Making Successful Sales Presentations

It takes lots of work to land an appointment to make a sales presentation to a potential client. Once you’ve got this golden opportunity to pitch your product or service in person, you need to make the most of it. Here are some tips to ensure your sales presentation seals the deal.

Be Prepared

• Do your homework. Before your presentation, know your prospect’s business inside and out. Who are their biggest customers and competitors? What issues are affecting their industry? What are the company’s future plans?
• Before you make the appointment, be sure the person you’re meeting with is the decision maker. Ask, “Is there someone else who will be making the purchase decision?” If you fail to prequalify the prospect, you could waste time selling to someone who isn’t authorized to buy.
• Once you’re sure you’re meeting with the right person or people, do some digging to find out more about them. Maybe they’re from your home town, or you share a hobby, or have a colleague in common. All else being equal, people do business with people they like, so find something to help you make small talk and build rapport.
• Write down key talking points. When you actually make your presentation, you won’t be reading off a page, but you need to know what issues you’re going to address and practice talking about them. Write down the questions you’ll ask the prospect, the ways your product or service can solve the problems that your questions are likely to uncover, and ideas for handling objections that are likely to arise.
• Get comfortable with your technology. If you’re using a laptop to present visuals such as PowerPoint slides, practice ahead of time to make sure all systems are go. Be sure to bring any peripherals you’ll need.

Say It With Confidence

In order to earn a prospect’s trust, you must project confidence. Preparation will help you feel confident on the inside. Here’s how to show your confidence on the outside.

• Speak clearly and enthusiastically. If you can’t convey excitement about what you’re offering, your prospects won’t be excited either. Avoid fidgeting or saying “um.” Vary your voice—if you drone on and on, prospects will be anxious to get rid of you
• Use body language to convey enthusiasm. Move around and use hand gestures. But keep it in sync with your customer—if he is quiet and shy, don’t slap him on the back and invade his personal space. Finally, be sure to make eye contact. (Would you buy anything from someone who wouldn’t look you in the eye?)
• Practice your presentation ahead of time. Try role-playing with a colleague or spouse and get their feedback. Better yet, have them videotape you. Yes, this may sound painful, but there’s no better way to improve.

Be A Good Listener

Of course, speaking well is important, but listening well is even more crucial.

• Ask the prospect open-ended questions (ones that can’t be answered with a yes or no). These will uncover what the prospect needs, why they are seeking to buy, what problems they have with current suppliers and more. Craft your questions so that they’ll uncover problems that your business can solve.
• When you listen to the answers, you will uncover the customer’s “hot button”—the single crucial issue you can “push” to get him or her to buy. That hot button could be saving time, saving money, appearing more successful or gaining market share.
• Take notes on what the prospect is saying, including any objections. The more you know about why prospects hesitate to buy, the more easily you can formulate a specific solution that gets them to say yes.