Sales presentations that work and those that don’t

The good the bad and the ugly

Over the past 16 weeks I have had the opportunity to sit through 36 sales and marketing presentations from technology vendors and professional services companies. After the first presentation I decided I would take note of the presentations that got an enthusiastic response and those that hit a low note. If you happen to be one of the 36 people who presented to me you should know what I am going to say.

The bad

• Why do 70% of vendors start their presentation with an about us slide – maybe interesting to them but not someone who wants to understand what the vendor can do for their business
• I was left asking myself why over 50% of presenters try to use humour to kick off their presentations because they weren’t funny
• Vendors who tell buyers they can do everything……Reality experienced buyers have been around a long time, they have heard all the promises a million times, they don’t believe vendors who claim they can do everything
• Have sales people forgotten they need to take notes during presentations, its amazing to see how many people present their offering, ask a few questions during the presentation (supposedly trying to identify client needs) and forget to show the buyer on the other side of the table the respect to take note of the answers they give
• Eye contact – if you keep looking down at your notes, people begin to think you don’t really know your stuff
• Bluffing answers – the old saying goes know what you don’t know. If you don’t know the answer admit it. Bluffing rarely works and buyers can see through 9 out of 10 bluffs
• Ok please listen to this – if you have a slide with 5 bullet points and you put it up, guess what, the audience will read the five bullets and stop listening to you until they have gone from bullet 1-5 – a suggestion either use a slide build and bring one bullet in at a time or put the slide up, take a sip of water and let the audience read the slide and then make your point.

The really ugly

These things really happened I am not joking:

• Slouching in meetings with arms crossed – I felt like asking the guy if he wanted a pillow!!!!
• Checking mobiles & texting – I wouldn’t have believed it only for I witnessed it with my own eyes!
• Interrupting colleagues when they have been asked a question
• Asking what products my company sold – do your homework!!!
• Answering questions without letting the buyer complete his questions
• Clicking a pen when talking
• Leaning on a lectern looking like he was about to fall over
• Telling the audience who are risk averse that the company is small
• Wandering around the top of the room speaking at the slides
• Rocking back and forth while talking

Ok here is the good

• The presentations that went down well told stories – they used client stories to demonstrate the value they deliver, they asked questions as they were telling stories, they showed they cared
• The presenters who knew their stuff and showed they were experts earned the right to ask probing questions – people like to talk to experts especially experts who show they know the challenges faced
• The presentations that work best had a really good opening and a really good close and yes it takes practice. Over a three week period I saw 6 IT vendor presentations and only one started and ended well
• The number one presenter amongst the 36 was the one person who spoke slowly, showed confidence, smiled, used his hands to illustrate key points and asked interesting questions
• Another simple thing that goes along way, clarifying the agenda and meeting expectation before launching into a slide show
• The guys who sign-posted where they were made it easy to follow – you knew where you were. When you know where you are it is easier to pay attention and interact
• Interaction – key to every successful sales meeting. If you have been around a while you will know the questions you need to ask and you will know that the more interaction the more likely people will feel you are trying to understand them, I was in a workshop recently that lasted about 6 hours, the time flew because the vendor got us to interact for at least 50% of the time, we were asking questions and answer questions openly

I realise now I could keep writing on this topic, leave it with me I may come back to this. Got to run the baby wants a bottle. All the best

John www.acceleratesalesgrowth.com, sales management, sales planning, sales coaching, sales and marketing consulting

Dump them to the side or KIT

For those of you who think selling is about just making calls and pushing your and getting someone to buy and think about the following.

You meet say Mr. x and they don’t buy from you and have no short term intention of buying from you, what do you do? Well 7 out of every ten sales people just push Mr X. to the side and forget about him.

Well I can tell you from personnel expereice recently that those 7 sales people need their heads examined. Mr X may not be in a postion to buy from you know but he may know someone who is and if you keep in touch with him and think of him he is likely to recommend you to his contacts. One of our customers did this recently and they now have a €100,000 opportunity in their pipeline that they wouldnt have had if they just forgot about Mr. X.

Lessons to be learned from this

Adopt a KIT mindset – Keep in touch

If you think of others and send them something of value from time to time they will more than likely refer you to someone who could buy your product or service.

