The Science Behind Selling With Ingage

Most sales managers will agree that selling is not an art, it’s a science. There are a variety of evidence-based methods that go into building a proper sales process and inform decisions for everything from hiring to deciding which software platform you use to present your product. 

We sat down with our new partner, Dennis Uricola from WIB Excellence LLC, who has over 30 years experience helping sales teams achieve levels they never thought possible. Dennis was an early adopter of Ingage and has eagerly embraced every new feature launch we launch, including the analytics dashboard which helped him double his raw conversion rate. Now, Dennis is on a mission to bring sales excellence to teams nationwide using his proven sales methods and tools, including Ingage. 

Ingage: Before starting with Ingage in 2018, what were your teams using as presentation software and what made you make the switch to Ingage? 

Dennis: We were using PowerPoint for in-home presentations but it didn’t have any real animations or videos, so it was nowhere near what we wanted. We heard about Ingage from a few of our partners like NewPro and decided to try it out and have not been disappointed. 

Ingage: We know a lot of our users do traditional sales presentations with Ingage, but you use it for something more than sales presentations, right? 

Dennis: I use it to train new sales reps on my proven sales method and on how to present with Ingage. With the platform, I took the sales presentation I already had and made an Ingage presentation that included extra slides for training. I’ve included videos and voice overs on these slides so the reps know exactly what to say and when to say it. 

Ingage: What is the biggest indicator of success of using Ingage when it comes to evaluating your return on investment?

Dennis: The fact that Ingage has a science behind it. Not a lot of companies think of selling from a science standpoint, but there really is a science behind selling. I can easily incorporate the tools I use, like a pricing table that connects to a live Excel spreadsheet, into the presentation which makes it faster and easier to close deals in the home. 

Numbers wise, we’ve seen great success with implementing Ingage for the Kohler Florida Sales Team that I worked with. Back in 2018, our issued to net closing percent was an average of 17.4% using our PowerPoint presentation. We adopted Ingage in mid 2018 and by the next year, we had an issued to net close rate of 22.1%. In 2020, we started using Ingage as a training tool and added some of the platform’s more creative features and found homeowners were actually engaged and ready to buy. This led to ending the year with a team average issue to net close of 27.6%! 

Ingage has been an amazing asset and as the platform changes, my team continues to evolve and become more efficient and consistent with our presentations. 

Ingage: Wow, those are some incredible numbers! You’re clearly selling better with Ingage, can you tell us what your training methodology looks like with the platform?

Dennis: Using Ingage to train new sales reps makes it easier to get people up to speed quickly. The platform itself is easy to use and I’ve found that the people who use it are more efficient. I began using Ingage to train, starting with my old PowerPoint sales deck and integrating it into Ingage, then adding training slides to present to the new sales reps. I use pretty much every feature for the training deck, like buttons, videos and graphics. For example, I cutup a training video I made and placed it throughout the presentation. Now, reps can go back and practice what I say in the video so that they can give the perfect presentation to homeowners, while also following company guidelines. I also really emphasize the navigation bar with trainees since it follows the structure of a normal sales presentation, but it’s laid out in such a way that it’s much easier to follow. 

Being able to train with Ingage keeps the reps interested and with the presentation being so interactive and easy to navigate– it makes onboarding much more efficient. It really is the little things like interactivity that help sales people get up and going.

Ingage: We know you’re a big fan of using the analytics dashboard on Ingage, can you tell us more about what you use it for?

Dennis: I think the analytics are critical to success because they act as the eyes and ears into the presentation. On the Ingage analytics dashboard, you can see how long a rep is spending on a presentation overall, plus what individual slides they’re spending the most time on. Managers can look at this and with an underperforming rep, they can see what went sideways and figure out how to get them back on track. 

Ingage makes it easier to use analytics and it plays a huge role in training because you can get ahead of any issues reps might have. This really is my favorite feature because it really proves that selling is a science. 

Ingage: We love how much you get out of the analytics dashboard. So, we’re curious, what do your customers and sales reps say when you show them presentations on Ingage?

Dennis: Well, sales people come into it with this very structured sales process in mind and after I train them on Ingage and how to use the platform, they are wowed by it. Ingage just fits well with the overall sales process and it’s super easy to use so it’s fairly simple for them to transition. They’re able to get the flow of things quickly, whether it’s updating a presentation or adding special features like buttons. 

I’ve found that customers pay a lot more attention to the presentations when we use Ingage. It creates an emotional connection because of all the interactivity and you can easily customize it for a particular customer, so they feel even more connected. 

Ingage: Are there any other words of wisdom you want to share?

Dennis: I think that people or sales managers who look at Ingage as just another line item are mistaken. Ingage is going to increase retention, increase efficiency and make more revenue. Once they understand the deeper opportunities, then there is no real cost because ROI goes up and turnover goes down. It’s a no brainer. 

Whether you’re looking to upgrade your presentation software or need a comprehensive retraining program for your team, Ingage and Dennis have your back. With Dennis’ expertise in using every feature of the platform, plus his proven sales methodology, you can’t go wrong. 

Excited to get started? Set up a demo today or email us here for more information.