Creativity in Solution Demos – CR4

James led a sales team who were preparing for an important meeting. The prospective customer was located on a sprawling campus in a very rainy climate where employees and their visitors often needed to walk between buildings. Umbrellas were provided at each door to keep their people dry.

James’ team determined that their solution had ten key differentiators they needed to highlight. To make their presentation more memorable, James tapped into his creative skills to highlight their differentiators.

As each customer attendee entered the meeting conference room, they were greeted with ten open umbrellas spread across the room. James was mum about these umbrellas and he received some strange looks from the attendees.

During the demonstration, each time James’ team summarized one of their key differentiators and how it would solve a specific business issue, James closed one of the umbrellas. He had previously labeled each umbrella with a keyword showing the associated differentiator.

After all ten umbrellas were closed, James ended the demonstration portion of the meeting with a powerful closing statement:

“You told us about ten key issues you needed to address to improve your business. The umbrellas represented those issues. Our team demonstrated how our solution addressed each issue. Now that the sun is shining, let’s discuss how we walk together from here.”

James used umbrellas as props in a very creative and unconventional way. The umbrellas served as visual reminders and concrete examples of the company’s business challenges and how they could be resolved. His example was relatable and showed that he listened when the customer relayed their business challenges.

The umbrella props were tremendously effective and made the demonstration very memorable. James’ team was rewarded as they won a significant, strategic deal.

I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue the discussion on creativity in sales in the next briefings.