When selling is teaching

All publishing industries are living tough moments. In part is due to the impact of technology and massive use of it by people. Change is happening at every level and at every process....every day.


Traditional selling and marketing processes are inefficient, specially for new designed content product and services. This is just a small portion of the problem, but an interesting one. 


How do we tell people a new product or service is better than the one they´re already using... and is working fine? How do we change the way they are using information and content? How do we insert technology -more technology- in their life and work?


I believe in one answer: we first teach them.


Presenting and showing new content or information product and services is always fascinating. But much more fascinating is when people starts to buy and use your product and they tell the world about it. And even more fascinating when they start to build guides and recommend it in their blogs, twitters, networks....in their digital world. And, maybe, the best of all is when they become anxious for the next release, the new functionalities, the new contents you are going to present them in a few months.


This occurs because they've learned how to use it, they are excited about the benefits they obtain and, of course, that paying the price is fair.


If we first start teaching how to use a product we will have two good inputs: what issues are not resolved the best possible way and the barriers people have to buy and start using it (price, content, format, hardware, mobility, dependencies and more). We will have the opportunity to solve them and go on. But the best thing is we could transmit the passion that is behind every creation of a new tool, product or service. If we become a "positive engine" to energize the others, the best of your creation is exposed. So imagine having this "power" in every training session of every single product and service you want to sell.
Introducing a new technology is also a part of the teaching process. 


To face this circumstance we need to focus on two realities. The first is: the more simple the technology is, the less time a person will need to adopt it; and the second, the new technology has to solve problems and not to create new ones. If during the selling process, which now has to be the teaching process, the user understands both correct, 90% of the work is done.


I truly believe that, to sell, teaching is much more effective than just exposing the product. I will apply this belief  from now on and tell you my experience in a few months.

Color e-paper update - May 2009

An article published in Nature Photonics (read the summary of the article at http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v3/n5/abs/nphoton.2009.68.html) about a week ago informs about two prototypes of color e-paper displays. It is very interesting to see that the techonology they are using comes from the past. In fact, both developments are focused on using pigments in an aqueous solution inside the pixel. Then, by manipulating the voltage on each device the liquid with the pigment draws out from the reservoir into the freee space of the pixel (in the second prototype, there are two pigments in each reservoir but with different charge properties so that the voltage controls which of them is shown in the display). 

The potential of colorized e-ink for the health sciences publishing industry is huge. It opens a vast universe of possibilities and new developments on e-books and, also, new instructional models for education, e-libraries, multiformat services and more other interesting gadgets.

Fujitsu has started to sell his first color e-reader (FLEPia) on march this year, with an 8-inch screen display and up to 260,000 colors in high-definition. Even if it's a very good start for this new market, the re-draw speed is still low and the weight (385g) and specially the price is too high if compared to the Sony e-Reader or the Kindle. 

Value added lost

We can develop the best product and services in the world. But, among many other issues, we must be aware of two critical things:

1) Online products and services change fast because of their environment;
2) People who create product and services are not the ones communicating its existence to the market.

The consequences of these two facts are:

1) Flexibility and adaptation are required more than ever;
2) People who create must be involved in the communication of the product and services to the audience.

So, for the first subject, we need people who learn fast, who understand perfectly what they are working with, who can assess the needs of the users and are able to match them in seconds. But if they don’t match, then they should be prepared to offer a solution based on our know how and skills. And latest, they should be capable of giving the correct feedback so we can adapt fast to changes.

And for the second concern, we should involve developers and managers in building, and continuously adapting, the correct messages about our products and services. We should all become story tellers of our products because stories can be, just by themselves, a hundred times more fascinating than a flyer.

2008 (ENG)

This 2008 has been a great year. Because I have made a significant change in my professional life and I succeeded. I have met a great team and a fantastic project.

The illusion I began with in this adventure is still with me and it’s renewed constantly thanks to the people surrounding me.

I see the difficulties we have and those that could come, but none seems to me unworkable. I see them more like opportunities and challenges.

I like and enjoy what I do and the people I’m working with, and I am happy of the persons who share my personal and professional life.

I always remember colleagues and friends from my previous adventures, because they also have been crucial to me and they continue to be.

I am very thankful for this past year 2008 and very excited by the one starting in a few days.

2008

Para mí este ha sido un gran año. Porque he hecho un cambio significativo en mi vida profesional y he acertado. He conocido a un gran equipo de personas y un fantástico proyecto.

La ilusión con la que empecé esta aventura sigue conmigo y se renueva constantemente gracias a las personas que me rodean. Veo las dificultades que tenemos y las que pueden venir, pero ninguna me parece insalvable y las tomo como oportunidades y retos.

Me gusta y disfruto de lo que hago y con quien lo hago, y estoy feliz de las personas que comparten mi vida personal y profesional.

Me acuerdo siempre de los compañeros y amigos de anteriores aventuras, porque ellos también han sido cruciales para mí y lo siguen siendo.

En definitiva, estoy muy agradecido por este año que termina pronto y muy entusiasmado por el que llega.

More astonishing presentations by Benjamin Zander

Another video of Benjamin Zander introducing the art of possibility.
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On eBook devices

I've been recently looking at those new eBook readers coming from different companies: Amazon, iRex, Sony, Bookeen, Hanlin and others. I was asking myself which one could feed my actual needs.

All of them are based on e-ink technology and, depending on the price (from $200 to $650) they offer more functionalities. For me, two things are the most important: 1) battery life and, 2) the chance to easily upload and storage all content formats (Word, PDF, txt, html, epub, etc.).

After reading different reviews and opinions, I decided to give a try to Sony PRS-505. I will let you know my experience with it in a few weeks.

Personal ambitions

I have read in a Spanish newspaper that Spanish teenagers would like to be civil employees or employees at a big department store.

This article does not seem to be important except by the fact that we consider those jobs tedious, monotonous and easy. Those occupations drive people to just comply with their assignments and work in automatic mode.

If this is so (of course there can be exceptions), it makes me think that this generation has a limited ambition or, worse, does not have any at all. It seems to me that values are changing.

To see that this is happening not only in the professional but in the personnel field also makes me feel sad. Many years ago I was coordinating, with some colleagues and friends, a university sports club. We used to have more than 1300 associates. Every year, we made competitions between faculties or within our own faculty and the participation was surpassed year after year. Months ago I was again in my beloved Faculty of Law and the club of sports had disappeared. Competitions do not exist anymore and the last census of associates shows twenty people.

If in the professional field we do not want to ambition too much, I can understand that (certainly, thats not me). But from the personal perspective, people without ambitions and motivations that help and drive them to improve their lives, I simply cannot understand. Unfortunately, this is happening with teenagers in Spain.