Selling Power Blog

Sales Presentations Are Easy; Creating a Connection Is Hard

Today's post is by Amy Appleyard, vice president of sales for the Communications and Collaboration business unit at LogMeIn, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based connectivity and one of the world's largest SaaS companies.

 

If you search “how to be a better presenter,” you’ll find pages and pages filled with articles, books, and recommendations on the topic. Presenting is a difficult skill to master as it not only involves public speaking (a common fear), but also, on some level, requires the presenter to sell.

When a presenter just talks through the benefits of what it being sold, however, the end result is a dry sales presentation that leads to a lack of engagement with the audience.

Why? No connection can be made when the conversation focuses squarely on the attributes of a product. Only by making a strong connection can the product be sold.

To get started, here are a few ways to create the often-elusive connection that is so essential for every successful sales presentation:

1. Turn on your video. People are constantly being sold to and bombarded with messages, resulting in shorter attention spans. According to The American Marketing Association, “Studies show that the average consumer is exposed to up to 10,000 brand messages a day.” In-person meetings have long been a chance to cut through the noise and create more personal (and less transactional) experiences; however, time and cost constraints require most meetings to be  conducted remotely. The good news? Thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to build the level of rapport with prospects that was once possible only with in-person meetings. Although there will always be a place for in-person meetings, don’t be afraid to encourage your prospects to turn on their video cameras and utilize technology to create that “face-to-face” experience.
2. Stop talking about yourself. I don’t mean you should create a conversation that is void of any personal anecdotes. Showing a more personal side – whether by incorporating humor or recounting a personal experience – is important, but make sure you also take the time to understand what need the prospect is looking to fill so you can tailor your presentation accordingly. I also often coach people not only to tell personal stories, but to ask about the prospects’ business and challenges they are facing. It’s a great way to get to know a customer and understand if what you are selling will help them solve issues. A successful presentation is about telling a story where your prospect is front and center so you ultimately make them look like a hero to their boss. Who doesn’t like that?
3. It’s all about the follow-through. Like in golf and baseball, what you do after you hit the ball is just as important as what you do before. If you don’t follow through with your swing, the ball will always fall short. Taking a page out of the athlete’s playbook, what you do after your presentation is often just as important as the preparation and the actual presentation itself. This means having a recap, recording, and/or transcription of the conversation in order to follow through on promised action items and reference specific topics discussed.

At the end of the day, all successful presentations start with a connection between the presenter and the audience. Sparking those connections through technology and remembering what makes for an engaging presentation is key. That connection (or lack thereof) between you and your audience is often the difference between losing and closing a deal.

How to Deliver a Great Keynote Speech

Today’s post is by Sara Carter, an experienced tech expert who established her blog, Enlightened-Digital, to share her passion with others around the Web. After 15 years in the industry, her goal is to bring information on all technology to the masses. Her philosophy is to create each article so anyone – whether a consumer or technology expert – can understand the content.

 

Delivering a successful keynote speech can be daunting. There are so many ways to go about addressing your company or group of attendees that organizing your structure and approach can seem overwhelming.

However, if we take a look at some influential CEOs and the keynote speeches they’ve given, we start to see they’re all leveraging similar techniques or rules – but doing so with some unique variations. All (impactful) keynotes seem to follow the same principles:

• Connect with the audience
• Deliver the new data or products (commonly referred to as the “meat” of the speech)
• Reconnect with the audience

Let’s break down how some of the best in the business get this done.

#1: Connect with the audience.

As a CEO or executive of an organization, it can be hard to relate to each employee across the company. It’s crucial for a speaker to connect with the audience right away to ensure they’re engaged and absorbed by the presentation when the key components of the speech are delivered.  

Telling a personal story is a great way to immediately come across as just another employee who has another life outside of work just like everyone else in the audience. When the listener comes to realize that their CEO or executive team member is more than just their title, they are more likely to empathize with them and care about the message that follows.

