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The Sales Presentation a Proven Key to Beating the Big Guys

Written by: Sam Sanders

Article Overview: 2 stories of success about how a persuasive presentation won major opportunities over more established vendors.

The Sales Presentation a Proven Key to Beating the Big Guys

1.)
The Quest:
A $30 million per year computer storage company had an opportunity to compete for a $2.5 million contract. The competition was the big guys, including IBM, EMC, Hitachi and Clarion, all multibillion-dollar firms. The small company was one of the five finalists who were asked to present their solution. The salesperson had done an excellent job in getting his company this far, but the challenge was how to standout above this crowd and win the business.

The Plan of Attack:
The sales team consisted of the salesperson, the regional manager, and the VP of Sales. All trained in TAP. They knew the prospect's decision-makers and their specific needs and issues and used this information to craft their presentation. They agreed that the salesperson, who had brought them this far, would handle the opening of the presentation. The regional manager, who was technically strong, would handle the technological solutions and future technology. The VP of Sales would present the company's background information, before the summary and close.


Preparation for Battle:
The week before, the team had one meeting to layout the presentation and to rehearse each team member's role. Interestingly, each person was in a different part of the country and met at the Marriott Hotel at the Philadelphia Airport the evening before to rehearse their presentation.

The rehearsal was done several times that evening and the finishing touches were made. The team gave feedback to each other, which honed delivery skills for the real presentation. This included making sure that features were turned into benefits and benefits to solutions. Attention was given to the actual words and phrases used, because they understood that these details in the presentation and style would directly affect how persuasive their presentation was. And most importantly, they made sure that evidence and proof were given to back up the benefits and solutions.


Executing the Plan:
The next day their presentation went like clockwork with an enthusiastic response from the audience. All the vendors were given 1.5 hours to present. Because of Tap's blueprint and their rehearsal, they were one of the few vendors to actually complete their presentation in the allotted time, a definite advantage in getting their important points across and agreed to by the prospect.

The salesperson handled the opening and addressed the needs and issues. As he presented, he gained the prospect's agreement that the issues and needs were being met and solved. The regional manager, who was technically strong, handled the technological solutions and future technology. He gained agreement the technical needs were being met. The VP of Sales presented the company's background information at the end of the presentation in order to allow the audience to understand that information in light of what they had presented. Too many companies begin with their background, but your history is not what they came to hear.

The summary of the key points and conclusion were presented by the salesperson to make sure the audience remembered the most important parts of the pitch they spent so much effort on. TAP gave this team a blueprint to organize their presentation and to significantly impress upon the audience the important points of why their solution and company were the best decision.

Victory:
Despite being up against the super companies, this small company was able to persuade the prospect to use their services. Why? Because they clearly demonstrated that they understood what the needs were and that they could meet them. With a well-organized and well delivered presentation based on the TAP blueprint, they conveyed what the prospect needed to hear, and made it clear how far they were willing to go to impress them. While the other groups may have had just as good of a solution, they didn't communicate it as well as the smaller company.

The next week when they went back for the recap with the prospect, people came out of their offices and congratulated them on their great presentation and winning the business. One person commented that their presentation "blew the competition away".


2.)
But we never did business with you before!

A recent TAP graduate was hired by a professional and technical services company to gain a foothold in the New England area for their IT offerings. He learned that a major insurance and financial services company was going to reduce the number of firms they did business with for these services from 109 to 4. His firm was not one of the 109. The value of these service contracts exceeded $50 million per year.

The financial firm was ready for bids and he was able to get on the bidder list. The selection process would be in two phases. During the first phase, proposals would be reviewed with a selection of 8 vendors to go into the second phase. The second phase consisted of the formal presentation and an additional question and answer session. He convinced his company to invest their resources in preparing a proposal to meet the specifications, with particular attention to the important issues and differentiators they could bring. He promised his company that if they would spend the money to do a great proposal, which would him gain entrance to the final beauty contest, he would put together a presentation that would win the business.

He made the final 8 vendors and prepared his presentation. Taking the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the prospect's needs and those of the individual decision-makers, he put together a presentation to address and satisfy them. Using the TAP Blueprint, he laid out the presentation and the different roles that would be played in persuading the prospect.

In doing major presentations, it is important to show corporate depth in satisfying the prospect's needs. To accomplish this, he chose to have two key people join him in the presentation. He handled the opening, discussed the agenda and raised the issues of greatest concern to the prospect. The VP of IT Services of his firm presented how they could satisfy the issues of reducing cost, manager's time, and improve the overall level of IT services. The manager of Business Development gave a short demonstration of a proprietary software package that would allow them to more effectively manage the contracted IT services. The salesperson summarized the key points, asked directly whether the prospects thought his company could satisfy these needs and was substantial enough to be responsive to their changing environment. They agreed and that did it! The strength of their presentation opened the door for millions of dollars of business and closed the door on the competition.

After they were selected, his VP asked their key decision-maker why he chose their company. He expected the answer to be about quality and depth of service or ISO 9000 compliance. He was surprised by the response, "We have never done business with you, you have little presence in New England, but your presentation was so damn good and compelling we had to choose you."

The Art of Presentation is a Sales Presentation Training program that is proven to increase sales. Adopted by many companies, including IBM, as part of their basic sales training. Available as an on-site customized, to your needs and marketplace, or as a self-paced video/DVD based training program.
Contact: Sam Sanders (505) 466-2933
sam@theartofpersuasion.com
Or go directly to www.thearatofpersuasion.com

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