“It sounds great and all, I just don’t think something so hi-tech is for us.” One of the classic digital signage objections you hear from the technology-fearing decision-maker as a reseller or enthusiastic company stakeholder.
Most of the time these technophobes are not objecting because they see digital signage as a luxury that may be “too expensive”. Their main concern is not the look and feel of it. I mean who doesn’t like sleek, ultra-thin screens and stunning video walls, or even highly practical “boring” data dashboards showing live KPIs in an office?
No, technophobes can see the use of it, as well as the benefits. What they are really worried about is knowing how to effectively use and maintain a digital signage network.
Popular digital signage objections
Yes, that’s right. When you hear people say things like, “We don’t have the necessary staff to implement that,” or vague declarations like “We won’t get good ROI from it”, and “It won’t work for me”, you can counter that with plenty of hard facts and smart infographics about the benefits of digital signage.
The question is how to tackle a more deep-rooted problem. A technophobe, who can be sometimes high up in the command chain, can simply be rejecting the technology for personal reasons. So how can you convince him or her? Try some of these for size:
Praise function over benefits
Quit trying to convince or persuade them with the benefits. Chances are they have read about how great digital signage is and what it can do in terms of customer engagement. If you need to, you can dig out any number of stats on benefits. Focus instead on how easy it is to set-up, and how straightforward it is to maintain. Especially a cloud-based platform that requires no expensive setup or software installations.
Talk about technology becoming second nature
This is perhaps an obvious one but is often overlooked. Give them real-life recent examples of technologies which at first seemed far-fetched but we are now using them every day – and to our benefit. I’m talking about email vs. fax, the internet vs. classic research methods, computers, smartphones, etc. Tech we use every day without a single second thought used to look complex too.
Give them a demo
Show and tell. Use the oldest trick – or game, if you remember pre-school – in the book, and surprise even yourself. Dispel the ‘difficult to set up’ myth. Be honest. Tell them that in the early years digital signage objections were all about this topic – and rightly so! Because it used to be difficult. Not anymore. Set up a live demo, or demo via video conference. Show them how with new, user-friendly online platforms (like Yodeck), you don’t need to recruit staff or use up all the resources of your IT team, to set up a digital signage network.
Go big on support and offer training
Let’s face it, after-sales service is the center of the customer experience model. Today’s savvy end customers want to know what exactly they are getting for their money. Not just on purchasing, but in the lifetime of the product or service. So reinforce your commitment to after-sales support and offer free training sessions to the key people who will be handling the digital signage network. Reassure that for any problems, you will always have their back with first-rate support. At the end of the day, the technophobe’s digital signage objections will be overcome if they are confident and trust that they will be taken care of after the sale.
In the end, listen and understand
The moral of the story? Don’t try and force the fantastic benefit story on a technophobe. Reverse-engineer. First, listen to them carefully to understand their real fears and their digital signage objections.
Show empathy that their fears or genuine and in fact rational. Because you know what? They are! Then focus on the above points. Make a connection with your customer to build that all-important trust and relationship. This will effectively help you to see their opinion change and remove the barriers. And when it’s finally time to see digital signage software in action, sign up for Yodeck and they’ll surely be impressed.