Stories are the tried-and-true method of connecting with an audience – but another way is to simply change the dynamic. For example, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd sits behind a desk for his entire speech at Oracle OpenWorld last year. He has a cup of Starbucks coffee in front of him, and even a cup of pencils. He doesn’t open with a story, but his presence on stage is so relaxed he doesn’t need to. He comes across as a relatable talk show host just hanging with the crowd – and that plays incredibly well with the audience.

Whatever your technique, the key is to make sure the audience empathizes with you and can relate to you. Once you’ve accomplished that, you can move into the “meat” of the presentation.

#2: Give them what they came for.

Now that you’ve made the audience feel comfortable and interested in what you have to say, it’s time to deliver the central message of the presentation. The middle of any keynote speech is reserved for the informational portion of the conversation. What differentiates good keynote speeches from great ones is the kind of information being shared.

Take Elon Musk’s keynote for Tesla Energy from 2015 as an example. Musk’s vision to develop wall-mounted batteries to support his continued quest for powering the globe is revolutionary thinking. How can you boil down all the material and broad information into digestible slides? He does a fantastic job of highlighting the shocking or adding “wow” moments into his speech. For example, Musk shows a graph that highlights the growth of carbon emissions up to the present day, and their predicted rise in the future. This graph is not only hard to forget; it helps prove his larger points and support the overall vision for not just Tesla, but the world.

Musk also used slides with mostly images instead of predominantly text. The information the audience needed to understand came from him – not the slides.

It’s impossible to mention corporate keynote speeches without bringing up the master, Steve Jobs. Jobs’s speeches became iconic for the products he revealed, of course, but many would argue the way in which the products were presented was even more important. Like Musk, Jobs used slides in his presentations, but they were almost always simply one image or word. Jobs’s personality and leadership skills lay in his ability to simplify the complicated. Everyone in the world could understand his vision immediately. By limiting his presentation to single images or words – and using storytelling as a means to express his ideas – he turned Apple products into more than just physical devices. They became ideas or expressions of personality.

Watching Jobs’ 2007 iPhone announcement is still a thrill ride. Even though it was a short 11 years ago, it’s hard to imagine a world in which the idea of merging your music, phone, and emails into one device was actually new. All Jobs needed to do was cycle through three photos to build extreme anticipation until his big reveal. Introducing a complicated product with simple imagery was the key. Now anyone who saw that can easily explain it to the next person, and the next person and so on.

#3: Reconnect with the audience.

Most CEOs don’t have the luxury of launching new iPhones or unveiling software that can change the world. They have to give performance updates filled with numbers and other data. Even if you’re required to deliver that kind of information, make sure to reconnect with your audience when concluding your speech and they’ll be much more likely to remember some of your points.

One of the best examples of establishing this connection at the end of a speech wasn’t even from a CEO; it was in a TED Talk by Benjamin Zander. His closing story, about a boy whose life was completely changed by the music Zander was teaching, served as a great way to both prove his point and endear the audience.

Another great technique is to close with inclusive language. Listen to Gregg Renfrew’s closing speech at the Beautycounter Leadership Summit last year. As founder and CEO, she needs to ensure she’s still relatable to her employees. She continuously uses “we” and “our” to create common ground between herself and the audience.

Final point: Tell your story

There’s a great quote from an article on Toastmaster that reads:

“People rarely come up to a speaker three years after a given presentation and say ‘I’ve been thinking about your fourth point on leadership.’ However, what they do say is, ‘You know, I still think about that story you told about raking leaves with your son.”

These are the kinds of impressions great CEOs leave with their keynote speeches. Connect with the audience, show them the products or data, then reconnect. It’s that simple.

24 Presentation and Speaking Tips to Wow a B2B Sales Audience

Today's post is by Matt Heinz, president and founder of Heinz Marketing. Join him at the Sales 2.0 Conference in San Francisco on July 18 and 19, where he will present “How to Double Your Sales Team’s Productivity and Active Selling Time.”

I’ve attended many industry events and seen some amazing speakers. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen plenty of speakers who simply bring their “zero” game with them – they’re uninterested, unengaged, pitchy, and worse.

What separates the great speakers from those who are immediately forgettable?

Here are 24 tips for presentation success based on my experience as an audience member at industry events, and one tip based on my own personal experience speaking onstage.

