Making an Exceptional Sales Presentation

What makes an exceptional sales presentation?

I’ve watched, delivered or created thousands of sales presentations, and I have evaluated the success rate on most of them. Whether an integrator trying to win a project, a manufacturer trying to impress an integrator or either of them presenting to an architecture and engineering firm or consultant, most sales presentations could improve.

Maybe it’s the advent of PowerPoint; maybe it’s the free access to information; or maybe I’m just getting old. But for some reasons, we don’t perform as well at sales presentations as we once did.

I’ve have found there to be three key ingredients to every successful sales presentation (This is assuming variables such as speaking ability, preparation, etc. are kept equal):

1. Write the presentation before building the Power Point.

No doubt about it—building the PPT before writing the presentation is the most common flaw in sales presentations. A PPT should support the story; it shouldn’t *be* the story. Write your presentation first, and then build a PPT to help you deliver the message. If you’re given a PPT by marketing, then understand the flow of the presentation and practice without the PPT. Remember… you are a presenter, not a reader.

2. Make the presentation about the audience—not you or your company.

I once watched a competitor give a demo in Yuma, Ariz., at which he kept referencing his client at the Port of Seattle. How much do U.S. Marines in a desert care about a seaport in a very wet environment?

No matter how general the presentation, your audience wants to know, “What’s in it for them?” Start the presentation with a list of things you know about them and their situation. Get them engaged. Ask if you’re accurate and what else they’d recommend adding. Get the two-way discussion rolling from the beginning.

3. Tell stories.

When a decision is being made to take you to the next step of the sales cycle, your audience better remember you. People don’t remember specifications… we remember stories. If your widget operates at a gazillion Hz and only pulls half an amp, you’d better come up with a story about how that helped someone who is similar to your audience. No matter how technical your audience, they will remember stories over specifications every time.

So, what do you think? What have you seen really take a sales presentation over the top?

One last note: Get a little crazy and deliver one of your presentations without PowerPoint. You’ll be amazed at the attention you’ll draw.

Chris Peterson is principal and consultant at Vector Firm. He can be reached at cpeterson@vectorfirm.com. For more information, visit his website at http://www.vectorfirm.com.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association (SIA).