Visuals as a sales tool.

This week's reading reminded me of my past work experience in the factory automation sales and consulting field. Visual aids were always an integral part of the sales and customer retention process. These aids encompassed a variety of media such as pamphlets, binders, fliers, and DVDs. The materials were basically used to advertise particular products and detail technical specifications and tolerances. However, to truly set yourself apart from the competition a manufacturer's rep needed to provide potential and existing customers with high quality printed or digitally recorded materials that were pleasing to the eye. Being that I worked as an independent contractor that represented several companies simultaneously, I observed that some of my clients invested substantial resources in order to provide me with outstanding visual sales aids while others tried to get by with sub par efforts.

Most of my customers (manufacturing engineers, project managers, and technicians) took great pride in the machinery that they purchased, designed, integrated, operated or maintained. They could be impressed by an aesthetically pleasing description and photo of a seemingly sterile product such as a new 100-ton hydraulic press. In turn, they would likely be quite unimpressed by the same machine's promotion with blurred text and amateur digital photography. In my opinion, if price and specifications were close between a competitor's product and mine, then the quality of my printed or digital sales materials could be the deciding factor. In other words, my customer would consider the whole package before choosing a vendor. The visuals used to try to convince him to choose my client's product over a competitor's were a vital component of that package.