1. Use a Proven Icebreaker to Get the Audience Engaged (and Laughing)
   Start with a joke or anecdote – something to get your audience’s attention immediately and break the ice. To make sure it’ll work, test the story or joke with another audience (employees, colleagues, etc.) before you get on stage.
   
   
2. Talk in Stories
   Tell stories about your customers – the issues and problems they wrestled and overcame. Stories can be incredibly engaging – especially if they include the three essential elements of Problem, Struggle, and Solution.
   
   
3. Use a Thematic Analogy to Make Your Points
   One particularly effective speaker I remember from a past Sales 2.0 event used basketball to make several points during a brilliant keynote. He spoke about sales coaching best practices, and, to outline problems in current sales coaching environments, he used such phrases such as, “Too many big games, not enough practice” and, “Too much defense, not enough offense.” His points were immediately clear.
   
   
4. Talk and Present in Tweetable Formats
   Use succinct statistics, share points in threes, and predetermine statements in 100 characters or less. Make it easy for the audience to tweet and retweet your content to ensure your message resonates across the social Web and well beyond the room.
   
   
5. Give Attending Press/Bloggers a Copy of Tweetable Comments in Advance
   At many conferences, trade press, bloggers, and tweeters are scattered throughout the crowd. If they had a list of tweetable primary points before the keynote, I bet that content would get exponential play (hat tip to fellow Sales 2.0 Conference speaker @annekeseley for this one).
   
   
6. Present the Problem, Not the Solution (i.e., Ditch the Pitch)
   I know we’ve been saying to “ditch the pitch” for a long time, but it’s clearly still alive and well (unfortunately). You don’t have to walk me through your entire solution if you prove to me that you understand the problem.  Focusing on the problem – breaking down why it exists and how people are addressing it – demonstrates your subject matter expertise and thought leadership. It makes me want to get to know you and your product more after the presentation. 

Specific Advice Based on Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s Dreamforce Keynotes

1. Mixing It Up
   A three-hour keynote sounds awful (if, in fact, it’s literally three hours of someone speaking from behind a podium. But Marc mixes it up – you’ll hear him speak for a while, then he’ll play a video, then call a customer up on stage for a quick Q&A, then ask one of his managers to give a demo, etc. Not 10 minutes go by without something new to watch. It’s a great way to keep the audience continually engaged, especially for a long-form keynote like this one.
   
   
2. Surprises
   One year the Dreamforce keynote opened with a performance by MC Hammer. In a previous year, Neil Young was in the audience and did a quick Q&A. Every year, Marc features some surprises that keep people guessing.
   
   
3. Customer Focus
   Benioff is fanatical about his customers, and it shows in his keynotes. He fawns over them, telling their success stories as his own. Even the product demos are shared in the context of how a successful customer is leveraging the new technology.
   
   
4. Authenticity
   Marc practices, of course, but you can also tell he really means it. Some long-time Dreamforce attendees joke that his frequent use of the word “amazing” would make a great drinking game. And, although they’re right, he really loves what he does, loves his customers, and loves the stage – and that authentic enthusiasm makes an impact.
   
   
5. Talk about the Future
   Again, the cynics will call it vaporware. But Marc has evolved to the point where it’s not enough to just hear him talk about what’s happening now. His customers and followers want to hear him talk about the future. And he delivers.

Specific Advice from Andrew Davis

1. Energy
   The night before he spoke at last year’s 6Sense InMarket Conference, Andrew and I shared a drink at the pre-event networking event. Thirty minutes before he took the stage, I saw him pacing in the back of the room. The second he took the stage, he lit the room on fire. His presence and energy – the way he physically owned the stage – was impressive. You could see cell phones being put down, people leaning in. His energy earned everyone’s immediate attention.
   
   
2. Speed
   Some speakers talk too fast and it’s a distraction from their message. With Andrew, his speed amplified his effect and impact. For 30 minutes, he didn’t let up. He knew his content cold and he followed his presentation and visuals without leaning on them like a crutch. He had clearly prepared, clearly practiced, and that allowed him to leverage his energy and speed as an asset on stage.
   