John O’ Gorman - Director of Accelerate Sales Growth, Sales Management, Sales coaching

20 sales tips based on a review of several high performers

I have been jotting down sales tips that I have noted from working with several high performing sales people over the past few weeks.

Here they are.

1. Sales is a game of confidence
2. Two ears one mouth – the best sales people use them in that proportion
3. Increase sales activity – set some goals and make the calls
4. 80% of sales will be made by 20% of sales people , those 20% will have clear priorities
5. Sales people must be confident in the value and skills they deliver to their client
6. Develop relationships of trust, telling someone you cant do something isn’t the end of the world
7. Conduct effective needs analysis – 8 out of every 10 sales people don’t!
8. Face the fear of rejection, head on, what’s the worst that can happen, a client says no
9. Have thought through the objections you will face before you meet/call a client
10. Ask the customer/prospect is there anything else on their mind before wrapping up a meeting
11. Set clear goals for meeting and gain commitment to a next step
12. Will block time in their calendar to call on new prospects
13. Apply the 80/20 rule to all sales activity
14. Be absolutely clear on the ideal customer
15. Plan visits around locations – don’t waste time
16. Listen to CD’s, read, uses travel time effectively, make the car your place of learning
17. Be consistent with your message and make sure what you say and do are aligned
18. Transfer knowledge and ideas into concepts that clients can easily understand
19. Do the sales activity you least like doing first thing in the morning
20. Present yourself as an expert, people want to talk to experts

John O’ Gorman Director

Accelerate Sales Growth, sales management

Lead Generation – 8 out of ten managers say they need outside help – here are some questions to ask

8 out of ten companies say they need help with lead generations.

Before you engage the services of any lead generation/telemarketing company ask them the following questions

1. Will they allocate a dedicated resource to your account?

2. Generally how long does it take to access a decision maker?

3. How do they track and record call backs?

4. What do they see as the KSF to a lead generation campaign are? If they don’t say lead generation is about a programme of activity and ongoing communications then end the conversation

5. Will they run a pilot for 3 months?

6. Can they show you sample qualification information they look for??? The good ones can

7. What are the common objections they get over the phone? Again the good ones will rattle off an answer to this question.

Lead generation comes in many guises. It requires a system and process not just a person on the phone making calls.

Your sales team need to be either prospecting, presenting or advancing sales cycles. If they aren’t generating leads you will need to get them some support. If you do get outside help ask the right questions.

John O’ Gorman DirectorAccelerated Sales Growth, sales managment

Sales People that sell

It struck me following two conversations yesterday with a sales manager and a highly experienced and successful CEO that there are a number of key characteristics to those people who will continue to sell successfully and those who will continue to struggle. These are three I noted from my conversations. There are many more but I would be here all day if I tried to list them all.

1. Sales is a tough profession, sales people who recognise this and take the good with the bad are the ones that do the business. Don Juan in Carlos Castaneda’s A Seperate Peace puts it well – The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as a blessing or a curse”. The sales people who succeed may not know it but they are following Don Juan’s philiosphy.

2. Sales people who are at the top of their field are the ones who are always looking to learn, they read, attend sales conferences and are hard on themselves after sales calls.  Some food for thought:

• what was the last sales book you read
• when did you last attend a sales training course
• when did you last ask for frank feedback after a sales call
• have you ever asked a customer/prospective cleint for feedback after a sales meeting?

Sales people who read and are looking to develop their sales management skills will sell more.

3.  Maybe old school given the new web 2.0 generation that is emerging but you know what when you are selling complex products you will need to be willing to build a relationship with the customer. As Brian Tracy (www.briantracy.com) says the customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Its worth buying one or two of Brians’ books.

All the best

John – www.acceleratesalesgrowth.com

activity and listening the black art of sales

In my travles over the past week I have met with 10 senior managers all looking to sell more. They want sales now. Nothing new there.

It strcuk me over the course of these meetings that sales managers and buisness owners need to get back to basics; focus on what it is they have or do that makes a difference to their clients lives and increase their level of customer/prospect facing actvity.

As my old marketing professor used say, “face the customer, listen to what they are saying and then uncover the personal win your prospect will get from buying your product/service/solution”.

Selling is still the toughest profession in the world. But it is not a black art. It can be made much easier and less stressful if you listen, ask the right questions and stay in contact regularly.

John from The ASG Group: www.theasggroup.com