Effective Sales Presentations

Winning sales presentations may be the missing ingredient keeping your sales team from achieving the success you and they want.

Unfortunately, presenting a product or service to a group of people is not a natural skill for most people. The creation and delivery is different than just presenting a topic or idea to a group of people. Sales presentations have to be focused and relevant to the specific needs as they relate to the customer's business issues, individual buying criteria, and corporate objectives.

Sales presentations are extremely important for a salesperson's success. The quality and effectiveness of a well-delivered sales pitch can often be the difference between your prospect buying from you or your competitor. Creating a presentation that is compelling enough to motivate a client to make a buying decision, requires planning, structure, and preparation.

Presentation styles will vary depending on the purpose or your presentation and your audience. Presenting a technical concept, speaking to the press or media, or doing effective briefings all require different styles and techniques.

Sales presentation training that is designed to deliver the required skills has its own unique characteristics too. Good training needs to focus on getting salespeople to confidently build knowledge, understanding, and trust with a potential client using just spoken and visual communications. It needs to help your team deliver presentations that are clear, compelling, convincing, and relevant to the key business results that the customer is trying to obtain.

A winning presentation cannot be generic. You have not done your homework, and your presentation will be ineffective if you give a canned presentation hoping that something will appeal to the prospective customer.

Your presentation needs to show your audience exactly how your product or service will their specific tactical issues and how it will remove the consequential pains those issues create. Your presentation must link your solution to the benefits it will bring the client and their company. The goal is to convince your audience you will help them solve their key business issues to achieve the results they desire.

Do not go into your presentation unprepared. Planning the content and delivery of your presentation is critical. Consider the following areas when you are planning and developing your presentation.

• Formulate the overall topic and theme of your presentation
• Think like the client and try to understand the needs of the audience , their knowledge level, their attitude towards you, and there business challenge
• Create your opening position, and summary belief
• Select the top 3-5 main ideas you want to develop
• Gather your supporting facts, data, antidotal stories, and references
• Decide what resources you will require in the presentation
• Put together the flow of your priorities, progression, and timing of your presentation
• Develop the linkage of benefits to all areas of your discovery
• Expand your benefits to other people and areas of the organization if possible
• Provide proof and build value
• Create a competitive advantage
• Create an agenda for the presentation

Consider these content and delivery issues during the presentation.

• Set the stage and expectations
• Provide and opening and introduction that will grab the audience's attention
• Focus on their key business issues and requirements
• Be aware and sensitive to the personal agendas of the attendees
• Link to their issues and provoke productive thoughts and questions
• For each of the customer's key business issues
  • Present the business challenge
  • Provide a customer story about the challenge
  • Briefly tell them what you will show them
  • Provide detailed proof
  • Link the features and proof to benefits for the users, managers, and executives
• Close
  • Review your solution and benefits
  • Provide a call to action and next steps
• Exit with a memorable impact that they will remember

• Get to the point and be respectful of other people's time
• Be appropriately animated, enthused, passionate and energetic
• Use voice modulation, movement, gestures, expression, showmanship, props and resources to keep the presentation upbeat and interesting
• Practice your presentation in front of others or on a recorder prior to delivery
• Preview the venue of your presentation if possible and arrange it to best suit your deliverable

Sales presentations are a very important part of the sales process. Making effective presentations that motivate your client to purchase your solution is a skill that should be continually developed. Being proficient at making sales presentations helps your team increase their win rate, and enhances your image as a knowledgeable resource and advisor with your clients and customers.

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