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Making an Effective Sales Presentation

Three Common Mistakes

In our experience in working with thousands of salespeople,  we see that they tend to make three common mistakes when making a formal sales presentation.

First, their presentations suffer from "information overload."  Too many slides, too much talking, too lo-o-o-o-ng.  The result is that they lose the customer's attention and interest.  If you don't agree, ask yourself this question: when was the last time you heard a sales presentation that was too short?

Second, salespeople tend to dive right into the body of the presentation and don't give enough time and attention to their "opening remarks."  Yet, numerous studies have shown that audiences remember the opening remarks much more than the rest of the presentation.  What does that suggest in terms of planning and organizing an effective sales presentation?

Third, their presentations don't end powerfully.  When STAR consultants coach salespeople,  we often observe concluding remarks that are too brief and lack impact.  For example, a typical closing remark is "... thank you.  Do you have any questions?"  This can be radically improved, for example, by using an open-ended question instead.  Start strong and end strong if you want to improve the effectiveness of your presentations.

One Powerful Solution

To avoid the three mistakes described above, follow these guidelines when organizing your presentation:

1. Divide your presentation into three sections:  the Opening, the Body, and the Closing.  Rather than spend time planning your presentation in general, spend time instead planning each section, including transitional remarks to get you from one section to the   next.
2. For the "Opening" of your presentation plan your opening remarks with two objectives in mind:  first, getting the other person's attention; and, second, building rapport.  And, most importantly, rehearse it out loud.  If you don't rehearse anything else, you MUST rehearse your opening.  It will only take you a minute or less but it is the most important minute in the entire presentation.
3. For the "Body" of the presentation avoid information overload by asking this question:

   "What information does this person need in order for me to accomplish my objective(s)?"

   Edit your remarks, and then re-ask the same question.  Delete at least 1/3 of the remaining content.  Brevity makes the presentation more impactful.  If you don't agree, count how many words are in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the most memorable speech in American history.

4. For the presentation "Closing," summarize the key points and benefits, which many salespeople do.  Then, ask for an action from the customer, which most salespeople don't do!  "Based on what we just discussed, how would you see this benefiting you?" and "What do you see as the next steps?" are two examples.

Where Do You Go From Here?

This article provides an overview of one topic from our Sales Presentation Skills Workshop.  If you have a question or want to discuss the subject of sales presentations in more detail, send us an email.  Thanks!

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