If you want to be good at sales, you need to learn how to present
Posted in Presentation Skills, Public Speaking, Sales Techniques., Selling skills on March 13, 2010 by Gavin Meikle
In my book, presentation skills and selling skills go hand and hand. The principles of effective selling will help you to produce powerful persuasive presentation and the principles of great presenting will help you sell much better face to face.
Almost every type of presentation is about persuasion. You want your audience to do something as a result of your presentation. So to do this you need to consider the same sort of things you do when planning a sales call.
- What is your outcome
- Who is your customer(audience)
- What are their needs and wants?
- What is there initial attitude to your message (product)
- What features of your product or message can you turn into relevant benefits for the audience
- What are the potential pitfalls of staying with their existing behaviour or supplier and how can you use these to “disturb” the status quo?
The answers to these questions will allow you to develop an effective and tailored sales proposition for your audience which you can then bring to life with great presentation skills.
Remember most of the skills needed to be a great presenter or speaker work whether you are speaking to 1 person or 1000!
- Establish rapport through mirroring non-verbal signals, tonality, volume and vocabulary
- Engage with confident eye contact
- Vary your vocal delivery to maintain interest and build enthusiasm
- Ensure that your body language and gestures are congruent with your message
- Use silence effectively to allow your audience time to process your proposals
So if you are just a good salesman, polish your presentation skills and you will become great!
And if you are just a confident presenter, learn how to use the techniques of selling and influencing to supercharge your presentations.
Update: if you want to read more great articles on this topic visit the Angela DeFinis’s blogcarnival
Good points here, Gavin!
The goal of ALL Communication: written, spoken or visual is the same. We want the recipient(s), as soon as possible, to “Get It!”
They may not agree with everything we present.
They may not agree with anything.
But, unless they “Get It!” there cannot be a conversation going forward.
The goal, then, is the same for your audience or prospect!
Well said Fred. It never ceases to amaze me how many presenters forget this most obvious fact. Recently I asked a group of delegates “What is the outcome for your presentation?” They almost all replied “To inform my audience”. There is a big difference beween an audience that has been “informed” and an audience that has “Got It” and is therefore motivated to do something.
[...] If you want to be good at sales, you need to learn how to present Gavin Meikle – Inter Activ Gavin’s principles of great presenting will lead to better sales. [...]
First of all thank you for contributing to our Blog Carnival. I like the way you’ve broken down the process into manageable steps. It’s easy to forget when you’re in a rush or not as prepared as you’d like to be. I’ve been there! I especially love your reminder to “use silence effectively.” Beautifully put–and important.