All of us can sell - Part 2

In last week's Perspectives, we discussed some general sales tips and how they can be best applied. These included:

Breaking the Sales Wall

Speak, Wait and Listen

Power Point Presentations Suck.

In this edition, we will continue with this overview and return to the wonderful world of the Presentation.

No one actually works for the Power Point Police.

Every author of every PowerPoint has a story about how late they stayed up putting the finishing touches on a "slide story masterpiece".

Each author is convinced that if they can get the sales prospect to really focus on the PowerPoint, purchasing will be a no-brainer and they'll sign right then and there on the contractual dotted line.

No.

There is no law written down that says, “you must slavishly follow your PowerPoint and the order of slides and bullets under penalty of permanent PowerPoint banishment”.

Your PowerPoint is a guide, not a rule book.

Your slide presentation should be an outline, a guide, for what will be shown to the prospective customer.

Sales presentations are improv at their best. You must be prepared to change the entire focus based on what you see, and what you hear, from your audience.

During the time you are presenting in a sales meeting no one will care about how your Company was founded, by whom, how many logos you have on the wall, etc.

It is not that your Company credentials are unimportant; it is that they are unimportant right then and there.

You have managed to get a meeting with a sales prospect who has set aside time (which is time they can't use for generating revenue among other things) to meet with you.

For the sake of salespeople everywhere, keep your “pedigree” slides out of your PowerPoint.

Prior to your meeting, it is likely that your prospect will have done a little research on your company by visiting your website, going on LinkedIn, etc.

Passing that, they might decide to do all of that research after they have met with you and seen whether or not your product solves their problem.

Get right to the point. Introduce yourself, shake a hand, and dive into the real reason you're sitting in their office.

Sales Yoga - Be Flexible

Written by Sun Tzu, his ancient treatise on the art of war points out the necessity to be flexible. Most of us have heard the saying “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”; this particular saying could be just as easily applied to sales as in “no carefully laid out presentation survives first interaction with the audience”.

Be flexible. Be prepared to dump your entire presentation if needed.

If you have walked into a prospective customers office and absorbed all of the mementos and other items, breaking the sales wall...

If you have carefully asked questions and listened to answers and so have to hand real information on how to help...

If you took time to prepare a PowerPoint to be flexible and general, one that is adaptable to change...

there is still a chance the prospect goes off on a tangent and all of the work you created goes out the window and you head in a different direction!

If you insist on following the presentation as written, you greatly increase the chance that you lose the customer.

Be flexible. Use adaptation to your advantage, and if your prospect sees something within your product they wish to chase, well, let them!

The Role of the Physical

If there is a podium, stand next to it, not behind it.

If you have room, move from one side of the stage to the other. Engage with the audience by slightly facing towards a particular group of your audience.

If you have a microphone, remember that it must be close to your mouth to be heard but don't "eat it".

If you are presenting in an environment that allows you to decide how seating is arranged, always make the seating as close to a horseshoe as possible. You want your audience to be able to see positive reactions from other audience members.

If you spy a doubter in the crowd (arms crossed, perhaps leaning on the table with a scowl), direct your conversation to that person. You might even decide to ask them why they seem unconvinced by your presentation.

If you spy a product champion, (the person or people who are nodding yes, taking copious notes or whispering excitedly to colleagues) talk directly to them as well. The easiest sale you will make is one where an employee of the company considering your product becomes a product champion and works to sell your product within his or her company.

As we head into 2024, and virtual meetings continue to be the norm, most of this still applies. It is possible to be visually engaging even while seated. Most video conferencing platforms allow for multiple views, and you can still work to convert people who are negatively inclined towards your product as well as encourage people who are positively inclined to your product.

Stay tuned for part 3 of this Perspectives series on Sales.

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