Point of Sale Material

Point of sale material or sales collateral includes any type of printed or electronic materials that support the sales process. The purpose of these materials is to give prospective buyers the information they need to decide to buy your product or service. Point of sale material can range from traditional brochures, trade presenters and data sheets to sophisticated online presentations. Point of sale could also include product carry packs, pull up banners, entry boxes, table talkers and more.

Traditional Sales Collateral

Traditionally, most sales collateral has taken the form of a wide range of printed materials such as advertisements, brochures, catalogs, direct mail letters and postcards, handouts from sales presentations, sales sheets, posters, technical data sheets and more. Materials can contain descriptions, pictures, specifications, charts, data tables, diagrams, testimonials and more to add to the sales process.

Electronic Sales Collateral

With the rise of the computer and the Internet, a lot of sales collateral are now available as Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs or other electronic files. A business website is itself a type of sales collateral, and websites can contain all the information a business wants to present, without the cost of printing materials.

Online Vs. Offline Sales Collateral

Most businesses still need to develop both online and offline sales collateral and point of sale material. The mix will depend largely on the nature of the business and the expectations of prospective customers.

Content of Sales Collateral

Regardless of the form of the sales collateral, to be effective, it needs to clearly present information in a manner the prospective buyer can understand. The specific approach will vary depending on the target market.

Trade and sales presenters

Trade and sales presenter design plays a crucial role in communication a product or service. The nature of these documents is usually fact and information driven. Trade and sales presenters drive awareness and the need for information to the sales teams. A Trade or sales presenter is aimed at giving all the technical information about a new or established product and is seen as a tool to excite the sales force/trade teams.

The design of these documents should be done in a way that makes the sales teams want to read it and effectively communicate all the required information to customers/consumers.