Pow! Zap! Sell!

Wueste knows how to use high-tech tools without letting them use her. And that's a necessary thing, since her job goes far beyond simple selling. Her challenge is nothing less than to change the computing habits of multibillion-dollar operations such as Harley-Davidson and the Seattle Mariners baseball team. How does technology help her sell? To find out, we tracked a day in her life.

Wednesday, 9 PM Wueste returns to her Chicago hotel room after a dinner meeting with her Midwest sales rep, who's given her a heads-up: people from the blue-chip prospect she's pitching tomorrow will want to know how HP's 320 LX palmtop can help its sales force. She plugs in her HP OmniBook 800 laptop and fires off an email to her product manager in Singapore, where it's 11 AM: "Please send latest slides on salesforce-automation solutions."

Next, Wueste logs onto HP's intranet, which contains a mine of information for its global salesforce. She can pull down white papers, join live problem-solving chats, or view slides of products that are still in alpha. Tonight she grabs the latest research on the growing market for handheld computers.

"I can take the intranet anywhere. It's like traveling with a giant filing cabinet. Getting critical information in real time lets me do real-time problem-solving."

Road Rule #1 Use email and your company's intranet to leverage colleagues in distant time zones. When a far-flung partner is working on your project, you become a 24 x 7 worker -- without losing a night's sleep.

Thursday, 8 First thing, Wueste negotiates a quick trip through Web sites that she's bookmarked -- including CNN, C-NET, and HP's competitors -- to find data that will help customize her presentation.

Computer Reseller News's "Shadow RAM" column is reporting fractures in the partnership between Compaq and Casio, which supplies handheld computers to Compaq. She checks the report against other sources and decides that the news is reliable. Now she can spin against her biggest competitor: "Compaq doesn't have a future strategy, because its current strategy is on the rocks."

Road Rule #2 Use the Internet to keep your presentation current and provocative. "Referring to big announcements or major changes in the stock market," says Wueste, "can help make a powerful presentation."

Thursday, 11 AM Wueste arrives at the prospect's office. Her presentation is decidedly low-tech, save for using an HP 320 LX palmtop that's loaded with her notes.

"I don't use a notebook computer for presentations. It would keep me married to the order in which I show slides and make it harder for me to listen. Without the notebook, I'm more responsive."

When a CIO asks about the type of connection required to transfer email from a sales team's palmtops to its desktop computers, Wueste is stumped. But just for a moment. She punches an email into her palmtop (which is equipped with a wireless modem) and sends an urgent query to her technical marketing manager in Cupertino, California.

The email exchange adds value to her presentation: instead of offering an artificial demo, she shows how the product has become an essential tool in her business life. "Believe me, it makes a big impact when you can use the product to answer a client's questions in real time," she says.

Road Rule #3 Showing is always better than telling. And by showing how she can use the palmtop to answer the prospect's questions immediately -- rather than several days later -- Wueste closes the window of opportunity on her competitors.

Thursday, 4 PM As soon as the day's final call wraps up, Wueste rewires. Otherwise, as she runs from one sales call to the next, she might fall behind in her follow-up work: replying to the questions that she couldn't answer in one meeting, laying the groundwork for another chance to make her pitch.

"When I'm at an airport, I go to the Red Carpet room and download new email. On the plane I write replies and new messages, attach files, and put them in the outbox. As soon as I check into my hotel room, I get online and hit the Send/Receive button. All of my email goes out, and everyone else's comes in."

Road Rule #4 Much of selling depends on momentum. Smart salespeople leverage technology to steer clear of speedbumps that can derail a sale. And using technology to stay close to the customer helps Wueste to deliver her personal brand message: I'm fast, I'm reliable, you can depend on me.

Coordinates: Stacey Wueste, stacey_wueste@hp.com

Sales Superhero: The Mad Giant

Super Powers: Cold-calls at twice the speed of mere mortals. Smashes through to the toughest stonewallers.