Sales training ideas – An example of a simple ROI model to use in sales presentations.

When driving home cost during your sales presentation, there are many tools you can use. Probably one of the most effective is a Return on Investment Model. This is perhaps the most direct and effective way of showing the real cost during the sales presentation. 

The following is a simple example of a Return on Investment Model. These models are helpful when presenting a cost–benefit analysis of owning versus not owning your product. For this example, let’s assume that a woman is buying bottled water that costs $1.00 a day versus buying a water filtration system that you sell for $100.00. To show the advantage of owning your system you could work this into your sales presentation in the following manner: 

A simple ROI Model for Sales Presentations 

         &nb sp;                    Initial Cost Day 1        After 100 Days        After 365 Days 

Water @ $1.00 per day      $1.00                                $100.00                $365.00 

Filtration system                $100.00                           $100.00                $100.00   

Conclusion: By buying the water filtration system, the return on the initial investment of $100.00 is a $265.00 savings after one year. You can then extend this out over 2, 3, or more years to increase the impact of the numbers, or the pain of not investing in your product but continuing on the old way. 

Of course, this model is basic and shows only one parameter. You can increase the complexity by introducing several other factors such as the cost of replacement filters. The point is that ROI models are an effective way to drive numbers home with impact during the sales presentation. 

Sales training ideas – 2 thoughts to keep in mind when using technology in your sales presentations.

During sales presentations it is almost a good idea to use technology to help convey your point. At the same time, you want to keep a couple of key ideas in mind when using it. The first point is a little more involved and takes a little more effort whereas the second point is simply a quick warning on something to be aware of. That being said, if you mess up on number 2, it can cost you your professional image and even the sale. Thus, you want to keep both in mind during your sales presentations. 

2 Technology notes to keep in mind in your sales presentations 

1) Always have a backup plan when you are using technology in your sales presentation.

Know your equipment inside and out. This includes setting up the equipment and on-the-spot repairs. If you’re using a projector, have a backup bulb and know how to replace it, or better yet, have a backup projector. It’s also a good idea to have a backup computer. 

Get to the location early so you can set up your equipment and do a test run through your sales presentation before the meeting begins. 

As a final note, make sure you have your sales presentation in hard copy just in case you’re your equipment completely fails. Also, ensure the hard copy is professional and presentable. Use color wherever possible. 

2) Watch What You Use as a Screen Saver

If you use a computer to give your sales presentation, it’s important that your screen saver is in good taste. It’s not a good idea to have scantily clad women (or men) as your screen saver. Company logos and the like are fine. Family pictures and/or pictures of your kids can be good conversation starters. Overall, use your best judgment and realize that, customers and prospects may see your screen saver. You don’t want anything on there that will embarrass you or offend them. 

Keep these two points in mind and you can be sure that things will go smoother during your sales presentations.

Sales training ideas – What to include in your sales presentations based upon where you stand with the account.

When delivering your sales presentation you will be delivering to one of three audiences. Each audience requires a different sales presentation. Let’s begin by defining each audience and then we will go into how to tailor your sales presentation to each. 

3 Different sales audiences 

The three different sales audiences are:

• An Existing, Extremely Loyal Account
• The New Prospect
• The Competitive Account 

Tailoring your sales presentation to each specific sales audience 

In general, here is what your sales presentations should cover in each of the different accounts: 

1) The Existing, Extremely Loyal Account

Established customers will typically need a shorter sales presentation than new prospects and competitive accounts. At the same time, you don’t want to get so lax that you miss or fail to mention important points. Don’t assume that your best customers know everything there is to know about you and your company. You want to end each sales presentation with a “reminder” of the other things your company can provide, things they currently may not be getting from you. 

With established customers, it is unlikely that you’ll spend much time, if any, selling yourself or your company, although you want to give them updates regarding new developments. For the most part, if the company has been doing business with you for a number of years and you are treating them right, they are most likely already sold on you, your product or service, and your company. 

Your sales presentation to an existing, extremely loyal account will typically include:

• A brief introduction with some humor.
• A presentation on the product or service and how it will fill your client’s needs and desires.
• Close.
• New developments or other ways you may be able to help them. 

2) The New Prospect

New prospects need a full-blown sales presentation that includes selling yourself and your company in addition to your product or service. 

Your sales presentation to a new prospect will typically include:

• A brief introduction with some humor.
• A brief history of you and your company.
• A review of the prospect’s needs, desires, goals, and objectives.
• A presentation on your product or service showing how it fills their needs and desires.
• Close.
• Intense follow-up upon returning to your office after after the presentation, whether you close or not. 

3) The Competitive Account

Competitive accounts also need a full-blown sales presentation that includes selling yourself and your company in addition to your product or service. 

With competitive accounts, you’ll also do a competitive comparison between you and the competition. 

Your sales presentation to a competitive account will typically include:

• A brief introduction with some humor.
• A brief history of you and your company.
• A review of the prospect’s needs and desires, goals, and objectives.
• A presentation on your product or service showing how it fills their needs and desires along with your competitive comparison and related items.
• Close.
• Intense follow-up after the presentation whether you close or not. 

