Microsoft

October began with a series of new announcements from Microsoft concerning the Surface laptop product line. The device boldly named Laptop got an upgrade, so Laptop 2 comes with an 8th generation quad-core processor and a longer battery life. The Pro 6, the laptop-tablet hybrid, is also equipped with an 8th-gen Intel processor and claims to keep going for 13.5 hours while still remaining lightweight. However, the USB-C ports missed by many in the previous years are, well, still missing.

What are the business advantages?

No huge changes or fireworks here, but the latest generation of processors does provide an even more seamless work experience. Both the processor and the keyboard allow the devices to operate silently – no small feat for the office! And the longer battery hours make it a reliable slate throughout the workday.

Apple

The end of October has seen Apple taking it up another level with its hardware keynote on the new MacBook Air. The most awaited announcement was that about the ever-popular MacBook Air coming to life again. The 13.3-inch Retina display is thinner and more accurate, the keyboard is more precise and responsive, and is more resistant to dust. The touchpad finally dropped the click function and now supports Force Touch instead. There is also a fingerprint-management function by Apple’s own T2 security chip. Tablets are not gone either, apparently, seeing the iPad Pro has also got an update, along with the Apple Pencil, both business favorites. The novelties iPad Pro has to offer, include Face ID, an A12X processor providing better AR and gaming experiences, and it also magnetically charges the Apple Pen.

What are the business advantages?

Speaking about the MacBook Air, the security chip is a feature that makes a lot of sense in a business environment, but the new display is also something that has long been on the wishlist for corporate users. It should be a bottom line that the battery doesn’t have to be charged for 8 hours and that the laptop is easy to carry around with its 1.24kg weight.

Google

October was busy for Google too, as it announced the new Pixel Slate, among other hardware innovations. Pixel Slate is the first to feature Chrome operating system on a tablet, further enhancing the tablet vs Chromebook feel and clearly giving a Microsoft a run for their money with Surface. It also has a split-screen option and the Chrome browser really shines when compared to even a PC environment. Keyboard and pen are sold separately, though, and the price of the total set (approaching the $1,000 range) positions it at the higher end.

What are the business advantages?  

Other than the quietness and backlit keys of the keyboard that is sung by many, the Pixel Slate is closing the gap again between tablets and laptops. It’s arrangements of display and keyboard and cover make it more comfortably usable at a desk than on the lap, while still being light enough to carry.

Runner-ups

Next to the giants, there is also room for other companies, too, to present their hardware innovations. On the laptop and tablet front, large international tech gatherings, such as the IFA in Berlin, served as a background for them. In the laptop category, vendors like Lenovo, Dell or Acer all focused on creating the lightest devices possible experimenting with different alloys, while keeping performance on a high level by including 8th gen processors of all kinds. On the verge of categories, Lenovo’s Yoga Book has got an important upgrade: C930 has dual-screen with a 10.8-inch size, with the secondary display being an e-ink one that can also morph into a virtual keyboard. Arguably the most genuine announcements came from Flexpai and Samsung, almost simultaneously, about foldable phones that can be transformed into tablets when unfolded. Creating a totally new product category, it has the potential to create a new definition of work as well.

What are the business advantages?

As strong believers in doodling, the features of the new Yoga Book are impressive and make it a versatile business companion (although also a pricey one). On another note, Acer deservedly made headlines with its 15-inch laptops both weighing under one kilogram – now challenge that for portability!

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The post It’s Not Laptop or Tablet Anymore – Fast and Light Wins the Race appeared first on Scolvo.

1. Draw blueprint drafts and technical details

An obvious use of a mobile device with a digital pen is to draft or sketch blueprints and technical details while out and about, even when in front of a client. The user has to be neither an engineer nor an artist: unlike in maintenance or technical design, the sketches serve only the purpose of telling a story, not to be a measure. However great work your sales enablement team is doing, there can be times when the rep is not equipped with the blueprints and detailed designs he or she needs. But expertise and some drawing skills are there to move the deadlock.

