Presenting features and demonstrating capabilities alone is ineffective. You need to differentiate your message by linking your solution to real customer benefits. Be clear and logical. Your customers want to see proof that your solution works for them. Choose psychological and persuasive words like more, success, new, increased, genius, improved, exciting, enormous, genuine, durable, effective, money and profit. Choose words and phrases familiar to the customer, while keeping in mind Winston Churchill’s comment that “the familiar words are best, and when short, are best of all”.
Group your points in threes or sevens. Western folklore has the 'rule of three'. Three strikes you’re out. Three riddles are asked. Good things come in threes. A triangle has three points. Three reasons are easy to recall. Seven has magical and biblical connotations. God created the world in six days and on the seventh he rested. Seven points are more intriguing than eight and seven is easy to remember. (That’s why USA phone numbers have seven digits.)
Complex sales require extended time and multiple contacts. Customer needs, issues and assumptions change and evolve. Validate your assumptions and understandings repeatedly. Since value is determined by the customer, you must collaborate to determine what this customer values. Use your collaborative relationship to validate your solution before finalizing your proposal. Solutions that have been validated by your customer usually win.
You: “Ms. Customer, the purpose of today’s meeting is for you to evaluate how our portfolio of products and services can support your department’s policy-making, and executive decisions. To recap, as you suggested we conducted an extensive survey of your key executives to determine their current sources of business information. We reviewed the results with you and identified where decision-support information appeared to be less than adequate. Based on that analysis we have prepared some pre-proposal recommendations which we will share with you today. Is this more or less what you expected to have happen today?”
In a formal sales presentation you must learn beforehand who your customer-audience will include - their names, job function and hot buttons. Know your sales presentation objectives and what action you want your customer to take after your presentation. Do you want them to sign a contract, an order form, a letter of intent or your written proposal, or is there another necessary step before the close, like a trial installation or a pilot test?
When invited to make a formal presentation, determine your room set-up needs and get them to your customer or inside sponsor well in advance. Find out if you can control the heating/cooling and lighting in the room where you will present. Bring your own laptop and data projector to mitigate the risk of technical difficulties. If possible, visit the room in advance to verify its suitability. Is it large enough for the size of the group, or equally problematic, is it too large? Are there enough chairs, will there be water on the table and writing materials available? Are there slide screens and whiteboards with markers and an eraser? Arrange for coffee since caffeine enhances alertness and camaraderie, paving the way for you to engage and persuade them.
Your customer’s retention of information, your credibility, and your effectiveness depend on effective use of visuals during your sales presentation. However, over-used graphics and visuals can become a distraction and be seen by the customer as a “crutch”. Choose graphics and visuals that show customers using your products. Color can accelerate retention so use it to highlight key points. Test the colors to see how they project. Use blue for headings, black for the body content and red or green for highlighting. Use plenty of “white” space for readability, putting no more than 5 or 6 lines per slide. Focus on the few visuals that show the facts and figures that support or prove your key points. Mix it up by using bulleted lists, anagrams, tables, bar charts, line charts, pie charts, flow charts and pictures. Use flip charts or white boards for collaborative work with customers during your presentation.
Rehearse your presentation at least five times. While you do not need to memorize the entire presentation word for word, you should be able to recall without notes the sequence of topics and key points.
Focusing your Presentation on your Customer - To learn more about this author, visit John Brennan's Website.
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John Brennan
(Visit John's Website)
John Brennan Ed.D.
Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal
Development, LLC, a training and
development firm. Interpersonal
Development has provided sales training
and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps
from over 100 companies.
A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan
received his doctorate from the University
of Rochester. His dissertation researched
the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling
Technology in training people in
interpersonal skills. While he has spent
most of his career designing or delivering
training, he was also a Vice-President of
Sales of a training and development
franchise with operations in 25 markets.
Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered
sales training in North America, Asia,
Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He
has been a guest speaker at numerous
national and regional professional
conferences.
When Microsoft wanted Best Practices
articles on sales for their web site, they
called Dr. Brennan. The results are at office.microsoft.com/e
n-us/FX011387391033.aspx
His firm’s clients have included Volvo,
The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman
Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the
Economist Group and countless small
businesses.
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