If you are a professional baseball player and you can maintain a .300 batting average, you can make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That means you are only successful 30% of the time.
But…if you are an Acapulco Cliff Diver…and you have a 30% success rate… you quickly get fished out of the water with a dip net and placed in a basket.
FACT: No one is perfect. And…neither is any one sales presentation.
But, if you fail with your sales presentation, you generally end up losing the sale.
I’ve observed hundreds of people making sales presentations over the years…and in lots of different industries.
And, almost without exception, the presentations are filled with lots of gobbledygook and intangible information that doesn’t interest the prospect in the least. It only interests the presenter.
In fact, in many cases, the sales presentation bores the prospect to no end. No response triggers. No connection. No emotion. And…in most cases…no sale.
It is our job as sales people to try and eliminate as many mistakes as we possibly can from when we’re selling. We must identify and remove each and every roadblock in order to…hopefully…persuade the prospect to choose (easily) us over our competition.
So…let’s take a look at 5 of the most common ways people screw up a perfectly good sales presentation.
- They don’t know the person they are trying to sell to. I don’t mean literally…as in friends…but you must know your marketplace and know how to speak to it. If they have no interest in what you’re talking about, they aren’t going to buy what you’re selling.
- They fail to predetermine the wants of the marketplace. Do some research to find out what they buy and then go sell it to them. For instance…don’t go to a PETA Convention and try to sell hunting and fishing equipment. No matter how good your presentation is, they aren’t going to buy. And don’t waste your time trying to sell Lexus automobiles in a mobile home park. Make sense? I hope so.
- They fail to clearly show what makes them and/or their product different from everyone else? What can they get from you that can’t be found anywhere else? What can you give them that no one else can? What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?
- They fail to clearly show them the benefits (not features). Paint a clear picture of what the prospect’s life will be like after he/she purchases your product or service. What pain will it alleviate? What pleasure will it bring? What problem will it solve?
- They fail to give a clear reason to order or purchase NOW. Remember…a deal with no deadline is no deal. No matter what you’re selling, you need to make sure there is a powerful incentive for someone to purchase NOW.
There are lots more ways to screw up a great presentation. I could keep going, but I only promised you 5 and I can’t make this letter too long. The above ones are just a few, but they are some of the most common ones I see.
I’ll send you more later on.
My point is this: If you will take the time to learn how to be more effective…by learning what makes people say YES…you will be more effective…no matter what you do or what you are trying to sell!
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter.
Hal
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