Note: By intense, we mean pleasant persistence and doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it. We also mean sending thank-you notes and keeping the lines of communication active. 

Keep these points in mind when preparing for your different audiences. While most salespeople are usually on their game for the new prospect and competitive account, it is many times easy to be lax with well established customers, don’t let this happen. Make sure you prepare thoroughly for all and that each gets your best and most thorough sales presentation.

Sales training ideas – An important item to cover in sales presentations.

During your sales presentation, you want to make sure you speak the same language as your target audience. What do we mean by that? All audiences are interested in “what’s in it for them” and all have their own distinct language that they understand. For example, if you are giving a sales presentation to a bunch of high-tech people (“techies”), you need to be talking in terms that are important to them, namely, technology lingo. If you aren’t able to “talk tech,” make sure you have people there who can, otherwise you’ll be at a great disadvantage. 

If you are giving a sales presentation to upper level management for a publicly traded company, your language had better be in their terms. Outline what your product or service will ultimately do for the bottom line and the shareholders, the price of the stock, and how they, the leaders of the company, will be looked upon favorably by the shareholders as a result of having chosen your product or service. 

With private corporations, give your sales presentation in terms of returns to the owners and employees and how your product or service will make their lives easier. 

You will also need a different sales presentation when you talk to an individual. You need to talk in terms of the value she will get for her money and what your product or service will do to improve her life. 

In a nutshell, you need to know the focus of each group and revolve your sales presentation around that focus by speaking in terms that are relevant to them. When presenting to owners or upper level management, you might start with stock price, profits, and the like, but also show how your product will make the employees’ and customers’ lives easier, and how your product is the most technologically advanced. 

Other groups such as the “techies” may not care at all about profits and pricing. Their concerns may focus solely on how their network, bandwidth, or other internal operations that may be affected. 

In any case, even in situations where you cover several areas, you want your sales presentation to be focused on the area most important to the audience you are speaking to. Each group will have one particular area that has overriding importance to them and their business and thus, to be most effective, you must spend most of your time in that area during the sales presentation.

Sales training ideas – 8 steps to a powerful sales presentation.

Coming up with good sales presentations is an art form but one that has some specific steps to it. So how can you come up with a good sales presentation? 

8 Steps to a powerful sales presentation 

1) Brainstorm for the basic ideas of your sales presentation and what you want to say.

Keeping in mind the ideas we’ve discussed, jot down some quick notes on what you’d like to say. Let your thoughts flow freely. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, punctuation, the order of what you’re saying, or anything else. Just get all your ideas down. 

What do you want to get across about your product? Why is it the best? Start with your key benefits and expand upon them. How can you put yourself in the best possible light versus the competition? Examine your weaknesses. Examine the competition’s weaknesses (study section IV on competition). Can you think of any articles, trade publications, etc., that you should take a look at to solidify your facts? Brainstorm and come up with some creative ideas. 

2) Put your sales presentation away and return to it the next day.

You want your subconscious to have some time to work on your presentation while you get a full night’s rest. Take a fresh look at your presentation ideas the next morning, add any new ideas, and remove any extraneous ones. 

3) Edit your sales presentation.

Go back and put the ideas in order. Try to keep your ideas short and to the point. Cut out any fluff or unnecessary wording. Give your presentation a little more structure. Look for places where you can use more powerful words. Look at ways you can strengthen your features, benefits, and competitive analysis. Are there some other ways to put your weaknesses in a better light? (Again, we’ll be talking about the competitive analysis in the competition section.) 

4) Prepare a final edition of your sales presentation.

Get a little more detailed. Check your sales presentation for proper grammar and write down the exact words you want to say. 

5) Have others critique your sales presentation.

Turn your sales presentation over to others. Have them read it first for content. Ask top salespeople and management you trust and respect how the presentation looks and sounds to them. Ask them what they would add. Have you missed anything? Is there anything they would remove? Practice it on friends and family. Don’t be sensitive or defensive about any criticism—remember that it’s all constructive and in your best interests. 

6) Review and make necessary corrections.

Think about the feedback you’ve received, make some final notes, and then put your presentation away for a day or two. Return to it and make any final changes. 

7) Make sure you have all the necessary ingredients of a good sales presentation.

Ask yourself the following questions about your sales presentation: 

• Does it grab your audience’s attention immediately with a strong opening line?
• Does it continue to hold them by getting them involved, giving them powerful statements, and using humor and stories?
• Do the words have enough energy, power, and overall impact?
• Are there questions or comments that you can make more powerful? You want something that touches, moves, and inspires individuals to want to own your product or service.
• Does it address all the prospect’s needs and concerns?
• Does it flow well? Is it easy to understand?
• Does it lead naturally to the close, or the next step in the selling process? 

Practice, drill, and rehearse your sales presentation, then get out there and try it.

Know your presentation thoroughly—to the point that if someone were to wake you in the middle of the night, you could recite it without a problem. 

Note: Don’t worry about your sales presentation being perfect, because it won’t be. If you wait until you have a perfect presentation, you’ll never get out there. With your best effort, put something solid together, prepare by memorizing and rehearsing, and then hit the streets. 

