Conquering the Communication Challenge with a Whiteboard

One of the greatest challenges managers and CEOs face is effectively communicating with their employees, clients and stakeholders. Whether by email, phone call or conference room presentation, the corporate world is inundated with more communication input than ever before. We’ve all become complacent to the noise. We’ve all heard it before, but it bears repeating: a key player in the communications challenge is the PowerPoint presentation. This presentation go-to is often a crutch that leads to glazed eyes, big yawns and undeniable apathy. Let’s look at how we got to this point.

[wcm_restrict]At the root of all workplace activity lies the organization’s message. Whether positioned to sell, convince, persuade or educate, an organization’s message must be reflected in internal and external communication. Key messages are used to develop strategic and tactical goals that tell a story of value, competition, and success. To the detriment of effectively communicating a company’s purpose, PowerPoint became a handy “receptacle” into which we could simply dump the key messaging from Word documents. Ironically enough, this messaging made its way into Word document from – you guessed it – whiteboards used in brainstorming sessions!

In the interests of returning the key messaging from whence it came, a simple process can lead to powerful whiteboard stories used to uncover new opportunities and close larger deals.

Designing a whiteboard story to be used by salespeople begins with the message owners: key members of sales, marketing, product management, professional services and training professionals. Message owners understand their organization’s message and can work as a team to develop a concise, powerful and entertaining story. The best stories communicate unique value and articulate over-arching purpose. This process allows managers and their employees to look at the way they communicate, and develop an organizational story that thrives in the competitive and volatile marketplace.

Many companies have complicated messages to communicate in easy-to-understand ways; Blue Coat Systems, Inc. being a prime example of this. Blue Coat’s greatest sales challenge was communicating its forward-thinking value proposition to customers and prospects in an effective, engaging, and exciting way. Using the whiteboard sales approach, Blue Coat created one interactive whiteboard conveying the company’s new corporate story, as well as three “level 2” whiteboard that dive more deeply into solution capabilities.

Sales reps felt the whiteboard activity increased their comfort level in selling Blue Coat solutions and articulating the company’s message. In just a few months of using the whiteboard sales approach, sales representatives have reported more follow-up sales calls and more closed deals.

Using a whiteboard is certainly not a new concept, but using a whiteboard to tell a visual sales narrative in a structured and consistent way is. And while the economy is unpredictable and technology is always changing, one thing is for certain: the need for interpersonal communication is constant. The digital world may be quick and convenient, but the power of conveying a clear, convincing message lies in the ability to tell a story.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

Corey Sommers is Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of WhiteboardSelling, a provider of tools, best practices and technologies that enable field personnel to communicate and demonstrate core business value propositions to C-level buyers in a confident, compelling and consistent fashion… all without slides. Corey has more than 15 years experience in sales and channel enablement, account manager certification and training, and competitive intelligence. He is passionate about bridging the gap between marketing and sales within large organizations. Prior to founding WhiteboardSelling, he developed and executed VMware’s channel enablement strategy globally, across VARs, OEMs, Distributors, ISVs, and Corporate Reseller channel segments. He had shared responsibility for sales enablement and training for BMC Software’s world-wide direct sales organization. Corey also founded Ventaso, a leading provider of sales-ready messaging software and tools. To read Corey’s complete biography, click here.