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Selling and Presentation Tools

Guest post by: Brian Sullivan

Article Overview: Don't bore your audience to death! Brian gives insight on manufacturer rep's top questions for delivering creative and successful presentations.

Selling and Presentation Tools

How can manufacturers run successful sales meetings for their distributors?

First, don't EVER enter a sales meeting without a clear objective for being there. A good objective is something you want the audience to do as a result of being there. Your objective is NOT "to give them some information and get them excited about your product." The objective should be something more specific and actionable. For instance, "My objective is to get at least five leads and three commitments for ride-withs (co-travel days)." If you go in with a specific objective like that, it will force you to ASK for leads and ride-withs. And when you do, you will walk away often having met the objective. Also, be sure to state the objective to your audience up front. Let them know why you are here and what you hope to accomplish. So when you ask for a commitment at the end, they have already been prepped that you are there to do business.

Next, make sure you put time in your calendar to plan and practice your presentation. And treat that time in the calendar like a customer appointment. Meaning, don't blow it off or postpone it for another activity. Because that 30 minute presentation that your distributor gives you is SHOW TIME. And the reps in that room will decide whether you are worthy of presenting to their clinicians based on how you present to them. Knock it out of the park, and I promise you the leads will start pouring in. And this applies to tenured reps as well. I am surprised and often disappointed by the number of experienced manufacturer reps who believe that because they already have relationships with a particular distributor who they are presenting to, they don't need to deliver a five-star meeting. In fact, I recently asked one manufacturer salesperson who was about to do a sales meeting what his plan was. His response was, "Oh, I don't really need to do anything special. I know all these guys so I am just going to review the promotion." Here is my advice for manufacturer reps with that attitude...GO BACK TO BED! Because your indifference towards this opportunity you have been given makes you unworthy of the time your business partner just gave you. So the choice is simple, either put on a five-star show or don't show up. Sounds harsh but it really is one of those things that separates top performers from the rest.

How can they present information without boring their distributor reps to death?

Easy, don't be boring! Put yourself in the audience's seat. After rehearsing (YES, rehearsing!) your sales meeting in front of your dog, ask yourself if you were mildly entertained by what you just delivered. If you said no, get back to work. An easy ways to jazz up a presentation is by adding funny images to a Power Point presentation. For instance, many years ago I embarrassed myself in front of one of my biggest clients while pulling my luggage through the Orlando airport. The zipper broke on my suitcase and as I looked back I noticed that my boxer shorts cleaning the floor of terminal B. My client thought it was hilarious. So guess what image I used as the opening slide of my next sales meeting. Exactly...a picture of a beat up ducked tape suitcase with clothes hanging out. I then told the story and related it back to my meeting message. Now to find these fun images, simply go to google imagesand type in just about any word or group of words you can find. And when you find yourself laughing, do be surprised if your audience finds themselves laughing to. And when they are expressing any type of emotion during your meeting, they are ENGAGED.

And noticed how I used the word STORY in my previous advice. I always recommend putting a story into your presentation and then find a way to tie that story into your message. I assure you people will be more interested in the story than on the specifications and three year warranty that you planned on sharing with them.

What are the key components of a winning presentation (e.g., purpose, simplicity, visuals, articulation, clarity of ideas, etc.)

As with PRECISE Selling, PRECISE Presentations contain the same three elements. Posture, PIC Knowledge (Product, Industry, Competition), and PRECISE Actions.

Posture is the attitude you bring to the front of the room. The people in that room will say yes to you based more on your passion for what you are presenting than perhaps everything else. So smile, get out from the podium and have a blast.

PIC Knowledge is what you KNOW. While it is vital to make people excited to hear you, when it is time to provide value, you better deliver. By doing your homework in advance and by understanding what is most important to audience, you can help make them smarter. And they have to understand why the knowledge you are delivering is important to THEM.

PRECISE Actions-these are the 7 key Actions that need to be performed in virtually every great presentation. Preparation, Respect and Trust, Engage with Questions, Convey Solution, Influence, Secure Agreement, Enthusiasm Ending.

How do presenters/speakers entice and draw in their audience? How do they enlist audience commitment?

Create a high-powered title to your presentation. Titles like "Business Review 2008" tell the audience (big or small) that they are about to experience corporate hell. Instead, create curiosity and excitement in your title with something like: 2008-The Year Our Companies Became Famous. Or if you sell ECG stress machines, try using a number in your title with something like "10 Ways to Lower Your Stress, But Increase Your STRESS Sales." Think about it. The first thing people do when you walk into a meeting room is look up at the screen to see what the presentation is going to be about. And it that first 10 seconds, they will decide if they are IN or OUT. Your title can pull them in.

Another key point, don't EVER utter words like this to an audience, "People, we have a ton of information to cover so bear with me as we get through this." I hear this frequently a national sales meetings as well as distribution sales meetings and I want to crawl under my chair when I do. When a presenter says this they are telling the audience that this is the point where you are supposed to totally shut down because what I am about to say to you is going to be the corporate version of water boarding. Instead, tell them something big that if they listen closely to what you are about to say, it could mean one of the following: more money, more time, more happiness, more sales, more trips...whatever! But by telling them up front what is in it for them, they will be all ears.

