I’ve sat through literally hundreds of presentations by salespeople trying to sell me their products or services. And most of them have been from companies I have actually asked to come in and tell me about their products. Whether they were office furniture salespeople who wanted to kit out our new offices or recruitment agencies for new people in the company, I have sat through some real humdingers of presentations, I can tell you!

But some have been what I consider to be quite magical. They were the ones that did their homework. They were the ones who talked about my business rather than their products. But, most importantly, they were the ones who made their presentations come alive. How?

By creating a vivid picture of how my business would be more successful when we used their products.

What did they do, specifically?

They painted pictures with their words. They made their products come alive in my mind with the language they used. They created a bespoke solution for my company by showing me how I would lose out if I didn’t say yes.

And yet, I never felt under pressure. They didn’t use tricks or tactics that made me think I was being sold to. No, they created a need in my mind that could only be satisfied with their solution.

Painting pictures with words means speaking the language of the client. One salesperson described how much time I could save using his product. He asked what I could do with the extra 30 minutes a day his product would save me. When I realised that was 10 hours a month, I was instantly intrigued by what he was offering, as I could immediately see the benefits to other areas of my business.

How can you make your presentation come alive by painting pictures with the words you use? Practice with your colleagues so you can share ideas and create presentations that really stand out against the competition.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

It matters not how good your product or service if you are unable to get the customer interested in it. You need to create that interest by grabbing the prospect’s attention and convincing them that the best use of their time right now is being with you.

You can do this by designing a series of powerful, hard-hitting statements that will persuade and motivate the prospect to take action.

Notice what happens when you read this next statement:

African elephants are wandering majestically through the trees, as the sun burns down from a cloudless sky.

Now, what went through your mind then? If, like most people, you created a picture in your mind, you have experienced the result of a powerful statement. It’s designed to paint pictures in a person’s mind, giving them an opportunity to see things as they could be, rather than as they are.

So your powerful statements should contain a selection of words that will make the prospect look for more.

So what’s the purpose of these statements?

Well, they make the prospect think about what you do in ways that they can benefit. They create a clear distinction between you and your competition. They make the customer want to hear more about you and your products. And they give them a clear reason to buy from you.

Think of the products you sell. Then think of what the prospect will be able to do if they used your product. For instance, people don’t buy cars…they buy the prestige, status, comfort, convenience and economy that the car will offer. People don’t buy IT services…they buy the security and peace of mind that the back-up services will give them and their business.

Therefore, your statements should highlight why the prospect should spend time with you. They should generate attention, awareness and curiosity to hear more.

For example, when someone asks me what I do, I could say “we provide training, coaching and consultancy for businesses, small and large”. Yawn! So do thousands of others!

A more powerful statement would be something like, “We design bespoke programmes for businesses that hit right at the heart of current issues and help them grab business opportunities that they didn’t know existed”.

Now, if your mind-set was open to developing your staff and you needed some help in doing so, would a statement like that at least pique your interest? Would you have a picture in your mind of your own issues and feel that you would want to know more detail?

That’s the value of these powerful opening statements.

Your job is to create at least six of these statements that can be used with prospects to develop relationships that will prove fruitful for both parties in the future.

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

I was at Geneva Airport recently, after having delivered an Essential Communication Skills course, and mulling over the key points of the programme.

I wandered into the technology store just to kill time. Then my eyes lit up when I saw the new Apple IPad. I’ve read loads about it, and can’t wait to try it out when it comes out in the UK. The assistant must have seen my reaction, because he immediately approached and said “It looks good, doesn’t it?”

My reaction was to say yes, and he started to create an emotional connection between me and this inanimate object. I felt attracted to it by how he was asking questions about how I would use it, what impact I wanted to make with it and asking about how impressed I was with it. I even thought about how I could use some of his words on our communications courses!

It set me thinking about how we as salespeople relate our products and services to our customers.

Often, we only relate to the left-side of our customer’s brain by specifying the logical reasons why they should buy. By connecting the emotional side of the brain to our product, we open up many more reasons why they should be interested.

Start thinking about how you can connect emotions to your product and services.

Ask yourself: “What impact would my product have on my prospect’s business, not just on profitability and productivity, but on other aspects like giving them more security in their role, or making their colleagues more receptive to their ideas.”

“How would my services make my prospect look good?

What impact could they make on their business by using my services?”

These kind of questions bond prospects to you on an emotional level, and they start associating you with good feelings, hence making it easier to justify a positive decision in their minds.

Did I buy the IPad? No, but I will definitely be taking a look when it comes out in the UK! And I will thank that salesperson for making me feel so good about the product!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Picture the scene…you’ve done all your homework and produced an excellent proposal for the prospect.

You have made all the arrangements and are to present to a panel of four decision-makers.

You and two colleagues have burned the midnight oil to get it completed, and you’re ready to go. You prepare to run the proposal past them— but one of their people isn’t there.

Of course, it’s one of the top decision makers. But that person still needs to see it.

So what happens now?

Do you rely on the others to sell your ideas to the missing person?

Or do you email the proposal to the missing decision maker, hoping it doesn’t get put to one side, if they ever open it at all.

What will you do instead?

You will actually go back to your office, you’ll re-do the presentation of that proposal, reviewing it section by section, recording it on audio, then you’ll send it to them in a PDF file.

It might even have video of you doing it, but at the least it will be screenshots with audio of you going through the proposal for that person specifically.

You will even say, “John, this is for you. I’m really sorry you weren’t able to make our meeting, so we’ve put this short presentation together to let you know what we discussed. We’ve cut out all the fluff and just gone with the main points. It’s just 9 minutes and 40 seconds. We trust it will be helpful’. That way, you don’t rely on someone else in that group to do your selling.

