Today’s post is by Eder Holguin, digital sales and marketing expert, bestselling author, and serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years of industry experience helping companies grow revenue, optimize and improve sales processes. Contact him at eder.holguin@idealmedia.com.
Many sales presentations simply do not address the questions potential clients have. Instead, they often focus on the selling company’s story and product.
In sales, if you’re not addressing the client’s needs in your sales presentation, you’re wasting your time. When communicating with potential clients, remember, they’re likely thinking, "Why should I listen to you? What’s in it for me?” If you can't immediately answer these questions, chances are you’re not going to get past the introductory call or email.
Most of the presentations I read look something like this: “My company is....We provide....We have been very successful at...We work with clients XYZ.” Creating a great sales presentation requires a strategic approach that answers your potential client’s basic question: how will this benefit me?
Use this outline when building a sales presentation. It will help you to brainstorm and build a clear sales proposition so you can better navigate the complex sales process:
1. Product benefits (Always list as many as possible.)
- What are all the major benefits associated with my product?
- What are the secondary benefits associated with my product?
2. Potential consumer motivators
- How does my product relate to my consumer’s two greatest motivations, the desire for gain and the fear of loss?
- Are there any other motivators that are worth exploring?
3. Product differentiation
- What makes my product different from competing products?
- How can I raise the perceived value of my product without significantly raising my price?
- In light of the cost of the product, cash flow, competitive advantages, and offers, what is the best offer I can make my consumer regarding pricing, payment terms, rebates, volume discounts, premiums, and so forth?
4. Potential consumers
- Who is my primary consumer, and what percentage of my market does he or she represent? (Consider sex, age range, socioeconomics, geographical location, etc.)
- What are the primary and secondary motivations for this consumer to buy the type or class of product I’m selling?
- What objections and excuses might this consumer use to delay or avoid a buying decision about this product?
- What answers or rebuttals to each of these objections and excuses can I offer?
- How can I improve the consumer’s perception of my product? (Discuss awareness, credibility, quality, value, etc.)
Spend some time going through these questions. Once you have a basic presentation that addresses them all, reach out and get feedback. You can do this by sharing your sales presentation with friends in your industry or building a survey and offering a reward for participating.
Remember: selling is not about telling your story or what your company does; it’s about uncovering the prospect’s needs and proving how your product or service fills them.
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