 Sell
More with Persuasive Presentations
By Ed Rigsbee, CSP
(512 Words)
If you, and your sales
team, desire increased sales… If you, and your sales team, want to do
this without increasing call frequency… You only have one
choice—excel at persuasive presentations!
Recently I conducted a
presentations training for a technology company. Their business is
strong, and they have an experienced sales team. But, few truly
understood the basic mechanics of persuasive presentations. As such,
they were leaving dollars on the table at every call.
Selling is simply
determining another’s problem and persuading them that you have the
solution to their problem. Then asking them to accept your
solution—the close—it's quite simple. Unfortunately, not enough
salespeople understand the basics.
There are three key
elements in persuasive presentations:
- An
arresting opening benefit statement.
- Explaining
benefits with features.
- Asking
for the business.
Right about now you
might be thinking, “Thanks Ed, but tell me something new!” Force
your sales team to practice their sales presentations in front of each
other at your next gathering and you’ll most likely say, “Wow! They
really do not know these basics!”
Opening:
The opening benefit statement is really a hook, one that catches the
prospect’s interest. In reality, a salesperson is saying, “Please
give me a few minutes of your life.” If the prospect sees no potential
value, why in the world would they want to needlessly give up minutes of
their life? The first thing a salesperson says either catches the
prospect’s interest or it doesn’t. Grab their interest instantly
with a promising opening benefit statement.
Benefits:
How sales people love to share features—about them, their company and
about their product or service. Most prospects are thinking, “So
what!” The prospect only cares about how the salesperson’s offer can
make their life better—that’s it! For every feature, the logic,
there also had better be a benefit, the emotion. Otherwise your
salespeople are just visiting for a cup of coffee rather than solving
problems and selling.
Ask for it:
These are the three great words that will change the lives of any
salesperson that is confident enough to use them. I continually wonder
why so many salespeople are afraid to ask for the business. Could it be
because they have not yet sold themselves? Could it be they are afraid
of being pushy? Could it be that they don’t want to deal with the
rejection of a prospect saying no?
The answer to the above
three questions is a resounding, yes. Challenge your salespeople to a
day of presenting in front of each other. Have them do at least two
presentations in a day. And, if you want it to be really powerful—have all your
salespeople complete feedback forms on each other.
Perhaps you are now
thinking, “That would be great but in what areas should they offer one
another feedback?” I have a solution for you. Please
visit www.rigsbee.com/downloadaccess.htm
for my 20-area feedback form.
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Ed Rigsbee, CSP is the
author of three business relationship books: PartnerShift—How To
Profit From the Partnering Trend, Developing
Strategic Alliances and The Art of Partnering. He has over 1,000 published articles to his
credit and is a regular keynote presenter at corporate and trade
association conferences across North America. Rigsbee can be reached at
800-839-1520 or EdRigsbee@aol.com.
For additional related information, visit his Partnering University Web
Site at www.rigsbee.com.
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