To enlist audience commitment, ASK for it at the end with something like, "Based on the information we shared today, I would like to ask each one of you to pull out a piece of paper and write down that names of three current customers who you think would find benefit in this product. I then want you to write down the day of the week that is best to set up a co-travel day so we can prospect for customer together." So the point is, TAKE CONTROL of the meeting by asking them to do something.

How much should manufacturers try to accomplish at their sales meetings? Is less more?

PRECISE means exact, sharply defined or stated. It also means distinguished from every other. That is exactly what manufacturers should be during sales meetings. To do this, first think about what you want the distribution rep to do. The answer is often, "Prospect for my product and get me leads." Well if this is the case, just give them the information that will make them better at prospecting for your product. Such as three key features and benefits, who to call on, what questions to ask and how to overcome three common objections.

Also, this is why having a specific meeting objective is so important, because it will dictate the content of your presentation. If you find the content is not furthering your objective, get rid of it. By doing this, I have found that less is definitely more.

How much information should distributor reps try to obtain from these meeting? What is a reasonable expectation? (Again, is less more?)

If the manufacturer rep is PRECISE and sticks to what we teach, the distributor rep shouldn't have to think about what they should obtain from the meeting. It is the presenters job to control the outcome, not the distributors. Having said that, there may still be a great product we want to sell but presented to us by an imPRECISE presenter. So I tell distributor reps to get, despite the agenda of the manufacturer to look for:

1. Three features and benefits

2. Who to call on

3. What questions to ask to create curiosity

4. Financial information to justify purchase

5. Three objections they may hear and how to overcome them

6. How important is it for manufacturers to pass out literature at their meetings?

It is important. But it is better if a manufacturer teaches the distribution rep how to use the literature as a selling tool when prospecting. Try a brief role play and coach based on what you see in the role play. Will the dealer reps balk at a role play? Probably! But remember, you are there to help them sell more, make more money, and provide better care to their clinician's patients. And those outcomes don't come by doing what is comfortable.

How can they provide literature that distributor reps will want to retain and not toss as soon as they leave the meeting?

Present it as a selling tool or an easy to read reference tool that they can refer to. For instance, try putting all the key ingredients of your presentation on a laminated note card and recommend they keep it with them in their briefcase or by the phone. And remember, if your handouts look like the hundreds of other handouts that they threw away after past sales meetings, either change them or expect them to meet a similar fate.

In addition to literature, what are some good visual training tools? (see answer above)

Want to get a little nutty with the visual aids? Create a video of yourself and your product and post it on YouTube. Then tell your audience that if they really want to know your selling secret, they need to go to youtube or yourname to find out. Create a contest and watch them go. While not everybody will participate, many will. And while they are YouTubing, you are gaining mindshare.

How valuable are electronic training tools, such as EOL Precise Selling?

The only downside of distribution sales meetings is that we often don't know how effective they are and who was really paying attention. Also, as a trainer myself, my biggest challenge is making sure that the audience remembers what I taught them. In the passed, I just trained and hoped the material sunk in. But now, electronic training modules have given me the ability to deliver the content of my presentation 24/7 and when the student wants and need it the most. I became so pumped with the benefits of online training technology that over two years ago my company, PRECISE Selling teamed up with online training company EOL. I did this because I loved their objective of giving distribution reps the specific knowledge they need to create more leads and more sales. I looked at it like a library of portable sales meetings that many of my students were using to increase their product knowledge and gain confidence.

I thought that if we could combine the product knowledge from EOL modules with the "How To" knowledge of PRECISE Selling, we could create the most powerful "order-making" tool in the industry. And guess what? It's working! Because all of the ingredients that make up a great sales meeting also make up a great training module. And we get it! And now, distribution reps can get virtually all the knowledge they need to effectively prospect for a product in just a fifteen minute module. And when a manufacturer needs to get their message out to the distribution masses and track progress, we help them get it done.

Please explain. Can or should manufacturers incorporate EOL Precise Selling in their sales meetings?

Yes. Let's say you are running a promotion with a specific dealer this quarter. And your spiff and company's financial commitment to the dealer is pretty meaty so you need their reps to be committed to the program. And let's say your manufacturing company invested in an EOL product training module that trained the dealers on key F&Bs, who to call on, exact prospecting questions to ask, and objections to overcome. In your sales meeting you will discuss many of the key points contained in the EOL PRECISE Selling module and at the end of your meeting, tell your reps that to qualify for the promotion, they need to get online and complete your 15 minute module. By doing this, we can assure that they hear your message twice. And by hearing it twice, they will better internalize the key points that you NEED them to remember for you and your company to be successful. Another key benefit...if you as a rep can't make it to all your dealers because your territory is the size of Canada, then you can refer them to the EOL PRECISE Selling module and let it do the work for you.

What is the best way to wrap up a sales meeting or presentation such that the audience can't stop thinking about it, even after it leaves the room?

Tell a story that creates emotion. It could be about a patient that your product saved. Or a humorous story about how you screwed up but ended up selling something anyways. Or perhaps a success story about a rep in the branch who embraced your product and made a ton of money. And when you are done telling your story, don't forget to thank them for giving you the stage. Then smile, walk away, and know that by being PRECISE, you just gave them a presentation that will leave them longing for your next sales meeting.

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Article Tags: communication skills, creative presentations, insurance sales training, manufacturer reps, medical sales training, precise selling, presentations, sales meetings, sales tactics, sales tools, sales training



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