3 Steps to Powerful Presentations

Do you ever wonder why your customers have to "think about it" or "talk to someone else" before they can make a decision? It's not because they actually want to think about it, it's because they're not sold on your solution! 

You have the power to fix that by using the Organize, Verify, Educate steps in the COVERT sales process. This is your chance to gather intelligence around how your solution can help your customer and then deliver a world-class presentation to help bring them to a favorable decision.

First, your customer may not know all the implications and potential payoffs of solving their challenge or achieving their goal in their personal life or business. It's your job to help them organize their thoughts into a defined need or set of needs. 

You can do this by asking questions about what problem they're trying to solve or what goal they're trying to achieve. Find out how important this is to them, and most importantly, why. 

Find out what their vision of the future is once the problem is solved or the goal is achieved. Shoot for 9-11 questions about their situation. 

Start with a broad question, such as, "what's the biggest thing holding you back from achieving <goal>?"

Then, follow up with small, inquisitive questions designed to draw out more information. 

How so? 

How do you mean? 

Tell me more about that?

Sounds like... 

Hm..?

Make sure to follow these up with 3-5 seconds of silence to allow room for the customer to answer.

Once you've explored their challenges and goals, transition into the verify phase by using this wordtrack:

"So let me make sure I completely understand..." and then proceed to verify the problems or goals the customer is facing. After that, confirm with them that this is a big issue or a worthy goal. You can do that by asking:

What kind of resources would it be worth investing if you could solve this problem/achieve this goal?

If they believe it's worth their time to continue if there is a potential solution, follow that up by asking what the perfect solution might look like or the results it might achieve for them. Note: only proceed at this point if you can accomplish what the customer is looking for. Trust me on this. It's not worth closing someone on something that is not reasonably going to accomplish what they're looking for. Never.

Transition by asking permission to educate.

"Customer, after hearing the things you want to accomplish and the challenges you're looking to solve, I have an idea. We've helped a lot of people just like you to accomplish exactly what you want, and I believe that we can help you too. Does it make sense to take a look at the details so you can get some more information and see if it makes sense to keep talking?"

Educate the customer on your solution. The number one way to improve your presentation is to only present and explain things that are relevant to their challenge or goal and nothing else. 

Ask questions about their opinions on what you just said. 

"What are your thoughts on that last section?"

"How do you see yourself/your org using the last piece I just showed you?"

"What have you gathered so far about the product?"

"Who else will be using this?"

"What did you not like about what we've discussed?"

"Where are the biggest sticking points for you?"

This will cause them to think deeply about the conversation. Thinking deeply about your presentation will allow your customer to make a much easier decision because you've activated all the parts of the brain involved in learning and understanding. 

Nobody will buy anything they don't feel like they understand. When you take the time in your presentation to understand them first, then present your information in small, incredibly relevant chunks, your customer will feel more comfortable making a decision at the end and the decision is way more likely to be in your favor. 

Now, go forth and give better demos and presentations!