Most people believe that this is the most important part of the sales process, however in my experience I believe it to be vitally important however is only a tiny piece of the puzzle. The sales presentation is nothing to do with having a fabulous company brochure, proposal document or a fantastic company website.

By the time you deliver your presentation, your prospect should be 80% of the way towards making a buying decision. They will have typically decided “if” thay are going to buy from you, you are simply now presenting “what” they are going to buy from you.

Selling is a transfer of enthusiasm. It is creating a ball of energy and passing that to your prospect, so that your customers are as excited about receiving it as you are delivering it. Being enthusiastic talks straight to the subconscious mind and promotes enthusiasm in return, which itself is a catalyst to a buying decision.

In theory you should be able to present your products or services with no major props. I am not saying that this is the only way you should present. However, if you can do that, you will then only add marketing material that supports your presentation and not hide behind your literature.

Now every successful presentation follows a structure. Be it a quick elevator 60 second pitch, or a detailed sales proposal , the same structure applies.

Every presentation should include a beginning, middle and an end. This sounds simple, but the number of presentations that I see that are all middle is still in abundance.

Beginning

Your beginning is really your chance to set the scene and educate that your prospect that your meeting has moved on and they will soon have a decision to make. The two main ingredients for your beginning are always to make a powerful opening statement that sets the scene.

“Its great to talk with you today and demonstrate how we can help create your perfect…”

To then put your audience at ease by letting them know what to expect by sharing your agenda with them.

“I will share with you a little about how we work and what makes us different, explain our range of services and give you 3 different options for your desired holiday. I will then find out what questions you have before you make a decision on the way forward”

By giving them a verbal or written agenda they understand what to expect and it helps you to keep control.

Middle

The middle of a presentation is where the main responsibility is to give your audience enough information to make a buying decision. I would always look to consider three main areas.

– Your history and credibility – Let your listeners understand all about you and your company. Share the type of companies that you work with and instil confidence in your audience that you are more than capable of delivering for them. This is not a huge section but is vitally important. Drop in names of existing customers and words that others have used to describe you.

– Product or service overview – Always provide a shopping list of all your products and services in every sales presentation. You never know what they may also be interested in buying from you.

– The one product/service for them – Finally give them your recommendations for the solution that they make a decision on today. Remember to keep this as simple as possible.

You will need a powerful opening and close to your middle to keep attention. Keep questions to a minimum throughout your sales presentation and if necessary they must be simple, closed and bring positive engaging answers so as not to lose control.

End

Providing your presentation was interesting enough, at some point you will have lost the full attention of those listening. This is because something you said had interested them and they started to think about applying your solutions and may have missed something.

Because it is paramount that they feel they have all the information before they make a decision it is essential that you summarise before closing. Your summary is simply telling them what you have told them. Once you have summarised you must then close by asking for a decision.

I would encourage you to prepare a default presentation for each of your products and then tailor it each time you need to use it. That way you are always perfectly prepared.