Planning is only necessary when a salesperson is making a formal presentation

As you have probably realized by now, there are many things to keep in mind when planning and executing a sales presentation. It can be enough to overwhelm even the most experienced sales professional.

While there is no one magic formula that will make your presentation come to life, successful presentations generally have a number of elements in common. Thinking of your presentation in terms of the following five steps will help you to plan and execute it with greater ease and success. Before the presentation, it’s a good idea to ask your prospect how much time is allotted for your presentation. That will help you tailor your presentation appropriately, keeping in mind your prospect’s time. It’s also a good idea to start the meeting by setting expectations in terms of time: “Just as a time check, I’ll spend thirty minutes on the presentation and allow fifteen minutes for discussion. We’ll plan to wrap up by 11 o’clock.”

Step 1: Build Rapport

Recall from the last section that it’s always a good idea to recap the findings of your last meeting in the opening of your call. This is another way to build rapport, remind your customer of your previous discussion, ensure that everyone is on the same page, and transition into your business topic.

Step 2: Make a General Benefit Statement

Keep in mind that to effectively demonstrate capability, you should sell benefits—solutions that address your prospect’s specific needs—rather than features or advantages. If your sales call is a follow-up on a previous call, you can make a benefit statement early on that will address issues you discussed in your last meeting:

In our previous discussion, you mentioned that you had a minimum ROI requirement of 20 percent per year, and you said that you would be interested in pursuing this sale further if we could propose a solution that would meet your requirements. I’ve created an ROI analysis here that shows how outsourcing your back office work through our firm will yield an annual ROI of 25 percent. Other businesses like yours have experienced these results with us and have been very satisfied with the transition. Here’s what we envision for your company. (Show a slide with a diagram or chart giving a visual representation of your prospect’s cost savings with this solution.) Is this something you would be interested in?

In this general benefit statement, the salesperson has

• recapped the findings of the previous conversation to provide context,
• explained the value in an idea that meets the customer’s needs, rather than trying to sell a service,
• helped the customer to see himself as part of the story,
• used a closed-ended question to lead into the rest of the presentation.

Closed-ended questionsQuestions that demand a yes or no response.—questions that demand a yes or no response—can help to move your presentation forward, keep your customer involved throughout the presentation, and confirm your understanding. Closed-ended questions have a role during your sales presentation, as demonstrated above.

However, closed-ended questions should be balanced with open-ended questionsQuestions that will help you probe further into the problem your product can solve. that will help you probe further into the problem your product can solve. For instance, you might ask, “What are some of your biggest frustrations with your current back office operations?” It is virtually impossible to learn more from your prospect if you don’t use open-ended questions. If you are interested in learning more and engaging your customer in your presentation, be ready with open-ended questions. For example, the situation, problem, implication, and need-payback questions in SPIN selling are all examples of open-ended questions. Open-ended questions start with “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” or “why.” provides examples of closed-ended and open-ended questions.

Figure 10.7 Examples of Closed-Ended and Open-Ended Questions

Asking the right questions is one of the skills required to be a successful salesperson. This is where your ability to ask the right questions really comes into play. It is the open-ended questions that you ask during this portion of the presentation that set the tone for the rest of your presentation. But don’t stop here. Ask open-ended questions throughout your presentation to engage the prospect and continue to gain valuable information.

Step 3: Make a Specific Benefit Statement

In B2B sales, the specific benefit statement is generally something you prepare before your presentation (recall the discussion of this from ). However, before launching into specific benefits, you can investigate to make sure you understand and have all the necessary information: “So let me make sure I understand. What you’re saying is that a 5 percent reduction in process time will reduce your costs by 20 percent?” In any selling situation, the information you get from your prospect is usually just the tip of the iceberg, and you won’t get an idea of the pressures she is facing unless you can get her talking.

After confirming that you and your prospect are on the same page, you can move forward with your presentation, adapting if you need to based on your prospect’s answers to the questions you asked. This is the part of your presentation where the solution really comes to life. Bring your customer into the story with videos, recordings, displays, or anything else that will allow him to experience the product for himself.

You:So let me just confirm—it sounds like your biggest priorities in purchasing this SUV are gas mileage, safety, and reliability and that you would sacrifice some luxury features if your vehicle met these other conditions?Prospect:Yes, those are definitely the most important things. This is really going to be a family car, something I can use to drive the family around and take on camping trips. And our oldest child is going to college soon, so we want a car that will last for a while because we’ll need to save money to pay tuition.You:Prospect:Yes, that sounds like just the kind of thing we’re looking for.You:Great! Then why don’t we go for a test drive, and you can see for yourself how well this car handles on the road.

When you demonstrate your product for the prospect, make sure to draw attention to the features, advantages, and benefits that make it a good solution for her particular situation. In the example above, when your prospect takes the car out on the road, you could turn on the climate control settings that allow her to adjust for a different climate zone in the front and back seats and explain that this way she and her family can stay comfortable on long car rides. If she has her kids along, you could turn on the rear DVD player for them. These sort of extra, customer-specific benefits help your customer to make a personal connection to the product and to see her story aligning with your solution.