   
3. Humor
   In another life, Andrew could do stand-up. He’s hilarious. If his “between points” remarks on stage are rehearsed, he’s even more polished than I thought. If they aren’t, his quick wit and sense of humor are seriously on point. Great speakers keep your attention through a variety of means, but humor – genuine, authentic, spontaneous humor – works every time.
   
   
4. Talk in Tweets
   Most speakers ignore this opportunity. Others oversaturate their audience. Some of the best? They do it subtly, without calling attention to those tweetable moments. They’re less frequent but incredibly powerful. Things like, “What if your moment of inspiration is tied to your prospect’s aspirations?” and, “I know the ending of your case studies. What if I didn’t? Wouldn’t that be more interesting?”
   
   
5. No PowerPoint
   Every time I’ve seen Andrew present, he’s used Prezi. I’ve never been courageous enough to do that, but the format allows him to present visuals as an aid and augmentation to his presentation, not as the foundation. Great speakers know that their best impact comes from what they say, not what their slides say.
   
   
6. A Call to Action 
   At the end of the presentation, literally the last words Andrew said before the crowd erupted in applause were: “You’ve been ‘Drewed.’” Simultaneously, the URL www.youvebeendrewed.com appeared on screen. It stayed there during the brief Q&A. The site is a clever combination of highlights from Drew, information about how to hire him at your next event, and an individual attendee subscription to receive his content periodically. Well done.

Specific Advice from Jeffrey Hayzlett

1. Speak in “Tweetable” Moments
   Many speakers don’t like their audience to tweet while they present, as they fear it takes their attention away. Hayzlett, whom I saw speak at previous Sales 2.0 Conferences, knows the opposite – that encouraging his audience to tweet, in fact, is the best option to increase the impact of his words and exposure beyond the room. He not only encourages tweets but set up a few in advance to post – timed roughly to what he was talking about on stage. And he was smart enough to fill his slides with short, impactful messages and statistics that were perfect for 140 words or less. As a result, he generated massive Twitter volume during his one-hour keynote.
   
   
2. Give It Everything You’ve Got
   Jeffrey yells. He stomps around. He’s extremely animated. When you watch Hayzlett talk, it’s truly a performance. He gives everything he’s got. Clearly this is part of his personality, but it also makes him a highly entertaining and dynamic presenter. It makes him memorable, which means more events and conferences will want him to lend that impact to their agendas as well.
   
   
3. Tell Stories
   Hayzlett makes numerous points during his keynotes, but he brings each of those points to life with at least one story. He’s a master storyteller (the energy he brings is a huge part of that), and he’s able to keep his audience engaged not by sharing statistics and bullet points but by telling stories that take on a life of their own.
   
   
4. Swear a Little
   OK, so maybe Jeffrey let fly a couple too many f-bombs. But, for someone with his personality, there’s something about a well-placed cuss word that lends credibility to your story. Not everybody can pull it off, but it’s clearly one of his secrets to keeping his audience richly engaged and satisfied.
   
   
5. Have a Back Story (Be a Brand)
   Hayzlett is from South Dakota. He calls himself a “CMO Cowboy." He talks extensively about his experience with horses. Some say the story that comes with him is fed by his ego, but I think it’s a carefully-crafted part of his own story, his own brand, that only increases his draw.
   
   
6. Be Accessible Afterwards
   Most speakers disappear back into the green room as soon as they’re done, never to be seen again. Hayzlett often mingles with the crowd. He signs copies of his book. He might not do that every time, but even just doing a little of it makes him feel that much more accessible, which does even more to add to his popularity and pass-along potential.
   
   
7. Give Something Away
   This tip comes from my own speaking experience. Recently, when giving presentations at conferences, I have offered my homemade smoked bacon recipe. It’s been a hit, and a great ice-breaker not only at the start of the presentation, but also with attendees afterward.

Painful Selling Lessons from a Botched Sales Presentation

Today’s post is by J. Steven Osborne, CEO, Top Gun Sales Performance. Hear him speak live at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Boston on May 2nd, where he will present "The Lies We Tell Ourselves about Sales Performance -- and Why We Believe Us!" 

