You’ve followed the prospecting techniques, convinced the prospect of having a meeting with you and now you have a presentation to make. Do well here, and you’ll move on to the next stage. Goof up, and you’ll be starting the process all over again, most likely with a new prospect.
If you are part of ANY business or industry, presentation is one skill you must have. This becomes more vital in a technology sales world where complex solutions are involved. Things can get boring or confusing pretty soon and we all know that confused or bored prospects rarely buy.
Let’s get to the basic question first: Do I talk through my presentation or show some visuals?
Research has shown that presenting visuals has a greater impact on the audience compared to just talking through the meeting. It helps in preventing montony and day-dreaming. And of course the person who is able to connect better with the audience has a better chance in progressing the sale.
It is also proven that a visual prop (in this case presentation) instantly gives the presenter a professional touch. Do remember, that there will be some cases where you might consider only speaking with the customer. This is often the case when you’ve been working with them for a while and just want to get something clarified. But with any new prospect, arming yourself with a presentation always helps. It also helps you to create a touchpoint later on, wherein you can send the deck off to them to initiate a conversation or post it as a reminder.
Now, lets get to the basics of presentation.
We all have a favourite software that we use for presenting, and its called Powerpoint. Not getting into the Apple Keynote vs Microsoft Powerpoint here. It just boils down to what you are comfortable with and more importantly what works in the prospects’ environment. Since reports indicate Powerpoint being used by 95% of the market, we’ll mainly talk about it here.
First and foremost, get to know your software well. The last thing you need is fumbling through the presntation or even worse the prospect telling you which button to press to get to the ‘slide show’ mode.
If you are comfortable with the tool you have at hand its one less thing to be worried about. Therefore, if you are not already great at the presentation software, make an effort regularly to get better at it. Spend a few minutes every day/week and see the impact it has on your presnting abilities in general.
With this newfound skill, you’ll be able to make a stronger impression in every sales call. The prospects you are presenting to will clearly be able to make out the difference between someone who is just getting by their presentation and someone who has used attributes from the tool that are rarely used. You might be able to get a few brownie points from the prospects just by educating them on the tool at the end of the meeting.
Common mistakes that should be avoided:
1. Busy slides
Ever faced with a slide which has too much information on it? Or the presenter being proud of the fact that it’s hardly readable? Of course you have. Guess what, it really doesn’t help you if you are the one presenting it.
If something is important, it shouldn’t get buried in the data overload. Put the highlights in a slide where it can be seen ‘loud and clear’. As for the un-readable slide, either divide them into multiple slides or eliminate the information that isn’t as important. Get your school skills to help you here.
2. All frills and no content
The appearance of your slides will get your audience something to look at and avoid the day-dreaming but if there isn’t much content to back it up, the interest will soon fizzle out. The reverse is true too but does lesser harm. Ensure you have good templates that can be used but don’t comprimise on the the actual information you are trying to convey to your prospects.
3. Focussing on the big picture
This statement is good in a lot of places but doesn’t help you much when you are out selling. Depending on the position of the customer, the requirements they have are very specific. While it is ok to give a glimpse of what it means for the overall company or business unit, you will have to quickly get into what it specifically means for them and their problem, if you want to ‘cut ice’.
4. Acronyms galore:
Ever faced with a slide which has an acronym listed which you are not aware of. The next few seconds are spent either trying to figure out what it means or fighting with yourself on whether to bring it up as a question. If this person is not you and is in fact the prospect, guess what just happened? You just lost out on a few seconds where the prospect didn’t listen to what you spoke during the time.
5. Speaking as soon as you flip slides:
Considering that you have implemented some of the things mentioned above and have important points listed on your powerpoint slides, it’s essential that the prospect pays attention to what you have to say.
Hence, avoid speaking anything right after you have turned a slide. Why? Because the first few moments are spent looking and absorbing what’s in front of them. Wait a few seconds before saying anything important lest you may lose out on conveying any important information to the customer.
CONCLUSION
Visual presentations are an important part of a sales meeting, hence it’s important not just to master the software you are presenting on, but to present the content in a way that the salient points are conveyed in their entirety to the prospects. Remember that a sales professional is known by the weight they bring to the conversation hence make sure that
1. You say more than you show
2. You know more than you say
