S&MM SoundOff

Do You Show Up & Throw Up?

When you show up for a sales call, meeting or presentation, do you ever throw up?

 

I’m not talking about the queasiness some people feel before a big presentation or speech. Instead, I’m referring to the amount you talk.

 

Too many sales people have the nasty habit of talk, talk, talking while they mistakenly believe that if they don’t tell their customer or prospect EVERYTHING there is to know about their product, service or offering, they won’t close the deal.

 

Unfortunately, when you throw up on someone, they very quickly lose interest in what you’re saying. Not to mention that it shows a complete lack of self-control. The best way to prevent this from happening is to focus on your prospect, instead of yourself. Ask them a few questions to get them talking or ask “What’s changed since we past spoke?” if you are delivering a sales presentation.

 

The most effective sales presentations focus on what is important to the prospect or customer and top sales reps deliberately leave out information that is not relevant to each prospect’s situation. Eliminate the desire to throw up on your customer and concentrate on highlighting just the key points of your product that will help most help your prospect.

 

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals close more sales at higher profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.Fearless-Selling.ca. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.

Just Do It

Many people in sales know what they should do. However, they analyze the details to death and this “paralysis by analysis” causes them to hesitate and second-guess themselves. Many people hesitate to pick up the telephone and call a prospect who appears to be sitting on the fence because they don’t know exactly what to say. They may resist cold calling because they fear the rejection. They may not change their approach because it feels uncomfortable.

 

These are natural responses. However, these concerns prevent them from achieving their full potential. The key is to take action.

 

Analyzing a situation to death and thinking about every possible outcome will only prevent you from moving forward. Every delay you take gives your competitor the opportunity to take business from you.

 

Let’s face it. No one is perfect. No sales conversation is going to go exactly as you expect regardless of how much you spend planning it. Perfection is something you can strive for but you cannot expect to achieve it. The most successful people in sales plan their approach and their strategy. But the one thing that separates them from the pack is their willingness to take action.

 

Write down what actions you need to take to improve your sales. Then, follow the advice of Nike, and just do it.

 

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals reach their sales quotas and targets in any economy. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.Fearless-Selling.ca. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or at [email protected]

Make Your Case

At an industry conference this past week, I saw and heard several different sales presentations as sponsors of the conference presented their products and services. Unfortunately, most of them missed the mark. Yet, delivering an effective sales presentation is critical if you want to succeed. Here are few key points to consider.

 

Start with impact. Don’t waste valuable time talking about your company or its products, services or solutions. Instead, demonstrate that you understand your prospect’s pain, problem, concern or issue. This will capture their attention.

 

Show, don’t tell. Whenever possible, use props in your presentation. Instead of telling your prospect the results you can help them achieve, show them a testimonial letter or video that outlines a key outcome.

 

Focus on your prospect. Most sales people fail to make the presentation about the other person and use a lot of “I” or “me” or “we” language. But your customer doesn’t care about you. They want you to talk about them.

 

Show the ROI. Also known as the WII-FM theory—What’s In It For Me? Every sales presentation MUST focus on how your customer will benefit from using your product, service, solution or company.

 

Modify your approach, use these steps and you will notice an improvement in your results.

 

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals and businesses discover new techniques to improve their sales and profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.

Lessons from the Svengali of Speech

First and foremost, a very happy and healthy 2008 to you all. Hopefully, everyone’s survived the holiday festivities with waistlines relatively intact (no small feat for myself, thanks to my mother-in-law’s cooking).

Now then, S&MM SoundOff may not be the most likely venue for a book review, but indulge me for a moment: I’d like to draw your attention to the newest tome by Brian Tracy, entitled Speak to Win: How to Present with Power in Any Situation (AMACOM Books).

On the off chance you’re unfamiliar with Mr. Tracy’s name … well, let’s face it, you're not. In addition to penning the “Management Strategies” column that appears in every issue of S&MM, Brian’s one of the top 10 brand names in the motivational speaking business (sharing company with a couple of fellas named Covey, Robbins and Chopra). So needless to say, when the guy pens a text on giving killer presentations, you ignore it at your own peril.

Yes, yes, yes … you’re a sales manager. Which means you were a salesperson at some point in your professional life. Which means the prospect of addressing a group of strangers doesn’t exactly send you careening toward a nervous breakdown. Frankly, so what? Whether Brian’s dispensing advice on mnemonic strategies, speech cadence, body language or even the proper climate control for your meeting room, you’ll find plenty of practical information here. 

Speak to Win: How to Present with Power in Any Situation is set to hit shelves in February, retailing for $19.95. For more info, visit www.amacombooks.org.

