Although a powerful tool in skilled hands, a laptop cannot make a sale on its own. If you fail to teach your people how to use the computer to the fullest, you are merely equipping them with a very expensive paperweight. A laptop completely alters the playing field of a sales pitch. A 'classic' sales pitch involves papers being handed across a big desk, and the salesperson reading and highlighting materials upside-down.
Laptops make the whole process more personal.
With the laptop, the product is no longer dependent on the salesperson's words, and some of the pressure on the seller is alleviated by graphic and multimedia productions. Also, supplying your entire sales force with the same presentation ensures that every potential buyer is seeing the product the same way. All of this technology isn't worth the salesperson's weight in software if they don't know how to use a computer on a sales call. A salesperson is trying to sell a product, not their computer. A good salesperson needs to know when to close the laptop to keep the attention on the sale.