Speeding up the Sales Cycle With a 2-Minute Explainer(TM)

Sales prospects can quickly understand the value of a complex product when it's introduced with a 2-Minute Explainer(tm), a narrated Flash animation produced by New York B2B marketing firm Business Information Graphics, Inc. The company's clients use Explainers as the first step in the sales cycle, for product launches, and as website landing pages.

New York, NY (PRWEB) April 7, 2005 -- "Our value becomes clear as soon customers understand the concept" says George Harter, marketing manager at North Carolina business process management (BPM) software maker Ultimus (http://www.ultimus.com). That's why our sales team regularly makes the 2-Minute Explainer(TM) the first step in the sales cycle."

The "2-Minute Explainer" is a Flash animation produced by Business Information Graphics, a New York B2B marketing communication firm. "It's Flash, but we're not the least bit flashy," says company president Bruce McKenzie. "What we do is to package a sales proposition so it's delivered consistently in a way that prospects can immediately understand."

To put across the Ultimus value proposition, B.I.G. animated a purchase requisition struggling to get fulfilled. "As soon as people see the animated task actively trying to get the next person's attention, rather than waiting for that person to act," says Harter, "they understand how business process management adds value to their organization." The Explainer is one of the most-viewed pages on the Ultimus website.

Making connections
Kevin Cavanaugh, COO of Connecticut's Qualtech Systems (http://www.teamqsi.com), which is commercializing software developed for space exploration and military applications, uses an Explainer to kick off presentations. "We can start describing product details knowing that everyone has the big picture." Qualtech's sales team has found that that they are doing fewer laborious software demos than they used to, "because people get it - we don't have to show them." Qualtech has also found that pitching stories to magazine editors is easier now. Says Cavanaugh, "when our PR firm tells an editor, 'take two minutes and go to this URL', the editor usually comes back and says, 'hey, that really is interesting.'"

Most B.I.G. clients also use the 2-minute Explainer at trade shows and conferences. "We make it easy to run it as a loop," says McKenzie. "If you put it on the exhibit perimeter, you improve the chances that people will come into the exhibit sort of "pre-qualified" to ask good questions."

Depolysyllabification
"Creating a 2-Minute Explainer brings out the best in everyone," says McKenzie. "Disciplining ourselves and our clients to stick to the two-minute timeframe keeps us all focused." McKenzie and partner Lorna Pautzke, who both hold M.B.A. degrees, research and write the script based on phone conversations, web pages and PowerPoint presentations. They apply what they call the "depolysyllabification" process. "The literature put out by tech companies all says pretty much the same thing in the same windy jargon," says McKenzie. "So-and-so is the leading provider of something-or-other that's really technical and important. We turn that into a simple and direct picture story that tells you, in a businesslike way, what it is and why you should care."

A portfolio of 2-Minute Explainers can be viewed at http://www.2MinuteExplainer.com

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