 

As a sales professional, I meet with clients and prospects every week. However, as a CEO of a company, I occasionally get to be the client or prospect. It’s amazing how changing your seat at the boardroom table can change your perspective.

The other day I agreed to hear a presentation from two selling professionals. They represent a bank we’ve done business with for years (we work with four banks so, no, it’s not the one you’re thinking about); we’ll call them the Acme Bank of St. Louis.

The account executive asked if he and an associate could come out and tell me why I should consider moving my 401(k) investments from their current location with a competitive bank to them. I like these guys, and they do a great job for us in the other areas of our business relationship. So, of course I agreed.

The meeting begins. They present their investment funds, their employee-accessible website, graphs with growth and progress, and statistical tables that are almost impossible to read. Within the first 15 minutes, I have lost interest. Within the first 25 minutes, I have clearly mentally checked out of the meeting. The meeting lasts an hour and fifteen minutes. By the end, I’m annoyed.

However, I really like this bank and our relationship is important to me. What I did next may sound unkind, but I did it because I care very much about this bank.

I began with, “Gentlemen, how do you feel your presentation went?”

“Pretty good,” said the senior rep, “How did we do?”

“Well, gentlemen, you are not going to get my business today. How we continue from here is up to you. You can leave, regroup, and try again a few months from now or you can stay and I will take you through my thoughts of your presentation. But I have to warn you, it will not be pleasant.” I said this because I was going to take them step by step through assumptions and mistakes they had made – not to scold them, but, hopefully, to make them better. They looked at each other and decided to stay no matter their fate.

“What do you know about my company?” I asked.

“We saw the awards on your wall, so you must be doing well.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And what do you know about my people to date?”

Their faces assumed somewhat blank and apologetic expressions. Finally, they surrendered. “Not much.”

“What is important to me in our 401(k) offering?” I asked. They responded with items about financial security, employee retention, and the like.

“No, that’s not what is important to me. That is what your marketing department thinks should interest me. Are any of the items you just presented in the last hour of importance to me?”

“We thought they would be. How would we know?”

Aha! There is the real question, isn’t it? How could they possibly know what was important to me? Here was the lesson I wanted them to learn: “This appointment was booked over 10 days ago. At any time, did either of you attempt to contact me to ask me about my areas of interest or what needed to happen in order for this hour to be valuable for me?”

They responded with two silent, slight turns of their heads.

Now I drove home my point. “You see, the most important thing to me is not your website; it’s not the investment funds, as I can get them from your competitor. It’s the person who manages my investments. You see, the person who manages our 401(k) will also manage my personal assets. They come as a package deal. Faith and confidence in that person are paramount to me – and a 10-minute phone call last week would have revealed that to you. Instead, you just wasted an hour of my time.”

Bottom line: The ultimate decision maker has specific needs and drivers. They are busy people and – more times than not – will tell you what to focus on if you ask. But do so in advance – NOT at the beginning of the meeting, but days prior. It makes a huge difference. Sounds simple, right? But do you do it consistently?

3 Sales Presentation Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore

Today’s post is by Julie Hansen, founder of Performance Sales and Training and the author of ACT Like a Sales Pro! and Sales Presentations for Dummies. Download two free chapters here. Connect with Julie on LinkedIn or email julie@actingforsales.com.

 

Kodak, Blockbuster, Blackberry. These are just a few examples of companies that chose not to react to key trends in buyer behavior. Each company suffered costly – and in some cases, irreparable – consequences.

If you deliver presentations or product demos, you’ve likely noticed some changes in your prospects’ behavior: increased number of distractions, unapologetic use of smartphones or tablets, and greater resistance to change. It’s not your imagination. A significant shift is taking place in buyers’ behavior today that is directly impacting your prospects’ ability to hear your message, remember it, or take action on it. If you’re still using presentation techniques that were developed before the words “smart” and “phone” became a noun, you may wake up to find you’re a Blockbuster in a Netflix world.

