How Sales Teams Can Leverage Augmented Reality for Product Demos

1. Getting 3D designs right for a product. Adding right texture to make a product look as close to what it seems and feel like in real life.
2. Battery drainage is common during AR/VR usage. Phones and tablets also heat up during demos.
3. Large 3D files take up the time to sync the data to the tablets. Salespeople should be able to download content for demos without internet.

We believe that every sales meeting will include some form of AR experience in the future. It will bring the WOW effect to the sales presentation and help win customers.

Things to be aware of while using Augmented Reality in product demos

It will take few hours for a design agency to convert the CAD files into compatible formats for companies using 3D design tools to make models for the products. However, for businesses who don’t use 3D models, it is more complicated because then the models have to be designed first.

Time and Complexity of Making an Augmented Reality App

Identify the Big Wins: Concentrate on products and services that can benefit the most from AR integration. Use the 80/20 rule. Find the products that are giving the most revenue and implement AR demos for them first.

Dry Run With a Few Prospects: Once they find the big win items, try using AR with a few clients and compare the results to a general presentation method. This will give a clearer picture of the improvements in performance.

Product manufacturers are in a unique position to take advantage of AR. Every product company has already invested in developing CAD files for there product lines. The 3D data are already available to them. Next step, Identify the most selling products. Narrow down the list to 5 to 10 products.

Use an app agency to convert the 3D files into right formats to render them in iOS or Android devices. Build a straightforward custom branded app for iPad or Android tablet to be used by sales team in sales demos.

Using a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) app in few sales meeting is a good idea. If you find good results in your product demos, then an existing CMS or an off the shelf CMS can be used to add or remove products from an AR catalog.

How to get started with AR product demos?

Carrying all products to an event is not possible. An automobile spare parts company cannot display all the products because of complexity in sizes and a broad range. Having an AR app can help demonstrate the actual features of the products and also gives the ability to scan through many products.

Situation 3: At an Event

Through an Augmented Reality app, client presentations can be more engaging and interactive. Sales team don’t have to project PPTs on the giant screens. They can use an iPad AR app to give the audience a more tactile experience. Clients can get a 3D look at the product and can see the actual dimensions. A three-dimensional interactive product experience is going to part of the presentations along with the PDFs, photos, and videos.

Situation 2: In The Conference Room

As Augmented Reality companies are giving clients, the holographic and 3-D perspective view of the product. Imagine a company like Euro-Wall, a manufacturer of folding doors and glass wall systems, using AR and showing their wall placed precisely where it needs to go. So, Tom, points the iPad to the wall and drag the foldable window and start showing the possibilities, look and feel of the product without even physically installing it. Customers can now make a better-informed decision and have a visual clue on what the product looks like.

Situation 1: Client Visit (a real site visit)

• Sales meetings are going to use AR apps along with PDF’s and videos.
• Customers are going to see the object as they would have seen in real life. No more guessing.
• Live product demos using AR will be important to win customer’s interest.

AR is transforming how the sales and marketing operates. Here is a few possible application of AR in product demos:

How can AR change the way sales presentations and meetings are done?

Tom, the sales rep at a precise component manufacturing company, is showcasing a company’s core products to a client on an iPad app. Instead of opening a PDF brochure or video, Tom drops the product on the conference table using his company’s Augmented Reality (AR) custom application. He shows the 3D model of the products by moving it around the table and zooming in and out from various angles. He explains the specs and features of the product and his audience can see the product as good as the real object. With the help of an iPad AR app, Tom pulled off a successful meeting.

According to a study from Deloitte, 20% of today’s companies identified that the most significant impact of digital disruption would be its enabling of new ways to interact with customers.

Augmented reality is changing the way we do business and is now fast adopted by the companies for sales presentations, troubleshooting and customer support. In the same survey from Deloitte, 88 percent of mid-market companies (firms with annual revenues of between $100 million and $1 billion) are already using some form of virtual or augmented reality as part of their business.