Make Your Sales Presentations More Impactful

Posted on 03/27/2018 in Sales Presentation Skills

Consider these three questions:

1.) How memorable are your sales presentations? If customers don't remember the key points from your sales presentation, you haven't advanced the sales process forward.  You'll make your presentations more memorable by adding in relevant stories at the beginning, during the heart of the presentation, and at the end.   

The key word is "relevant," don't simply tell stories that don't fit the topic and the audience. For example, if your product or service can potentially help a customer's facility to become a safer workplace, include a success story on how you helped another company to do so.

2.) What can you do to engage the customer during your sales presentation?  Many sales presenters talk too long and talk at, not with, the customer.  One tip that avoids both of these mistakes is to make your presentation interactive. In your opening remarks, tell the audience that you welcome their questions and input. Then, at various times in your presentation ask some open-ended questions.  

For example, imagine that you just presented some performance advantages of your product. Ask some questions such as, "How would this benefit you?" and "Which ones are most applicable to your business?"  Average sales presenters tend to ask the classic question, "Do you have any questions?" which rarely gets the customer to open up.

3.) How should you conclude your presentation? Don't end with a simple, "Thank you," and then leave.  Instead, do these two things: first, use a relevant story to wrap up your presentation - remember, stories make your sales presentation memorable and energizing. Second, get the customer to agree to some type of action, such as a follow up time or an evaluation/trial.

Use the above three questions to assess and then modify your sales presentations.  If you're interested in some additional advice on making effective sales presentations, click on Sales Presentations: Do Yours Suffer From Information Overload?