No matter how many times you have presented your product or shared your company story with a customer, you must understand that the person you are talking to may have zero knowledge OR they may have done their homework and know more than you think. In order to avoid a blunder on the first meeting, it is critical to take these smart steps to properly prepare to educate your new customers to ultimately seal the deal!
Do Your Homework.
It doesn’t matter how many times you have made your presentation. It is common for sales professionals to get too comfortable and try to “wing it” or assume that the customer understands. Focus your introduction on key points about you, your company or your product. Be sure to ask open-ended questions that will help you to discover what the customer’s needs are before you begin your presentation. Most customers are savvy to sales talk and can tell if you are reciting a “canned” presentation and will show you to the door.
Get Creative. Liven It Up!
Remember, your customer may be hearing this for the first time, and if you are bored with your story – it probably shows! Try to mix it up with need-to-know facts and information that will interest the customer . Every time you make a presentation, listen to the questions that the person asks or those things in your presentation that gain their interest every time. Make notes and be sure to play on these positive points in future presentations. To be effective, your story must be entertaining and gain their attention quickly.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
One of the greatest ways to fine tune your sales presentation is to role-play your talk with either a sales training professional or a coworker before you make the call. It may be a bit intimidating but by having someone else listen to you as you practice, they can point out areas of your talk that are strong and those that need to be worked on or taken out completely. You’ll be amazed at how much stronger both your presentation and your confidence become by doing this.
Once you have done your homework and perfected your approach, it is time to make that call! Put these tips into action, and next week the team at R2R Marketing will share some solutions to making the sales call a success with a stellar presentation!
