A war of words has broken out between the airline and teleconferencing industries as they battle to attract the sales sector.

Faced with many companies banning all but essential air travel during the downturn, a focus on greener ways of doing business, the underlying terrorist threat and the proliferation of teleconferencing technology, it’s not surprising that this last year has been a dire one for airlines.

But it’s not just been the traditional carriers like British Airways that have suffered; low-cost airlines like Flybe (partly owned by BA and Britain’s largest domestic carrier) have also had to fight for every passenger.

How do the world’s best speakers get across their message? Jacki Rose offers her own tips on creating and delivering an engaging sales presentation.
 
People are always telling me how they sat through a boring presentation or even that they gave a boring presentation – you know it’s bad when you are the speaker and you are bored by your own presentation!

We are in the middle of an epidemic and it’s called PowerPoint. Most businesses think they have to use it because it’s ‘professional’.

When marketing manager at Profile Analysis, Alexandra Miller asked for some advice on good and bad presentations from the members of the Modernselling.com group on LinkedIn, she appeared to have hit on an issue close to the heart of many businesspeople.

While the ground rules for holding an effective meeting seem like common sense, they’re much harder to put into practice. Tina Lofthouse takes a look at how you can actually make them work…

Sales meetings may be virtually the only time when members of the field force come together to discuss customer reactions to products and promotions, feedback market information and trade war stories. Such get-togethers play a vital supportive role, helping individual members feel part of a team, sharing and solving problems and instilling a sense of common purpose. They also help to channel a two-way flow of information: market intelligence back from the field and product and company data to the customer.

But the rest of us – whether we’re in telesales, marketing or management (and particularly in larger organisations – Ed) – can spend a great deal of our working lives in meetings, many of which are unproductive, with egos jostling for air-time, speakers wandering off-topic and boredom quickly setting in among unengaged attendees.

The new sound of the business jungle or a gathering of headless chickens? Nobody seems quite certain about Twitter. One thing’s for sure: it’s not just bird brains flocking to the latest social networking phenomenon. Jeremy Spiller explains what to do when you have something to crow about.

With the UK in the grip of Twitter fever, after Stephen Fry’s now legendary tweets while stuck in a lift, now would seem a good time to offer a few tips on how to get started with Twitter.

For those who are not quite sure what all the commotion is about, Twitter is a micro-blogging platform which asks participants one simple question: ‘What are you doing?’ You can post information on what you’re doing, watching, reading, listening to or, even, thinking but all answers must be within 140 characters. Your posts can be sent via mobile phone text, instant message, or the web.

‘Simplicity has played an important role in Twitter's success. People are eager to connect with other people and Twitter makes that simple,’ according to the sites founders, who sum up the concept like this: ‘In countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens – from breaking world news to updates from friends.’

Here are ten tips on how to get started. 

As soaring fuel costs cut into travel budgets and the economic downturn begins to bite, companies are turning away from traditional face-to-face meetings in favour of the web.  

Back in September, online meeting company Netviewer reported a 40% year-on-year increase in the use of its online meeting tools: a total of 91.9 million minutes of meetings were held online between January and July 2008, compared with 65.5 million minutes for the same period in 2007. The Germany-based company says that customer feedback indicates the growth in online meetings is strongly linked to the rise in fuel and transport costs across Europe. 

‘High fuel prices, climbing airline fares and fears of a slowdown, are driving companies to look for ways to work more efficiently.’ Netviewer founder and chief executive officer, Dr Andreas Schweinbenz tells ModernSelling.com.

WebEx UK manager Natalie Butler and managing director of KineticFuture Karen Moyse explain why digital presentation skills are the next new skill for business leaders.

The balance between face-to-face and remote communication is changing. Over the last few years a number of factors have contributed towards a growing trend for employees to conduct business via digital channels. Now the challenge is to ensure that any form of virtual communication remains as effective as the in-person alternative, and that the all-important art of face-to-face communication and charisma can be transferred to the digital world.

Virtual presentation skills are a relatively new phenomenon. Despite humble beginnings with the first, clunky video conferencing systems of the 1980s, it’s now commonplace for businesses to use digital media to communicate – for example web conferences, social networks, online video, podcasts and blogs. Increased focus on the environment and the changing nature of technology are contributing to this shift but. above all. companies can exploit them to reduce costs and increase productivity. 

It used to be all about the mobile phone, the PDA (personal digital assistant) or the SatNav, but these days the ultimate gadget in road warriors’ pockets is a miniature projector.

Presentations and displays are being revolutionised with the launch of a new generation of pocket projectors, according to Personal Projector, a company specialising in these devices which are now capable of offering clear static and video images while still small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.

Reducing the size of the equipment needed to display a PowerPoint presentation, spreadsheet or video is leading to innovative approaches to company pitches, meetings and reports. Advances in battery life and electronics now make it possible to carry everything needed for a presentation in your pocket.

Exhibitions and trade shows are expensive undertakings but, handled properly, they remain an excellent way to generate leads, launch products, entertain clients and raise awareness. However, they are complex events to manage and, to obtain maximum return on investment (ROI), every step in the process needs to be handled professionally.

Without proper focus, exhibitions can become budget-eating monsters that turn into nothing more than a ‘jolly’ for the sales team. Handled correctly, they represent the ultimate 3D shop window for your company.

Here is editor Nick de Cent's step-by-step guide to planning a successful exhibition. Each step is equally important and success depends on getting them all right; after all, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.

1. Choosing the event

So, you’ve decided that exhibiting at events is the way forward for your company when it comes to lead generation? Or perhaps you have a new product or service that actually needs demonstrating? You do have a genuine need to appear at the event, don’t you? You haven’t just been sold some cheap space without considering how to fill and work it properly?

To repeat: exhibitions are expensive undertakings. Choosing the right event is key: if you don’t get it right, you’re wasting your money. Check the list of available shows in any of the trade directories, online (try a Google search) or, for overseas events, enlist the services of your trade association or UKTI*. Where there is a selection of established and credible events, choose one that coincides with your own plans.

If not, go with the event that attracts the largest number of visitors and senior buyers from your target market. Any reputable exhibition organiser will happily supply a sales brochure, including a breakdown of audited visitorship figures. (Watch out for a declining trend.)

Bullet points are lazy and kill a presentation says M62's Nicholas Oulton.

1. Know what you are selling: yourself or the solution?
2. Know who or what the competition is.
3. Know what you are asking for.
4. Understand the argument for doing it.
5. Make it as simple as possible.
6. Prove you can deliver it.
7. Make the value message memorable.
8. Eliminate text: use graphics.
9. Make sure that your slides don't make sense.
10. Ask for the order.