10 Profitable Tips for Creating Better Sales Presentations

No matter what your business is, you will enhance your level of success by developing a well-organized sales presentation. A good sales presentation involves two primary elements:

(1) The pre-planned sales talk.

(2) A carefully conceived and organized visual presentation that documents, confirms, supports, and strengthens the oral.

Your visual aid can take a variety of forms. It may be a multi-page flip-over type with elaborate charts and graphs, extensive artwork, color photos, and other attention getting devices. It may be a computer driven multi-media event or a simple on-line presentation from a laptop. Or, it can be a basic set of 8 1/2 X 11 loose-leaf pages that can be arranged to fit diverse selling situations.

Presentations, whether professionally designed or home made, are a vital component of your selling process. Why? Confucius put it this way: "In all things, success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure." First prepare. Then sell.

Here are ten tips for selling better with prepared presentations.

1. Plan Ahead. Advance preparation is nine-tenths of the sale. Be sure you are organized and equipped to talk, show, and sell. Know all you can about your prospect before you make the presentation. Tailor your products/services benefits to solve your prospects' problems and fill their needs and desires.

2. Make A Great First Impression. A clean uncluttered sales presentation, like an artist's creation, is a mirror-image of your character, personality, and attitude.

3. Be Clear. Be Logical. Be Brief. Don't be brief at the expense of being misunderstood. Clarity starts with you. Clear answers to your prospects overriding question... What can you do for me?...will lead to understanding and sales.

4. Maintain Control. Never sit between two buyers. Don't let the prospect read ahead or thumb through your visual aids until you're ready for him to. Ask the prospect to instruct his secretary to hold all calls during your presentation. (It takes guts to sell.)

5. Seek Change of Pace. Put bounce in your voice. Change pace, tempo, and volume. Ask lots of questions. Get verbal confirmation of agreement at each stage of the presentation.

6. Prepare For Interruptions. Don't be flustered or thrown off balance. Expect interruptions and use them to summarize key sales points.

7. Involve The Prospect. Give the prospect something to feel, handle, manipulate, examine. Let the prospect mentally take possession of your product or service.

8. Gauge Your Progress. Progress should be measured in terms of understanding. No understanding...no sale. The more the prospect agrees with you, the more progress you are making.

9. Give A Complete Sales Talk Every Time. Your presentation must perform four important functions:

(A) Win the prospects attention,

(B) hold his interest,

(C) persuade and convince him of the rightness of your proposition,

(D) prove that a buying decision is a logical step for him to take.

10. Seek A Buying Action...Expect To Close. A good presentation naturally leads to a buying decision. Make it easy for the customer to buy. If your prospect was properly qualified and your sales presentation on target, you will find the selling process goes quickly and easily.

© Copyright 2005 Thom Reece All Rights Reserved

Thom Reece is CEO of Online Marketing Resource Center [http://www.E-ComProfits.com] and publisher of "Thom Reece's Web Marketing Strategies & Techniques Newsletter". You may subscribe free at: http://www.WMSTDirect.com, mailto:thom@e-comprofits.com

---

Presentation Skill Mistakes

Last week my husband and I attended an awesome 4... Read More

Choosing a Company Shirt vendor

Where can you choose a company shirt vendor? There are... Read More

Speech in Business

The social skills of a small businessperson, franchisee, independent contractor... Read More

Projector Hire - Choosing the Right One for Your Presentation

Calling a projector hire company will often get you confused... Read More

How to Prevent Presentation and Speaking Disasters

I just got back from my whirlwind speaking engagements and... Read More

Your Unique Point of View

I had a chance to go to one of those... Read More

27 Tips For An Effective Presentation

So you're not a professional speaker. That's no excuse for... Read More

7 Myths That Make Meetings Miserable

Myth 1: Executives belong in meetings.Although the demands of business... Read More

How to Convert PowerPoint to Flash Manually

Converting PowerPoint to Flash would be absolutely a good choice... Read More

PowerPoint Presentations: How to Use This Tool More Effectively

Many of us use PowerPoint to convey a message to... Read More

Writing The Query Letter

The query letter is simply a business letter that serves... Read More

How to Attract New Business Like George W. Bush Wins Elections

THE LITTLE-KNOWN SPEECHWRITING SECRETS THAT WON GEORGE W. BUSH THE... Read More

How You Can Save On Conference Calling

In recent years, companies have recognized the need to expand... Read More

Powerpoint Sales Presentations Are Boring - Stop It!

As the meeting began, the project manager of the buying... Read More

How To Make Your Best Ever Presentation

The most important tip...EVER!Make sure that you always think of... Read More

The Relationship between Information Sender and Receiver: The Art of Communication

For communication to take place, a message must be transmitted... Read More

Present Statistics In Context

"I didn't have 3000 pairs of shoes. I had only... Read More

Kvetching Behavior and How it Hinders Success

Kvetching is the Yiddish word for complaining, hand to the... Read More

Conducting Successful Training Activities

Whether you are training preschoolers in the classroom or executives... Read More

Can Stage Presence be Learned?

What is stage presence? Can it be learned?There are, undoubtedly,... Read More

The Right Speaker Makes a BIG DIFFERENCE

MORE and more corporations in Malaysia have awoken to the... Read More

Sharpening Your Presentation Skills

Regardless of the nature of our job or social standing,... Read More

Tough Talk: Bad News Delivered the Right Way

Communicating Bad News The Right WayIt's the rare executive who... Read More

Beetle Bailey and Presentation Skills

In March 2002, the comic strip Beetle Bailey contained a... Read More

Nonverbal Communication in Business

There are five key elements that can make... Read More

Story Telling As A Tool For Trainers

Once upon a time????."Yeah right, don't tell us a story,... Read More

Planning a Group Meeting

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE FACILITATOR: As chairperson, focus on the... Read More

Qualities of Good Communication

Webster's Dictionary defines communication as "a giving or exchanging of... Read More

Tips for Thinking on Your Feet

If you really aware and alert, your audience's behavior -... Read More

Improve Your Bottom Line with What You Say

When was the last time you thought about what you... Read More

Networking: How to Network Within Your Organisation

Although there are any number of different networking groups and... Read More

Keeping Meetings Productive

KEEPING MEETINGS PRODUCTIVE: Whether participants approve or disapprove of an... Read More

Ancient PowerPoint Secrets: Ask Your Grandma!

Yes, there are ancient PowerPoint secrets...secrets your grandmother knows and... Read More