Sales training ideas – Use both the push and pull in your sales presentations.

When putting together sales presentations many salespeople overlook a key element which can make their sales presentations much more effective. The key to remember is that peoples’ lives are driven by pleasure and pain, the carrot (reward or pleasure), and the stick (penalty or pain). The benefits of your product or service will help the prospect either to avoid pain or to gain pleasure. Usually it is a combination of the two. Your objective in the sales presentation is to show the prospect how he or she will minimize pain and maximize pleasure by using your product or service. People buy home insurance to avoid the pain of the replacement cost should their house burn down.

People buy the newest sports car for the pleasure it brings them. They may buy a Volvo for pleasure, because they like the car, as well as to avoid the potential pain of being injured in an auto accident. 

Typically, people will do more to prevent pain than they will to gain pleasure. Think about it—would you do more to earn $100,000 or more to prevent someone from taking $100,000 away from you?  

What is the primary objective of your product or service? Does it protect something? Does it enhance something? Come up with as many “carrots” and “sticks” as you can. Having both the carrot (the reward) and the stick (the pain caused by not buying your product) in your sales presentation is important. To be completely effective, you need to include both sides of the equation. You have to talk about both the heaven the prospect will experience as a result of owning your product and the hell he’ll go through without your product. 

Try to think of as many benefits or “carrots” and as much pain or “sticks” as you can and use these in your sales presentations. Tell stories about the pleasure people have gained and the pain they have avoided by purchasing your product or service.  

The bottom line is: you want people to ultimately see all the pleasure they will gain if they own your product and the pain they will receive if they don’t. Your objective is to come up with as many product benefits as you can, and also come up with the pain or dangers of not having your product and then find a way to use all of them in your sales presentation.