5 Best Practices in Online Product Demonstrations

Screen sharing and its cousin the remote control software has been around for many years, where it has been particularly useful in PC support roles. User calls up the IT help desk and need to reset some application or operating system parameter, so instead of talking the user (blindly) through the changes, a process which is fraught with frustration and confusion, the IT support professional can just make the change for the user remotely. If you’ve ever had to explain to your mother how to select her new printer over the phone, you can appreciate how wonderful remote control software can be.

Screen sharing or application sharing is usually integrated into the web conferencing service, where it has developed into a powerful software sales tool. Doing product demonstrations used to be in-person affairs, but now can happen far more efficiently, over the Internet with multiple participants in different locations.

Here are 5 Best Practices for web conferencing in product demonstrations. For a more complete list, visit www.brockmann.com.

1. Keep Pre-Sales Sessions to One Customer at a Time:
   
   The temptation is to use Internet technology to gather all the prospects together in one session and show them all at once. This is not recommended because each user has unique needs and questions about the product, which the sales team needs to get out of the customer as a sign of commitment to the product and its potential sale. When there are other prospects in the same session they may not be willing to share sensitive corporate details and don’t participate as they might in a one-on-one meeting.
2. Clean Up The Desktop:
   
   Create a folder called ‘desktop’ and load it up with all the files and folders that normally clutter the presenter’s desktop so afterwards you can just drag them back to the desktop. Put only the application shortcut and presentation shortcut on the desktop.
3. Log out of Instant Messaging:
   
   Application sharing and desktop sharing features of web conferencing services allow remote users to receive the same screen display within the web conferencing window. IM popups that so-and-so is online are distractions that ought to be avoided during web conferences. The idea is to remove distractions so that the customer and the sales engineer can concentrate on the product and its potential fit for the customer.
4. Say it in an Hour:
   
   Even if you have technical difficulties that consume the first 15 minutes, cut out charts. Complete the meeting promptly.
5. Use a Short Presentation to Set the Stage:
   
   Goals of the meeting, key customers cases and demonstration architecture are all the charts necessary to set the tone and context of the web conferencing session.

Happy demonstrating!

Peter Brockmann is a consultant and analyst in communications technologies. He can be reached at www.brockmann.com.

Cold Calls vs Call Plans, The Difference Between Failure and Success

By Mary Donato
(President - Applied Principles; Associate Director - ISBM - Penn State)

I recently hosted a webinar on the topic of "Cold Calls vs Call Plans, The Difference Between Failure and Success."  The presentation was given by Michael Knowlton of FranklinCovey's Sales Performance Group.  Over 500 people attended seeking more ways to effectively "open the door."  You can view the 1 hour webinar at the following link:  http://www.franklincovey.com/SPG/events.html   

Michael shared an approach that included 6 steps to having an impactful meeting with key Decision Makers.  A key goal in the initial call is to develop, explore and transfer a compelling value proposition to the client.  You want to create interest and enable the opportunity for further discussions. The Value Proposition should be a concise summary of the client’s situation, our potential offering (pointing to a hypothesis) and the reasons adopting it or exploring it may make sense.   This helps us develop what we will say in a way that is relevant and positively motivating to the client.

The 6 elements that should be included in any initial call are "Call Plan Elements:"

• Value Proposition- Client’s situation, our solution and the reason adopting it make sense.
  
• End in Mind - What do we want the client to say, do, decide (feel) at the end?
  
• Key Beliefs - What would the client need to believe to say, do, or decide the EIM?
  
• Questions - What would we most like to know from the client?
• Yellow Lights - What are possible client questions, doubts, stalls, concerns, objections?
  
• Next Steps - Be prepared to ask or offer next steps.

Please! A Reprieve from Death by PowerPoint

By Nick de Cent

Who would have thought that the humble business presentation would become mainstream news around the world?

But that’s just what’s happened thanks to a new Australian study. At last, scientific research confirms what long-suffering audiences already knew and presentations experts have been trying to tell us: the standard way PowerPoint is used can kill a presentation stone dead.

Academics from Australia’s University of New South Wales have revealed that the far-too-common practice of repeating your spoken presentation with the same words as bullet points on-screen actually makes it harder for the audience to learn and retain the information. Since PowerPoint is typically used in this way, the "use of the PowerPoint presentation has been a disaster," says Professor John Sweller, an education professor at the university.

The researchers found that the human brain processes information better when presented in verbal or printed form but not when delivered in both forms at the same time. Presenters who use a list of bullet points on a slide and then go through them verbally, would actually be better off if the audience ignored either the slide or the talk.