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Posts Tagged ‘Sales’

Making a sales presentation, whether live or on video doesn’t have to be the gut wrenching experience you may think. By following a few guidelines, you can develop the sales presentation skills necessary to make presentations that are powerful, focused, deliver your message and leave your audience believing that you are the definitive authority on your chosen subject.

Notice the word focused. I can’t emphasize enough that to deliver an outstanding presentation you must be focused, almost laser-like from beginning to end. How many presentations have you heard, or seen where you started wishing the speaker would “get to the point already”? or, in the case of the internet, you click off what you thought was going to be a video chock full of useful information?

Sound familiar? Do the presentations and/or videos you make suffer from these common problems?

Typically, what this all boils down to is a lack of focus on the part of the presenter and the ability to stay focused on the subject material through out the presentation. This becomes particularly important if you are developing a video for the internet because you have very little time to establish your rapport with the viewer, and the length of your video is relatively short.

Alright then…how do I do it?

For the purpose of this writing I am going to talk about content…I realize that with video presentations all kinds of technical issues pop up. But lets face it. In the end it’s all about content. We’ll save technical aspects of video presentations for a later article.

OK then…lets get started.

Developing the sales presentation skills needed to make more effective presentations is not overly difficult, but will require a bit of work on your part. What I am going to do is lay out a format that you can follow that will allow you to focus on your issue(s), and stay focused on your issue(s), regardless if your presentation is 5 minutes or 50 minutes. No more putting together a couple of pages of random notes or cue cards and reading from them! This format has served me well and I know it will serve you well too!

In a nutshell the format is based on the rule of threes. That is, the presentation topic is divided and subdivided into three parts with previews, speaking points and recaps, (or summaries), at the end of each group of three in the main body of the presentation.. This makes it easy to present material, it makes it easy to comprehend material, it cuts down on questions, (or reinforces points in the case of a video presentation), and it lends itself very easily to any length of time you wish.

Here’s the format.

Tell ‘Em What You Want To Tell ‘Em Tell ‘Em Tell ‘Em What You said

May seem crazy, but that’s it! Well, it is a little more complicated, but describing it in this manner makes it easy to remember.

In my next article we will begin with the first of the three threes…Tell ‘Em What You Want To Tell ‘Em.

Mastering the necessary sales presentation skills will increase your results and boost your sales.

A sales presentation doesn’t begin when you are telling and showing the prospect how you’ll solve their problems. It begins before you walk in the door to give the presentation. It begins with doing your homework on the company or person you’re presenting to and continues through the follow up after the sale.

Make sure you’ve done your homework on the company, the people you’re meeting with and as much as you can find out about their problems in advance. Customizing and practicing as much of the specific presentation you’ll give to them before you walk in the door is one of many sales presentation skills you must master.

Connect with your audience, make friends with them before you begin your presentation. If they don’t warm up to you or they aren’t friendly…leave. You’re not going to make the sale anyway so why waste your time?

If you have a fear of speaking or are nervous in a sales presentation, the prospects will spot that and loose confidence in you. Get over your fear of speaking. It’s not ok to be nervous. You need to come across as being extremely confident.

An important sales presentation skill of top sales people is public speaking. Take a public speaking course, join Toastmasters, do what ever is necessary to feel comfortable and confident speaking to one or a hundred people.

A sales presentation should be perfect every time. So how do you make it perfect? Practice, Practice, Practice. When I started in real estate I carried a cassette recorder with me and when I gave a listing presentation I would ask the couple or person if they would mind if I recorded it. I told them it was for my benefit and would help me become better at what I do.

Then I listened to the recording and learned how I sounded, what I said, how I said it, how persuasive I was and in the end how successful I was. It helped me understand what I did right, what I did wrong and what I would do different the next time.

Develop the right attitude. Become so confident in your product or service and the benefits it provides that your shocked when someone doesn’t want to purchase it. You need to have the attitude that someone would have to crazy not to purchase your product.

Also, go in with the attitude that you don’t need the sale. If it’s the end of the month, it’s a big sale or you need the money, it’s likely your prospect will sense you urgency.

You spent the time finding the lead and making the appointment, don’t waste the sales opportunity by not mastering the sales presentation skills to give a great sales presentation.