During this part of the presentation, make sure to ask open-ended questions that will help you learn more about the prospect’s needs and her perceptions about the product: “You said that you like to go on family camping trips; how well does your current vehicle meet your family’s needs on these trips? It sounds like your current vehicle gets poor gas mileage; how does this affect your frequency of use or the length of your road trips? How would the storage capacity of the RAV4 change the way you use your family vehicle? How important is the car’s sound system to you?” Not only will these questions help you to uncover your customer’s needs and expectations that are still below the surface, but they will also help you to anticipate potential objections as you transition to the next part of the selling process.

Step 4: Presentation

This is the reason you are here—to present your solution that will solve your prospect’s problem. Since you started your presentation by asking questions, your presentation is a perfect way to incorporate the things you just learned from your prospect and incorporate them into your presentation. Yes, this means you have to be quick on your feet. That’s another reason preparation is so important. It allows you to be comfortable with your presentation material, yet customize it on the spot to point out specific areas that address your prospect’s problem.

You are taking the prospect on a journey so make it interesting, compelling, and relevant. Here are a few tips:

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Don’t Be Forgettable

Learn why the worst sales presentation is one that is OK.

Step 5: Close

If your prospect responds positively to your trial close, it is time to close the sales call by asking for a commitment. There are a variety of closing techniques you might use that will be discussed in greater detail in . Whichever closing technique you choose will depend on the customer, the selling situation, and your goal for the end of the sales call.

Step 5: Recap

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Sales Presentation Role-Play

See how all the steps come together in this selling role-play. See if you can identify all the selling skills used by the “salesperson.”

Role of the Proposal in the Sales Presentation

In many B2B sales and some larger business-to-consumer (B2C) sales, once you have presented your solution, if your prospect is interested, she will ask for a proposalDocument that proposes the specific terms of the sale, including pricing, delivery time frame, and the scope of the products or services you are offering.—a document that proposes the specific terms of the sale, including pricing, delivery time frame, and the scope of the products or services you are offering. In relationship selling there is no such thing as a standard proposal; the proposal should include the details of a customer-specific solution and should reflect the things your customer values most. Even in retail situations—like car buying—while you might have a basic template you use for your contracts, you will adapt and renegotiate the contract depending on your customer’s needs. The key is that the proposal, like your presentation, should be customized to the individual prospect.

Nitty Gritty: The Hows and Whys of a Proposal

While every proposal should be customized, there are a few common elements that good proposals share:

• an introduction
• a definition of the project or need
• a discussion of the solution and its benefits
• a time frame for completion of the project or project milestones
• a call to action that asks the prospect for a response
• evidence that you are qualified to perform the job.

In addition, a proposal should accomplish three things:

1. Educate the prospect about the specifics of his need and the pertinence of your solution. The proposal should showcase the value you are bringing to the individual prospect or organization; help your prospect to see why he can’t reach his objectives without the specific solution you offer.

Whether or not you are responding to a formal RFP, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Do make sure most of the document discusses your prospect and his objectives and how you and your company will meet them.
• Do keep the writing clear and concise. This will make it easy for your prospect to assess the proposal, and it demonstrates a respect for his time on your part. Select the most relevant information and present it in an efficient way.
• Do make sure you understand how the proposal will be reviewed, who will be reviewing the proposal, what the primary selection criteria will be, and when you can expect a response.
• Do use a straightforward approach to pricing that your customer can easily assess.
• Do make it easy for the prospect to accept your services by attaching an agreement he can sign that outlines the terms of the contract.
• Don’t forget to check grammar and spelling. This is an important part of credibility and professionalism.
• Don’t overuse “we” or “us.” Your language should reflect a customer centered focus.

Figure 10.8 Template for Preparing a Strong Proposal

Timing: When to Deliver Your Proposal

Have you ever noticed that when you go into a high-end clothing boutique or a store that sells expensive jewelry and watches, the price tags are hidden? The thing you immediately see is the product itself, beautifully displayed. The goal is a psychological one: to get the buyer to make an emotional connection with the product before he considers the cost. As a buyer, if the cost were one of the first things you saw, you might never make that emotional connection with the product in the first place.

This is something to keep in mind in sales. Never present a proposal—or otherwise mention pricing—early on in the sales presentation, not until your prospect has fallen in love with your product. You want your prospect to pick out the color of the car before she asks about payment; if she picks out the color, she has already imagined herself owning the car, and you have probably made your sale.

