Today I led a discussion with a mastermind group on using technology. We had scheduled this topic because the consultants in the group said that they feel pressure to get leverage with technology, even at the same time as they are told to hop on a plane and meet face to face with prospects and clients as much as possible. Which is right, they wondered. And how should a consultant research and choose which technologies to use? To enrich our discussion, we read Doug Devitre's excellent book (which I highly recommend) called Screen-to-Screen Selling. Devitre's book provides dozens of recommendations to leverage your time while improving your reputation, communication and relationships.
As many of you know, I am a very structured thinker and am always looking for frameworks and rules to simplify complex situations.
Here's how I think about using technology in my own practice.
RULE 1: Use technology to close the gap when you can't meet face-to-face
Even if you want to meet face-to-face with a prospect or client, sometimes you can't. Maybe they need immediate help, or maybe their travel prohibits it, or maybe the revenue to be generated from the work doesn't cover the airplane ticket. Devitre recommends using video chat as default, unless the connection isn't fast enough to support it. Skype is fine, but Zoom or JoinMe have additional excellent features, making it easy to see the person and share a document at the same time. These services are great for reviewing a document, exploring case studies or mapping out plans.
I do a lot of keynote speaking, but I also do webinars, which provide much of the same content, but delivered remotely, with me presenting from my desk in my office. Over time, I have increased my usage of polling, engaging the faceless audience and getting them to share stories via the chat feature. I often use twice as many slides when I am remote, to keep up the visual interest, especially if they aren't seeing my face.
RULE 2: Use technology to enhance face-to-face
With technology, we have a whole range of tools that can allow us to record our work, edit our slides, choose which cases to present in real time, incorporate animated process visuals to clarify complicated ideas, and send "prework" like video and audio so that valuable face-to-face time can be used for interaction and relationship building.
Face-to-face time is so valuable. Think about what you can only do when you're in the same room as someone, and do everything else remotely. For me, I know that face-to-face time is best used building relationships and establishing trust. It's also an effective tool for confirming buy-in, especially among a large group. You can work in the background to explain, educate and persuade each individual member of a group, but there's nothing like a group gathering to look around and see that everyone is in agreement, and to raise any last challenges with all the actors in one place.
RULE 3: Start with the requirements, and then look for the technology
Keeping up with all of the new apps and products can be overwhelming. Trying to understand what each one does, and then figuring out how it might work in your organization will take a lot of time and isn't really necessary. I go the other way. I start with what I'm trying to accomplish, for example, give a really engaging presentation to a room of 500 people, or record answers to my most commonly asked questions in a way that is useful for people who might not have a chance to ask me directly. Start with the challenge you face, and your vision of how things would work in an ideal way. Then ask around.
Bottom Line
Technology is exploding. Many applications are available, at least in "lite versions" for free. If you can imagine it, someone has probably built it. So step away from your laptop, grab a pen and some paper, and start crafting a wishlist of all the areas where your interactions could be more effective AND/OR better leveraged.
Good luck!
