7 Quick Tips for More Effective Sales Presentations

Take Your Sales Presentations Up a Few Notches!

If you have ever made a sales pitch you might have experienced that awful sensation in your gut when one is laying an egg. To have a more successful presentation listening skills and adequate  research before meeting your client is critical. It is also advantageous to keep your presentation between 10 and 15 minutes in length. In addition to these basic considerations there is an optimal structure to great sales presentations.  We like to refer to these short, effective sales presentations as your core story. Here are seven steps for creating  core stories that will closing more deals.

 1. Captivate your clients undivided attention from the start by exploring their pain. What difficulties is the client facing without your product or service; high overhead, low productivity, small margins, etc.? Create pain centered statements, (value propositions), and use them liberally. They make especially great openers.

2. Provide solutions to your clients problem by highlighting the benefits, results and solutions your product or service provides. Too often sales professionals get bogged down with features such as size, color, attachments. Focus rather on the end game, higher productivity, larger margins, greater profit, increased employee morale, etc.

3. Assist your clients understanding by providing a diagram or some form of visual presentation. The brain is wired to go from the concrete to the conceptual. Here’s what I mean. When teaching a young child the number three we don’t begin with showing the image “3” and repeating the word. We begin by showing the child three apples and then displaying “3”. “3” is the conceptual representation of three concrete objects.

A sales presentation is more effective when some form of visual representation of the process, company, product or demo is used. Keep these as brief and simple as possible.

4. Now it’s time to talk about the ‘HOW’. Once you have established the pain and your solution for this pain, it’s time to talk about how your company will deliver it, e.g. your product/service. Notice this is not the first element of successful sales presentations. One of my mentors used to say “You can’t save a man who does not know he is drowning.” Talk about your product/service once the need for it has been established.

5. Ask your client which of your products/services they think would be best for their particular situation. This is the area where you want to listen intently and ask questions.

6. Remember that you are there to make a sale. Don’t forget to ask for it. There are studies that show as many as 9 out of 10 sales professionals never ask for the sale.

7. BY WHEN? Establish a timeline. Ask the client when they would like to begin – and put in one of your value propositions. For instance, “When would you like to see an decrease in your overhead?”

Spend quality time creating your core story around these seven elements and then go and practice on everyone with whom you have established a trust relationship.

Joe Pici is COO and co-founder of Pici & Pici Inc, a consultative, relationship sales training firm which provides on-site corporate training in sales and performance management. Joe is a tactical sales trainer, executive coach, speaker, expert in human behavior and communication and co-author of the book Sell Naked on the Phone.http://www.PiciandPici.com Contact him directly at 407-947-2590 or Joe@PiciandPici.com