Articles By Topic Alphabetical List of Articles		Electronic Presentations Can Add To Your Customer Base By David P. Kowal For a relatively small investment, your company may have an opportunity to increase its sales dramatically. If your company gives even an occasional sales presentation, it is worthwhile developing in an electronic sales presentation. If you're still scribbling on presentation pads or using acetate sheets on an overhead projector, you're probably not going to reach your full potential for developing new business. To differentiate yourself from your competitors and to build a strong company image, you will need to bring your presentations to life. Ask yourself how much a new customer is worth to your business. Is it thousands? Tens or hundreds of thousands? Perhaps, looking long-term, millions? If you figure your return on investment, you're likely to find that it is worthwhile investing in a professionally prepared electronic presentation. Considering the time and effort it takes to get in front of a potential customer, you want to close as many sales as possible when making a personal presentation. An electronic presentation can help. Several options exist. At the high-end is the multimedia presentation. A good multimedia presentation features high-quality sound, animation and slick imagery. Because it is interactive, it is automatically tailored to the needs of your potential customers. All you have to do is click on the features that interest them. It is guaranteed to impress potential customers and existing customers who can bring you more business. And for about $50,000, not including presentation equipment, it should. A multimedia presentation is best if your company presents frequently at trade shows and seminars. Multimedia is especially good for service businesses, which need to tangibly differentiate what they do. Because of equipment needs, it is best to have potential customers come to your site for the pitch. A simpler electronic sales presentation can be prepared for a fraction of the cost. Thanks to Power Point software, a powerful presentation can be written and designed for as little as a few thousand dollars. Even if you invest in Power Point, have your presentation written and designed professionally. Otherwise, you will not be happy with the results. In addition to the cost of preparing the presentation, you will need to invest in a powerful laptop and a high-quality LCD flat panel to show the presentation. Electronic presentations look best when shown right off the computer. If your company makes one-on-one presentations, don't bother with a flat panel -- make the presentation right off the laptop. If presentations are being made to groups, invest in or rent a quality panel. Panels range in price from about $3,000 to more than $10,000. Remember that your presentation will look only as good as the panel allows. Presentations on low-end panels look low end. Color and resolution suffer. Panels allow the presenter to switch back and forth between a computer and a VCR, so video can be added to the presentation. The drawback is that it will take some time to master switching back and forth, and it will mean lugging around extra equipment. Most panels are placed on an overhead projector. The projector must be bright enough to handle the panel. Better, but more expensive, panels are available that project straight from the laptop. Don't invest in a panel without checking all of your options. A third option is to stick with a tried-and-true slide presentation. Slides lack many of the bells and whistles of electronic presentations, but they also have fewer potential problems. Slides can be shown to a large audience. Even a high-quality flat panel presentation is unlikely to have the resolution needed for use with a large audience. A slide projector also is much easier to use than a laptop, flat panel and VCR combination. Before deciding which presentation format is best for your company, consider your audience. If, for example, you are presenting to high-tech companies, your presentation should look high-tech.   David P. Kowal is President of Kowal Communications, Inc. of Northboro, Mass. He can be reached at kowal@kowal.com.  << back to article list   About KC. | .Free advice. | .Links. | .Contact us. | .Home ©1999 Kowal Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.   .