You do it online digitally. You send a link. They link to it. It’s the future. Now. They’re known as digital proposals.

Try them. They work!

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Do you have to conduct sales presentations to win business?

If so, you’ve most likely referred to them as beauty parades. This is where your prospect has given you and 3 other vendors a list of requirements and have asked you to present “what you can do for them” and your ideas.

Psst Have you heard about The Beauty Parade Sales Presentation Myth?

You know what it is…..

“It’s always worse to present first”

Not true. Don’t get me wrong, I used to feel this way!

But then I won some major projects going first, last, before lunch and after lunch!

You see, it doesn’t really matter where you go that counts but it does matter what you do during your presentation that counts.

Going First?

Well, you should look to build so much value into your presentation that it sets the standards so high that all of the other vendors are compared to yours and don’t stack up. You need to be the trailblazer here!

And if you know who you’re up against, and have done your homework on what their USP’s are etc then you can position yourself against them by going first like this:

“Throughout today you’re probably going to hear unique selling points like offering you a completely tailored software system, 24/7 support and unlimited ongoing changes for your version of software. Well, those aren’t USP’s to us. They are “givens” offered by everyone. Let me talk you through what makes our product completely unique….”

By prefacing a statement like that, if all of your competitors are going on about their 24/7 support etc then the decision makers will not take too much notice about them because of what you covered in your talk. You’ve devalued those features.

In theory you can bash all of your competitors USP’s without naming them and by stating that they are the norm and are not unique.

Conversely, if you know your short comings in the marketplace and what they are against your enemy then you can cover these off in your presentation. For example, some of the “big boys” in your marketplace will try to play the “we’re the biggest and the best, with the most coverage, turnover, profits and capability” hand. They’ll try to make your 10 staff look like you can’t do the job. With something like this you could pre-empt their strike by getting in first with something like this:

“We’re not as big as some of the companies that you’ll meet with today but that is a major advantage because you’re not just another number to us, we can make changes to your specs 2 weeks quicker than anywhere else and….”

I hope you get the picture?

Presenting at a beauty parade is an art and a science. Remember, it doesn’t matter what slot you’re given – it only matters what you do in that slot and how you position yourself against those before you, after you or both!

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

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Today, everyone is strapped for time.

The job and family demands placed upon our prospects and clients are greater now than at anytime in history.

So the last thing that they need is a sales person coming and talking their head off!

Today, “less” is very much “more” when it comes to your sales interactions and my guess is that you’re talking far too much!

So here are some key areas I’d recommend that you look at:

1. Learn how to tell stories effectively

A story has a beginning, a middle and an ending without much variation in-between. And telling stories is a real skill. So learn it!

2. Learn to be focused

In order to be focused you need to be crystal clear about what you want to get out of the interaction and learn how to pull the conversation back on track. Have clear objectives going into the meeting.

3. Force yourself to ask more questions and to shut up more!

We all talk far too much when selling. Learn to prepare some areas you’ll want to question your prospect on and listen to the answers and the underlying answers that your prospects give you.

And then……shut up and listen!

Remember, your job as a sales person is to meet your objectives and it’s not to see how much time you can waste!

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

I’ve just got back to the office from presenting at a “Beauty Parade” for a big piece of sales training business.

And the lesson I’ve got for you today is that you always need to be prepared for the unexpected and have a PLAN B and C and D etc up your sleeve.

Here’s what happened:

I was told for the past 3 weeks just to bring a memory stick with my Powerpoint Presentation on it because they will supply the laptop and projector.

LESSON! – EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

I know from past experience never to rely on other people’s kit! So I took my own laptop, printed off colour copies of my slides and took my own projector.

Low and behold, the laptop they had did not work and the hotel’s projector had broken down from the previous day!

I was called in to deliver my presentation, memory stick in hand only for them to say “We’ve had a slight glitch I’m afraid, it’s caused havoc with the other suppliers we’ve seen today but you’re all in the same boat! We haven’t got a laptop and no projector – sorry”

Unflustered, I reached into my bag and got out 5 copies of the presentation in bound booklet format.

“Not to worry. I’ve brought my own laptop and projector and these are the slides of the presentation too so you can scribble all over them as I talk. Let me get my projector out of the car”

They were mightily impressed.

You see, you need to prepared incase things do not work out the way you want. What would I have done if I had not brought my laptop with me? What about the projector? And the notes?

I had all of my bases covered so make sure you do too EVER SINGLE TIME!

Happy Contingency Planning!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

We all talk about what you should be doing during sales presentations but what about what you shouldn’t be doing?!

Here’s 5 sales presentation mistakes to avoid at all costs:

1. Don’t bore your clients about the features all of the time. Yes, do mention them but spend more time on their benefits

2. Off The Shelf RIP – Make sure that you bespoke and tailor each of your sales presentations. It’s not one size fits all.

3. Seeing your presentation as a transaction and not a relationship. You want to have a long term relationship with your prospects. It shouldn’t be viewed as a one off transaction. Make sure you mention this in your presentations.

4. It’s all about ME ME ME! Make sure you relate your presentation to your prospects. Don’t just spend time talking about you, your products and services and your company. Involve your prospects and talk about their situation, hopes and aspirations.

5. Not clarifying the next steps. During your presentation everyone needs to be crystal clear about what the next steps are? Poor presentations end with a whimper and a tumbleweed!

Avoid these mistakes and you’ll deliver more effective sales presentations that will get you closer to the sale.

Happy Sales Presentations!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

PS Don’t forget to check out my MTD Sales Podcasts

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…