In my new book, Sales Presentations for Dummies, I explore several key trends you can’t afford to ignore in your presentation or demo today, including these three:

• Falling attention spans. The attention span of the average adult is half what it was just a decade ago. From texting to tweeting to getting their news, people consume information in bite-size pieces today. You only have to look at your own habits to recognize this behavioral change. Unfortunately, this new way of digesting information is at complete odds with the long, linear way most sales presentations are designed and delivered.

• Increased distractions. There’s no putting the genie back in the bottle. Tablets, smartphones, and wearables are here to stay – and they’re a major cause of distraction in your presentation. But it’s not just technology that’s the problem. Your prospect arrives at your presentation with a number of things on her mind – the least of which may be you! Winning the mindshare of your prospect is your first order of business today if you want to ensure your message lands on its target. 

• Competing with the status quo. Your fiercest competitor today is often not another vendor, but the status quo. As solutions become more complex and decisions produce greater consequences, prospects become more risk-averse. Change can bring up fear and anxiety – powerful emotions that are not easily cast aside by a parade of your best features and benefits.

Delivering a winning presentation or demo in today’s changing selling environment requires new strategies and skills. Here are some strategies for addressing these three trends:

1. Chunk your message.
   Instead of structuring your message around how your solution works, break it into small, bite-size chunks that align with the average attention span of 5 to 7 minutes. Attention isn’t constant, so you need to re-engage your audience at strategic points in your presentation to make sure key messages aren’t falling on deaf ears. I recommend having an engagement plan that defines how and when you’re going to engage your audience.
   
   
2. Cut to the chase.
   Give your prospect an immediate and compelling reason to put their smartphone aside. Dump the company overview and take a tip from the movies: start with the car chase. What’s the car chase in your presentation or demo? It could be a key issue, an insight, or a custom value proposition framed in a unique and relevant way that intrigues your prospect without giving away the entire plot.
   
   
3. Explore impact.
   A thorough understanding of what’s keeping your prospect from changing their existing solution – and the potential impact or consequences of sticking with it – is necessary when competing against the status quo. With that understanding, craft a message that addresses that fear or anxiety before jumping into your solution. Telling a spot-on analogy is a very effective method for shifting a prospect’s perspective and softening his resistance to change.

Your prospects are not the same as they were 10 years ago, so neither should your sales presentation.

Download two free chapters from my new book Sales Presentations for Dummies, plus get monthly tips and tactics on how to meet the demands of presenting today.

4 Ideas to Help You Build Rapport and Relationships with Clients

Today's post is by LaVon Koerner, chief revenue officer of Revenue Storm, a global sales consulting and revenue acceleration firm. Join LaVon and Selling Power for this Webinar on June 3rd, "How to Accurately Qualify Opportunities." 

 

What’s the best way for sellers to build relationships and rapport with prospects and customers these days? 

Back in the golden era of selling, you’d walk into a client’s office and desperately search for something on their walls or desk to talk about. The goal was to find something that mattered to them and connect on a more personal level. If you weren’t thrown out, you’d quickly leverage one of your tried-and-true relationship weapons – lunch, golf, dinner, a gift, or even the occasional ride on the corporate jet. 

Boy, how things have changed! Besides the governance policies that most companies employ today – where accepting even a coffee mug with your logo on it is a violation – admiring the stuffed swordfish on the wall and asking, “What keeps you up at night?” isn’t going to cut it. The old rules of selling simply no longer apply.

The fact is, today’s business relationships – and all relationships, really – are built on value. Executives want to know what’s in it for them before they will consider investing time in you.

Most executives aren’t interested in golf games or idle chatter that leads to you showing them a 100-plus-slide capabilities presentation. Nor do executives want to train you on their company and issues so you can turn around and try to sell them something.

But don’t lose heart. There are potentially many ways you can deliver value. Consider the following four ideas.

1. Provide thought leadership around how you might help them improve results or attain certain goals.

2. Help them achieve recognition in their organization or industry for something they are doing or something you can help them do.

