MKTG377 CH.11: Making a Compelling Presentation

Three fundamental selling truths

(1) If you don't know your product, people will resent your efforts to sell it (2) If you don't believe in your product, no amount of personality or technique will cover that fact (3) If you can't sell your product with enthusiasm, the absence of it will be infectious

Effective Presentation Tactics

(1) Participation (2) Demonstration

Purpose of the Presentation

(1) Provide knowledge using the *features, attributes, and benefits* of your product, marketing plan, and business proposal (2) Allow your buyer to *develop positive personal attitudes* towards you and your product (3) Convert your prospects want into a need (4) Convince your prospect that not only is your product the best, but that you are the best source to buy it from *Strive for passion, not perfection*

Follow-up Calls

- Continue meeting with executives, managers, and department heads until a solution is reached - Consider each meeting as a mini contract negotiation

Initial Call

- Develop rapport and establish a need - Judge how far to go by how quickly a relationship is established - Take notes all along to help build trust

Survey Call

- Interview all key decision makers to get information - Decision is ultimately based on: *cost, quality, service* (Determine which one is most important to the client)

The Setting

- Prospect's office is often the best place if interruptions can be controlled *Taking the prospect to lunch also has several benefits*

Outline Presentation

- Salesperson knows what content will be presented but are confident enough of both knowledge and skills to believe the right words will be available as needed

(1) Features - Units of Conviction

- the tangible and intangible qualities of the product or service you sell - facts that are the same no matter who uses the product or service

(2) Transitional Phrase - Units of Conviction

- used to translate features into benefits - used to connect, in the prospect's thinking, the features to their benefits Ex: - "This is beneficial to you because..." - "This lets you..." - "This heads off all the problems of..." - "What this means to you..."

Impromptu Presentation (Extemporaneous)

Some salespeople know their product so thoroughly that they can seize almost magically upon the one thing that will best appeal to a specific prospect

(3) Benefits - Units of Conviction

- Every feature has numerous benefits - only four or five will be key motivators to a prospect - salesperson's goal to find out what benefits are key purchase motivators for the prospect *Features tell, Benefits Sell*

Closing Call

- Get verbal and/or written commitment

(4) Evidence to Support the Claims - Units of Conviction

- Must provide evidence to support the claims to head off the "so what?" questions - Be prepared to back up what you say with: (1) Facts and statistics (2) Testimonials (3) Demonstrations (4) Samples (5) Case Histories

Proposal Call

- Present a buying recommendation - Give each individual the information they need to make a decision - Use trial closes

Sales Aids

- classified as *audio, visual, or audiovisual* - used primarily to help the prospect visualize or otherwise experience the benefits of the product or service or to help you organize the presentation so that your prospect receives an ordered, logical message that is easily remembered

Units of Conviction

- concise, carefully prepared "mini-presentations" used as building blocks to construct the information you present Consists of five elements: (1) A feature of your product or service (2) A transitional phrase (3) The benefit the feature provides (4) Evidence to support your claims (5) A tie-down question to gain the prospect's agreement *When combined, they form what is referred to as the product-analysis worksheet*

(5) Tie-Down - Units of Conviction

- consists usually of a single question that asks for the prospect's agreement - Important throughout the presentation

(2) Demonstration - effective presentation tactics

- effective method of adding showmanship to the presentation while achieving the purpose of the presentation Benefits: (1) Catches the buyer's interest (2) Strengthens your selling points (3) Helps the prospect understand the proposition (4) Stimulates your own interest (5) Cuts down on the number of objections (6) Helps close the sale Four principles to follow for demonstrations: - Focus attention on you - Get prospects into the act - Keep prospects glued to the screen - Paint a picture with metaphors

(1) Participation - effective presentation tactics

- every presentation must get the prospect involved - make sure to ask questions and listen to answers - encourage prospect to ask questions about any benefit or any factor involved in its use

Situational Selling

- fitting yourself into the situation and making each contact with the prospect beneficial to your ultimate purpose of closing the sale

Memorized Presentation

- must be used as a guide to lead you and your prospect through the process and not merely be recited - memorizing and reciting an entire presentation would be a mistake *Planning portions of your presentation can be a confidence builder for those who are new to the world of selling* *Prevents the salesperson from committing pitfalls from which they may never recover*

Call Objective

- the most successful salespeople have specific objectives for each sales interview

Sales Call Planning

Many companies, especially those whose product or service entails extensive research into customer needs, require salespeople to prepare a presentation plan in written form - reveals need for additional information, makes it possible to check needs and goals against suggested solutions, and make sure you have a clear picture of the entire situation before arriving for the personal interview Information to include: 1. Company name 2. Type of company 3. Address 4. Individuals to contact and their positions 5. Background and profile of buyers 6. Major competitors to be aware of and their sales reps *7. Call objective* 8. Best time to see buyer 9. Expressed needs or problems *10. Strategies and tactics useful for the situation* *11. Sales tools to take* 12. Results of the sales call

Suggestions for calling on regular customers

Provide new ideas to help your customer make money, save time, or increase efficiency; DON'T just be an order taker - Give the customer a new advertising or merchandising idea - Help the customer develop an overall marketing plan for improving the business - Tell some new product fact that the customer needs to know - Share a piece of industry or trade news of personal interest to the customer

Interesting Presentation Facts

The typical salesperson presents *six to eight features or benefits* during the sales presentation - 24 hours later the average prospect remembers only one benefit - In 39% of those cases they remember the one benefit incorrectly - In 49% of the cases they remember something that wasn't mentioned at all