signage system.
Don’t Worry About Vapor Ware
Now, it is safe to say that those days of focusing on spec’s and speeds are behind us. Yes, you still need to carefully choose the CMS. (There will be a powerful panel session presented at DSE 2018, led by Robert White, than you can learn how to choose the correct CMS, “Backbone of a Successful Digital Signage Project: Choosing the Right CMS”).
Big picture, there is great parity today in the CMS world. Yes, there are some that are better at certain verticals, but as a whole group, they have all risen to the level that you are no longer plagued with vapor ware promises. [related]
The same can be said of the hardware that we need to properly implement digital signage. Today, there is a wide variety of players, both android- and MS Windows-based, and prices on these components continue to drop.
Today’s flat panels are now more cost effective, more dependable, and come in much larger sizes than ever before, so no challenge there. Networks are now almost all robust and multicast enabled and digital signage is no longer a stranger, so IT professionals no longer start a conversation with “not on my network.”
That is why there is now every reason to move your priority to something worthy that is far more important – selling digital signage as value proposition. Doing so will separate you from all the others that are selling digital signage as a box. Let them focus on spec’s and speeds, but you will make more money focusing on the value proposition.
Our session will focus on how to lead every digital signage discussion with value and you will learn how you can immediately recognize if a prospect will be a profitable opportunity that will have a referenceable finish or one from which you should walk.
Read next: Overcoming 10 Content Challenges with Digital Signage Programs
First we will explore what the value propositions are for digital signage. Then we will get specific about how you should bring the value proposition to the top of any discussion or presentation and avoid being dragged into a spec’s and speed conversation. And, we will provide insight on how metrics play a critical role in the sale.
If you are tired of seeing small margins and coming away with no references, selling digital signage as a value proposition will make a difference, and this course will be a worthy investment of your time.