Of course, in a situation like car sales, you generally present the proposal in the same day as you present the product. You discuss your prospect’s needs, show him the car, let him test drive it, and then tell him, “Let me go talk to my manager to see if we can work out the numbers.” The process is a relatively simple one. However, in complex B2B sales, your sales presentation will probably end with a request for a proposal, in which case you will agree to a future meeting when you can present your proposal to the customer. B2B proposals are generally more involved, and so they require careful planning and a greater investment of time. If your prospect says, “Just send us the proposal,” ask for a face-to-face meeting; you can always send them the proposal ahead of time, but following up with a meeting in-person will help you address objections, answer your prospect’s questions, and demonstrate your enthusiasm for the project.

Power Point: Lessons in Selling from the Customer’s Point of View

The Art of Bringing the Product to Life

Delivering Value in Your Proposal

Until you understand the areas in which your customer places the greatest value, it is impossible to come up with a proposal. For instance, say your organization offers advertising services, and you find out from your prospect that her company especially values competitive pricing on individual projects. You decide the best way to deliver value is to drop your pricing below the competitor’s lowest price and to make up for the lower cost in your retainer feeFixed fee that a customer will pay in advance to secure your services.—the fixed fee that your customer will pay in advance to secure your services. This way you can deliver value in the area that is most important to your customer while still generating the profits you need to run your business. In the end, you want a situation where everyone wins—but it takes some work to uncover the key to making this happen.

Sometimes your customer’s area of greatest value is determined by business needs, and other times the issues are emotional. For instance, if you are selling a car to a customer that wants a good value on his trade-in, recognize that he might have an emotional connection to his old car (in his mind it has a high value), so offering a low trade-in price, even if it is combined with competitive financing options, might be enough to drive your customer away. In fact, your customer might actually be willing to pay more for his new car if you can give him a good price for his trade-in.

Key Takeaways

• The most important ingredient of a successful sales presentation is you.
• While there is no single formula for a sales presentation, there are five basic steps: building rapport, making a general benefit statement, making a specific benefit statement, closing, and recapping.
• It’s best to ask questions throughout your presentation to learn as much information as possible from your prospect and to keep him engaged.
• Closed-ended questions help keep the prospect engaged and should be balanced with open-ended questions, which help you probe further into the problem your product can solve.
• The proposal is a written document that includes the specific terms of the sale and is usually prepared after the sales presentation.
• Some prospects submit a request for proposal (RFP), usually when they are evaluating proposals from a number of potential suppliers, which sets out specific guidelines for the format of the proposal and the information it should include.

Exercises

1. Develop two examples each of closed-ended questions and open-ended questions. Ask both questions to at least five of your friends and document the responses. Which type of question was easier to control? Why? Which type of question provided more information? Why? How might you use both types of questions in a sales presentation?
2. Develop a five-minute sales presentation to sell your college to high school seniors using the five steps described in this section. Role-play your presentation. Is it difficult to stay within the time constraint? How should you adjust your selling presentation when you have a limited time frame to present?
3. Assume you are selling biodegradable bags to a major grocery store chain. The bags are 100 percent biodegradable and are priced comparably to nonbiodegradable bags. You are meeting the eight -person buying committee for the first time. Role-play how you would build rapport with the group before you begin your presentation. What questions would you ask to begin your presentation? What general benefit statement would you make?
4. Go to Best Buy or another electronics store and assume you are buying a new computer. What questions does the salesperson ask before he shows you a specific model? Which questions were closed-ended? Which questions were open-ended?
5. Imagine that you are selling children’s books to Borders and you arrive at the corporate office to make your presentation and your contact tells you that due to scheduling changes, he can only give you half as much time as he originally planned. How would you adjust your sales presentation?
6. Choose a product or service that can be demonstrated or sampled (e.g., a Web site, software, food, or a beverage). Create a five-minute sales presentation using the concepts in this section and incorporating the demonstration.
7. Assume your prospect is a restaurant on or near campus. Develop a new product or service that your prospect can offer to increase traffic during off-hours. Create a five-minute presentation using the concepts covered in this section.
8. Assume your prospect is one of your classmates. Create a five-minute sales presentation for an iPod Touch using the concepts covered in this section. Include a trial close when you present to your prospect.

9. Watch this scene from the AMC show, Mad Men. Evaluate the sales presentation based on the concepts covered in this section. Which elements of the presentation are effective? Why? Which elements are not effective? Why?

   When a sales representative makes a presentation?

   When a sales representative makes a presentation, he or she should discuss product information right in the beginning before the buyer brings his needs and opinions into the picture.

   What is the importance of the sales presentation quizlet?

   The importance of a sales presentation is that it gives a salesperson the opportunity to prove the benefits of the product to the prospect.

   Which of the following is the first step in a sales presentation?

   1. Prospecting. The first step in the sales process is prospecting. In this stage, you find potential customers and determine whether they have a need for your product or service—and whether they can afford what you offer.

   Which of the following is true about the formula sales presentation method?

   Which of the following is true about the formula sales presentation method? It is not adaptable to all complicated selling situations; a number of them require other sales presentations.