3. Make key connections and introductions for them.

4. Support events, programs, committees, or charitable/community organizations that are important to them.  

The most successful sales professionals understand that individual human beings – not companies – make decisions to buy. Relationship development is an intentional process that requires you to invest time doing careful research before walking through the door to determine the potential value you can offer. Additionally, it requires continued nurturing. You need to continually ask yourself, “what have I done for them lately?”  

Most importantly, building successful relationships requires you to take risks and work outside your comfort zone. Instead of “safe” discussions around your products, features, price, and company, you have to be savvy and brave enough to earn the right to have discussions around personal agendas, what they really want, and the personal motivations that are driving them. Only then can you begin to create bonds based on mutual trust, value, and success.

Business relationships today are oftentimes situational and temporary. They exist as long as the other party believes you still deliver value. Keep in mind that business relationships do not necessarily equal friendships. Just because someone “likes” you, doesn’t mean they will buy from you. Sure, everyone knows your name and smiles when you visit, but when was the last time your “friends” actually bought something from you?  

The next time you have an important meeting, think of it as a first date. Don’t make the critical error of talking about yourself, your company, or your products. The harsh reality is that no one cares about you until they understand what you can do for them. Do your homework, leave the logoed mug and your capabilities presentation at home, and (whatever you do) don’t ask about the stuffed fish on the wall!

How to Create a Successful Sales Presentation

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.

How to Create an Optimal Learning Experience for Sales Reps

Today's guest post is by Darik Volpa, founder and CEO of Rehearsal VRP.

 

 

What’s the best way to learn how to sell? Practice, practice, and more practice.

Yet many sales organizations are not creating an optimal environment for salespeople to practice and perfect their selling skills. This creates at least five problems:

1. Lost revenue. When salespeople aren’t ready to have conversations with customers, they’re more likely to lose deals. You also risk creating a poor impression of your company when you send unprepared sales reps into the field.
   
   
2. High levels of stress. Yes, salespeople need a tough skin to succeed in sales, but what manager wants to contribute extra stress and anxiety by exposing salespeople to trial-by-fire experiences or failing to help them properly prepare for selling situations? The sink-or-swim approach forces salespeople to learn, but it’s not very enjoyable or efficient.
   
   
3. On-boarding drag. The faster you can get new hires up and running, the faster you can see revenue gains. A lack of proper coaching and training only adds to the amount of time it takes for your new reps to ramp up.
   
   
4. Hiring difficulties. A great learning culture is a point of differentiation that can make or break your hiring effort. If your company becomes known for its poor learning environment, new hires might decide to take jobs at companies that invest in better training, coaching, and support. 
   
   
5. Slow response times. The traditional weekly or monthly coaching model is slow compared to the pace of business. When a competitor undercuts your price, you want a well-trained team that can respond swiftly.

This last point is especially important: a poor learning environment is not just a front-end issue that affects new hires; it is a pervasive problem that affects the sales organization at all levels. Why? Because selling is a continual learning process. Think of all the instances that create new learning curves, even for veteran and top-performing salespeople: 

• You launch a new product.
• You change your pricing structure.
• You open a new sales channel.
• You reengineer your selling territories.
• You move into a new market segment.
• You adopt a new sales methodology/process.
• You shift your marketing approach.
• You adopt a new tool (for example, a new CRM system).
• Your competitor does any of the above.

So what’s going to change the game for sales teams? I believe the answer is video role-play. Our clients use our video-based software, Rehearsal VRP, to help sales teams practice and perfect their selling and communication skills. The process is simple and requires only a Webcam and an Internet connection:

1. Salespeople watch a short video and then record a response to the question or role-play prompt from their sales manager. (For example, sales managers could ask reps to respond to a prospect’s price objection or a question about how their offering differs from the competition’s.)
   
   
2. Salespeople then submit the recording to their manager or mentor for review. The person who reviews the recording then provides video feedback, as well as a numerical score. 
   
   
3. The numerical scores are tallied, and the top-ranked responses are added to a leaderboard. This allows an organization to build a library of best selling practices from which everyone can learn.

