Next Generation Wireless Applications: Creating Mobile Applications in a Web 2.0 and Mobile 2.0 World, 2nd Edition

3.6 SELLING TO OPERATORS

You have read all of the above, built your app, configured and priced your services, done all your homework and are now ready to sell to operators, so you set up the first sales meeting and turn up in your best dress, ready to impress. Then the whole meeting goes sour, perhaps within the first five minutes. This is very common. I'll spare you a regurgitation of presentation basics, except to say that I've seen so many blunders here that it always pays to revise the basics, no matter how many years you've been doing presentations. Granted, many in the business have been doing presentations for years, but sadly, they've been doing it badly for all those years, too, and perhaps no one has ever told them. Make sure you're not one of these people. Oh yes, and don't forget to test your demo one hundred times and have at least two back-up plans. Whoops, I'm already giving you the tips, so let's get to them.

3.6.1 Top Ten Selling Tips

Based on many sales presentations and workshops given to operators, these are my top 10 tips for increasing your chances of having a productive meeting. It can take a lot of effort and time to get a meeting with an operator, so be prepared. Here's the top ten:

1. Know your audience – and their expectations and requirements as much as possible before the meeting. If your presentation is more of a ‘workshop’, make sure you know what this means – agree on an agenda and clarify expectations. So many meetings with operators are hit-and-miss ...