2. Sketch processes

Especially in B2B selling, reps need to present complex processes that lead to the solution the client requested. However, the complex nature of these processes require a complex explanation and that is sometimes too much for the other party – not to mention the important details that can be lost meanwhile. In order to make things easier, reps have a great tool at their disposal. They can make a quick sketch of the process they are talking about at any point in the presentation! Prospective clients will also feel unique as the meeting notes come with handwritten sketches, made only for them and following their own requests.

3. Highlight important points

Personal conversations are invaluable but so much can be lost while talking. By highlighting (underlining, circling, etc.) important points of a presentation or a product documentation, salespeople can make sure the agent will have the most important messages delivered even when forwarding the materials later to the client. Reps themselves might find it useful as well to get a quick overview of the points they need to act on.

4. Make presentations complete

Presentations are mostly known as the boring variations of stories. Surprises, on the other hand, will help get the attention of the audience. They come in many shapes and forms but sketches are certainly among them. So how to show the client that an agent is listening to them? By drawing and writing missing information in the presentation during the meeting, it is more than obvious that the agent listens and makes an effort to add even more relevant details to what is being told.

5. Take handwritten notes

Handwriting is more comfortable for many than typing and, therefore, can be quicker. But there is another aspect of handwritten notes: it suggests a higher level of authenticity, so it is great for building trust with clients. You should never underestimate the power of trust: the average sales cycle has gotten longer in the recent years and it has been paired with a growing skepticism from the part of the prospective buyer. The only thing that is able to speed up the process now risk-free is trust, and any tool that helps build it should be honored and nurtured.

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The post 5 Ways Drawing and Sketching Help Reps in Selling appeared first on Scolvo.

Meanwhile, clients expect even more personal and up-to-date solutions from the financial service providers. With mobilization, the sales of insurance can be better controlled, the data quality improves on the back-end, resulting in better, more tailored offers for the clients.

Digitalization with a Doubtful Outcome

Insurance distributors have already realized that they need to take steps to stay competitive, so the establishment of new working methods and technologies that make workflow more effective has already begun. There is some CRM to store client data and some registration system for the agents, and digital calculators, questionnaires became an essential part of everyday work.

But some problems emerge more often than others: because of the employment specialties of the agents, quality assurance is cumbersome, the administration is hardly free from paper, and there is not enough information available about the clients. The management is struggling to get an idea of what is going on at the personal consultations, let alone to control it, so the options to control the outcome is also limited, at least with management tools.

Have the agents made it to the meeting? How much time did they spend there? Did they present all the necessary documents? Did they ask all the essential questions? Did they assemble the quote according to the real demands of the client? If the client calls of the appointment, how can it be rescheduled efficiently?

When the agent faces these questions, the answers show the amount of administration (signing in to more systems, mixing paper and electronic documents, the difficulties of data recording and reporting) puts the margin of error too high.

Mobile Solutions Preferred

Finding all that you need for your job in one place, regardless of whether you work as an agent or a manager – sounds impossible? However, that is precisely what a mobile application has to offer. Adapted to the particular challenges of insurance distribution, SCOLVO Sales, for example, provides access not only to client data stored in a CRM or to corporate email but also to other back-end systems, and they can also be synchronized on the go. The agents can also find all the presentations, contract templates, or corporate calculators in the app.

All this is easily manageable on a mobile device since the agents only have to log in once, to a single application. After that, all the crucial information appears on a simple dashboard, together with the tasks for the day.

The mobile app offers an interface for the management as well, to communicate tasks and changes more simply and quickly. They can schedule the team’s resources on demand, in real time. They can also see where, in what timeframe, and what kind of information did the agents deliver to the clients, and what new data could he or she could get.

Well-managed Information = More Clients and More Engagement

Thanks to the central management available through the mobile app, the daily organization becomes smoother and more efficient, and it gives more information to the managers about the contents of a personal meeting. The work of the agents is trackable, and the team can do the tasks following best practices. Meanwhile, the management receives automatic and instant feedback on that.