Rehearsal VRP software poses a number of advantages. First, sales managers are able to quickly scale the learning environment. So when a competitor comes out with a new product, managers can quickly disseminate a role-play to all salespeople so they can start crafting a successful response to use during conversations with customers. 

Second, salespeople have a safe space to practice their skills. They can record themselves as much as they need to before sending their video for review. I’ve found that salespeople gain more confidence when they’re able to practice a skill on their own, as opposed to being put on the spot in front of a group. Finally, the leaderboard allows salespeople to learn from the best possible responses to your organization’s particular selling challenges.

Our clients are reporting that Rehearsal VRP is helping them get a better return on their existing sales-training investment. One sales leader at Clorox has reported saving $1,500 a week in travel and expenses. 

Today, there’s no reason to let your reps sink or swim. Click here to chat with us live, or sign up to take Rehearsal for a test drive and see how you can start creating an optimal learning experience.

How did you develop your selling skills? What tools and techniques are you using to create a supportive learning environment? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Sales Reps, Stop Being a "Demo Monkey"

"I hate being a demo monkey!"

Have you ever heard your sales reps say something like this?

It can be frustrating for reps to deliver hundreds of demos and end up with nothing to show for their time and energy. That's why DemoChimp is taking a new approach to helping salespeople turn their presentations into closed deals by making demos more engaging and personalized for each prospect.

"We intelligently personalize the experience," says DemoChimp CEO Garin Hess. "When the prospect goes through your demo, we dynamically stitch together different video elements to deliver an experience that fits their needs rather than going through a straight demo the prospects might not be interested in."

Watch the video above to see how you can start automating your demos and cut down on your demo frustration.

Executive Buyers: They’re Just Not That into You

Today's post is by Bill Wallace, vice president of Revenue Storm, a global sales consulting and revenue acceleration firm.

 

 

Why Executive Messaging Fails

Your messaging should capture an executive’s attention within eight seconds. Miss the mark, and you’ve not only wasted the executive’s time but created a negative impression.

Unfortunately, many sales and marketing professionals don’t communicate well at this critical level. Instead of giving executives the information they want, sales and marketing professionals often share what they want executives to know about them.

Executives don’t care about you, your products, or your services. Quit talking about yourself and make the message about them – their wants and needs. Start connecting your messages to the business issues that matter most to executives. Come with insight instead of data.

According to research conducted by SiriusDecisions, executive buyers value business and industry insight four times more than they value traditional product knowledge. Express in clear, measurable terms how you can affect their business or drive revenue, improve margins, gain market share, reduce churn, etc. If you miss this essential component, all of the creative coolness in the world won’t save you. Everything else is just fluff.

How to Fix It

First, you need to determine to whom your messaging should be directed. That sounds easy, but it isn’t. In the world of complex solutions, your messaging should target several people. Multiple decision makers and influencers are involved. An average complex solution could involve six different titles.

Make this your mantra:

• Right Target: What titles are commonly involved in making decisions, and who are the key influencers? Each of these titles will have different concerns, and your message should be tailored to accommodate them.

• Right Message: Exactly what are you going to say to them? They don’t have time and won’t bother to figure out your intent unless it’s short, sweet, and plays to their interests. Your message needs to communicate what you can do for them, and it needs to be expressed in business language. Industry jargon and tech talk are the kiss of death. Test your message internally with titles similar to your targets. You have one shot. Don’t miss.

• Right Media: What form will your message take? While using multiple channels is best, leverage the appropriate media for that buyer profile. Make sure you are being consistent. How many times have you seen messaging sent to the field but undermined by the Website? Your advertising, PR, Website, social media, and sales support materials MUST have the same messaging for the appropriate targets.

Finally, consider the goal of your message. Are you trying to sell something directly to the target? Are you working to open doors? Are you preconditioning? It’s all about mental shelf-space: you need to capture attention and be clear on the intent.

Once you’ve determined the objectives of the messaging, the mantra, “Right Target, Right Message, and Right Media,” is a great way to keep you on the right trajectory and ensure that your messaging hits the mark every time. 

Hear more about Sales & Marketing Convergence from Bill and Revenue Storm at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas on September 18, 2014.