In today’s highly competitive business environment, having a great idea, product or service to offer, plus effective and efficient backup and administration is half the battle. The other half is convincing decision makers, clients and vendors that what you have to offer shall indeed meet their needs and expectations!
No matter how good or important a message is, if it is not delivered in an interesting and effective way, chances are it would not be heard at all. To ensure that your presentations achieve desired objectives, please follow these steps:
Step 1. PREPARE FOR THE PRESENTATION
Preparation is the master key to an excellent presentation. The more prepared you are, the better the quality of your presentation and the more likely you are to achieve your sales presentation goals. The first stage in preparing for a presentation is to ask and answer the following questions:
A. What do you know about this prospect, customer or company?
B. What should you know?
C. What is the purpose of this presentation? Is it to create awareness about your company, about the product or to sell the product? Is it to penetrate the company, to increase your market share or prevent the competition from sharing
D. What outcome do you want to see? What would the ideal after presentation result or picture look like? Have a mental image of what you want to see happen.
E. Who will you be presenting to? What do they know about you, your company and your product?
F. Are they experts or novices in the subject matter or product?
G. What is their rank and status in the company?
H. What level of direct or indirect influence do they have in making buying decisions?
I. What are their needs, interests and goals? Who else are they listening to?
Who are they currently buying from or using?
Step 2. PRIORITISE YOUR PRESENTATION
Everything in your presentation may be relevant if you had all the time in the world to make the presentation, but not everything will be important. Even if they were all important, they would definitely not have the same level of importance.
In prioritising the information contained in your presentation you can adopt the ABCDE method for prioritisation.
A are the five star generals of a presentation. They are the must- knows. The deal sealers and breakers. They are the points without which you cannot close the deal. While it is your call to determine what these points would be for your presentation, permit me to point out that the profile of your company cannot be more important than the tangible benefits a prospect or customer will derive from your product or service.
B are the four-star generals of your presentation. They are the should- knows. After allotting time to the must-knows, the next on your list should be the points to
C are the nice to know. They are the three star generals of your presentations. They are the sweeteners of the presentation. The appealing things that speak more to the heart than the head. The appeals, rather than the persuasions.
D are aspects of the presentation that can be delegated to other sources. They are the two star generals. For instance, you can refer your prospect to your website or give him your company brochure containing the profile of your Directors rather including the profile in the body of your presentation.
E are the dead soldiers. They are things that should be eliminated from the presentation. They add no value to the presentation. Rather they present potential risks to you and your company.
….. to be continued …
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