The easy-to-use application and the easy-to-understand, easy-to-oversee functions allow the agents to record data easier and quicker, improving data quality. They don’t abandon the CRM for difficulties of usage, so it also becomes more accurate, more current, so more useful for the business.

The better data quality allows the management to get to know the clients better. The summarized information, completed with other, automatic reports made during the personal sales meetings (like the length of the session, the material presented, emails, follow-ups), result in offers that better suit client demand and promote further sales opportunities (upsell, cross-sell).

SCOLVO Sales – The ultimate selling machine for financial institutions has arrived:

The post Insurance Distribution with a Mobile Solution: Quick, Simple, Up-to-date appeared first on Scolvo.

Lost in Conversation

There are many steps in the retail banking sales process where it could be a demand for increased effectiveness. During a personal meeting, the agent might miss several opportunities to get to know the client and give them a more precise, more tailored offer.

There is, for example, one of the first steps of a personal consultation, when the agent tries to find out as much as possible about the client’s financial situation. The conversation will eventually shed light on the type of advice the client needs, considering their existing or non-existent savings (credit-focused or savings-focused), but the mid-term and long-term plans usually remain unexplored. As a consequence, financial institutions lose billions by not knowing the client enough.

With the current administration practices, documenting “hints” is accidental and depends on the preparedness of the agent. The management, on the other hand, only has limited possibilities to intervene in the process. They mostly have to rely on the onboarding and training period to get their messages through or suggest a necessary change while controlling productivity.

There is a problem with transparency, too. During the necessary data registration process, the retail banking agents don’t use systems that could allow them to share the registered information with the client (e.g., financial snapshot or sending a colorful PDF about the suggested products), and there is no possibility to make the necessary calculations together. It makes winning the trust of the “always-on” clients, and the fact that the agents only send out the quotes days or weeks later doesn’t help either.

Value for the Client

An application that was developed keeping in mind the priorities of personal sales meetings helps to complete the consultation and keep it transparent. A piece of software that serves as a central access point for the official documents, contracts, as well as the product brochures, client databases or quote calculators, will make it easier for both the consultant and client, as well as shorten the sales cycle. Such an application is a useful tool for the sales managers, too, to coordinate teamwork and to better distribute the available resources.

Because of the integration with internal legacy systems, many would think it a desktop application is the solution. But the surprising truth is that a tablet application is a way more modern sales tool, and it is also easier to implement. When using a tablet, the agent and the client sit next to each other, the client is involved in the sales process, increasing its effectiveness.

The application can easily integrate internal systems, so it can contain all the necessary information and also make it available to the client immediately or as an attachment of a follow-up email. If it’s a returning client, some of the data can be accessed from the database, so it reduces the administration. Even the calculators can be used outside of the corporate website, by accessing it directly from the application, and print a contract right on site if the client accepts the quote.

Financial Planning as an Experience

Using a mobile application in retail banking radically transforms the current processes without making them more difficult. Due to the smooth operation, the agents are happy to incorporate the tool into their workflows. The client will experience a new way of banking: during a personal meeting, sitting next to the agent, they can be active participants of the financial planning – a feature that builds trust and increases satisfaction.

By accessing the documents quickly, the agent can get from the first registration of data to the contract, and they can also complete their administration duties without paper. Meanwhile, the managers can control all steps of the process, keep the information up-to-date, and receive automatic reports. The sales agents can always see in the application what meetings they have and when do they have to follow up with a particular client.

According to SCOLVO’s industry-specific experience, the mobile sales enablement tool has dramatically increased task management, both on a team as on a personal level. The productivity of the banks has increased in general, with the help of the features accessible through the tablet and due to the modern sales tool. Further advantages that financial institutions mentioned included the seamless data flow, a proper CRM-usage, current reports, and paperless processes.

SCOLVO Sales – The ultimate selling machine for financial institutions has arrived:

The post Retail Banking: Sell More with a Mobile Solution appeared first on Scolvo.

We break down the significant points of debate between a laptop and a tablet when used for the work of a field sales agent.

The Standalone Issue

Choosing either a laptop or a tablet for field sales tasks depends much on whether the new device is supposed to be a complementary or a replacement for the office computer.

Previously, it was apparent to consider a mobile device only as a secondary slate as portability take its toll on productivity. However, with the evolution of tablets and laptops and the rise of corporate hybrids, it is not necessary anymore to have two or more of the mobile equipment.

Hybrids also make it unnecessary to bring even a tablet just for quicker and more beautiful presentations while on the go, and the professional line tablets make serious efforts to close the performance gaps between the laptops and the everyday use tablets.

If you think the price tags are too much for these types of devices, you might reconsider when adding up the values of the multiple device purchases.

The Field Sales Solution: A pro tablet, equipped with as many of the capabilities of laptops and desktops as possible.

The Writing Issue

No judging but it’s a fact that laptops have physical keyboards and tablets do not, and that point alone can make or break a deal on any of them. Think about the writing issue: if your job as a sales representative involves much typing, then, of course, you will prefer a physical keyboard and, therefore, a laptop.

However, not everyone has to write a lot all day: some like things put in letters even if that’s not an obligation, while others might prefer drawing, sketching, or multimedia to complete their tasks.

The typical sales workflow instead includes more of the “click&see” or “click&show”. Reviewing client data before a personal meeting, scheduling those meetings, presenting products or updating the sales pipeline information doesn’t require much writing. Similarly, the best allows the agents to send automatic reports and assemble personalized offers with a few clicks only.

Also, the dictation-based note-taking feature of Siri in the iOS11 or a similar function in Android can save the day when typing is not an option or is just too much hassle.

Not to mention the ever-evolving precision of styluses and the capabilities of some wide-screen, high-resolution tablets would make them perfect for the presentation of slides and product videos.

The Field Sales Solution: A tablet with a dictation feature for voice notes and a stylus for sketching, drawing, or electronic signature.

The Portability Issue

For workers who are on the go every day for long hours, the portability of a device is of utmost importance. Still, that can be affected by several factors that should all be considered when choosing between a laptop and a tablet.

The smaller and the lighter a gadget is, the longer the rep can carry it around – this is a no-brainer. But often, battery life will suffer the advantages of the restricted physical dimensions. If a sales rep is, in fact, out and about the whole day, every day, the battery with the most extended endurance will be the deal breaker. Remember that these days, you don’t have to consider taking a charger with you all the time.

The Field Sales Solution: Tablets, as they are increasingly made to last longer by apps that don’t use that much power to operate and massive computing is not required for the job anyway.

The Platform Issue

Sometimes the choice is not even determined by the type of device, but the operating system. What platform the operating system is running on determines the compromises the user has to make when using the gadget out of the office.

For sure, the two major mobile (tablet) platforms, iOS, and Android will lack the extensive functionalities of a Mac or a Windows laptop. Their functionality will depend on the selection of available apps, including productivity and security applications.

On the other hand, field sales reps don’t need the full desktop functionality of the software to get their jobs done. Weaker multitasking capabilities of a device can even result in more focused work and, therefore, more productivity. Plus, secure access to enterprise documents is also possible through cloud services.

With the right applications specially developed for business, there is no limit to efficiently tackle the day’s tasks and just them – no distraction from other programs, just pure GTD. Enterprise apps also have the advantage as their usage and settings can be entirely controlled by the management and IT. A true win-win!

The Field Sales Solution: A tablet equipped with industry-specific, easy-to-use business applications.

SCOLVO Sales – The ultimate selling machine for financial institutions has arrived:

The post What’s Better: A Laptop or a Tablet for Field Sales? appeared first on Scolvo.