Note 2: If you can “borrow” a sales presentation from one of the top sales producers in your industry, that’s the way to go. It’s always better to use something that has been proven to work instead of reinventing the wheel. If that’s not possible and you need to come up with your own presentation, the format that follows will give you some guidelines. 

Follow the eight tips above you will be able to create some very powerful sales presentations.

Sales training ideas – 2 ideas for your sales presentations.

When putting together your sales presentations, you want to have as many things going for you as possible. Here are a couple of small ideas, but ones that can definitely add something to your sales presentations. 

2 Ideas for your sales presentations 

1) Use A Play on Words

Would you rather sip a martini with blue food coloring, or an Electric Lemonade? Would you rather have a problem or an opportunity? Would you rather be a housewife or a domestic engineer? 

How you word things and the spin you put on them can have an impact on how they are perceived. When creating your sales presentation, be sure to dress your product or service in its best “verbal” clothes. 

2) Have a Catch Phrase

A catch phrase, especially a humorous one, is a great way to make your sales presentation stand out and be remembered in a positive way.  

For example, a local sub shop ran a special on Wednesdays: If you simply ask, they will make your six-inch sub a twelve-inch sub. They called it “Give ’em six extra inches for free on Wednesday.” 

One of the salespeople we know in an unrelated business added it to his sales presentation. He had a special promotion for new customers whereby they could get twice the product for their money on their first order. When he was getting to the end of his sales presentation, he brought up a slide that said, “Get six inches for free.” He then explained the special at the sub shop and how he had adapted the “twice as much for the same price” idea.

Note: Obviously, you want to be careful with your catch phrases—you don’t want to offend anyone. The slogan above is good, but it may be too risqué for some audiences. Humorous, risqué, or borderline items work best with Driver and Partier personality types, and generally not as well with “Yes” People and Thinkers. 

Keep these two ideas in mind if you are looking to add more punch and pizzazz to your sales presentations.

Sales training ideas – 3 Important points to ensure powerful sales presentations.

During your sales presentations it is critical to keep the prospect’s attention and make sure they stay with you. You also want to have a sales presentation with plenty of life and energy, but what are the most effective ways to do that? 

3 Ways to add power and punch to your sales presentations 

1) Deliver Your Sales Presentation with Energy and Enthusiasm

A key aspect of delivering your sales presentation is how you deliver it. You want to infuse your sales presentation with lots of life and passion. In other words, deliver your sales presentation with plenty of energy and enthusiasm. 

If you deliver the most inspiring speech ever written in a monotone, uninspiring way, you’ll put people to sleep. If you deliver a less than perfect speech with lots of enthusiasm, energy, and voice fluctuation, you’ll capture people’s attention. 

You need to deliver the message properly in order to keep people interested. If you use weak, unemotional words to deliver your message, people will turn off quickly. On the other hand, if you use words with lots of juice and power, people will pay attention.  

2) Open Strong

The most critical first step of any sales presentation is to get the prospect’s full and complete attention. The second most important step is to keep the prospect’s attention. 

In order to get the audience’s attention at the beginning of your sales presentation, make an irresistible statement that hits them right in between the eyes. How? Give them a very strong benefit of your product or service.  

For example, at the beginning of a sales presentation on helping people cut taxes, the presenter might say, “In the next thirty minutes I will show you how to cut your taxes by 35 percent.” Obviously, that will perk up some ears and grab people’s attention immediately. After all, who doesn’t want to save 35 percent on taxes? 

A sales presentation for some type of investment vehicle might begin with, “Here’s a safe way to make 10 percent a year on your money—tax free.” Some people might be skeptical, but we can guarantee you that opening will get their attention. 

Note: Make sure any statement you make is grounded in fact and can be backed up with solid proof. Your next step will be to build credibility in the statement, your product, you, and your company. 

3) Make More “Hit ’Em between the Eyes” Statements at Various Points in the Sales Presentation

Just as you did at the beginning of your sales presentation, you want to hit people between the eyes again at certain points throughout the sales presentation just to make sure they are still with you. 

The average person’s attention span is short. If your sales presentation is monotone or otherwise uninspiring, you’ll soon have your target audience thinking about their vacation two weeks from now, walking out, or changing the channel mentally. One “hit ’em between the eyes” statement at the beginning won’t hold them forever, no matter how good it is. You have to sprinkle a few throughout the sales presentation. 

Start with the benefits of your product or service then build them into short statements and questions with lots of punch. Questions are very important to keep your audience involved. In the example above, after the initial benefit of saving customers up to 35 percent on taxes, the next strongest benefit might be helping them to audit-proof their tax returns. Put this in question form: “Now, how many people would like me to show them how to almost completely audit-proof their taxes?” This is a very strong benefit that everyone will be interested in—made into a strong question that will perk people up again and get them involved. You’ll need several of these “wake-up” statements and questions throughout the sales presentation to bring people back into the room and away from thinking about what they’re going to do this weekend. 

Use these three points and you’ll keep the prospect’s attention while also creating a much more interesting sales presentation. 

Sales training ideas – 2 critical ideas for keeping control of the sales presentation.

During your sales presentation you will occasionally have someone try to throw you off track. The prospect does not care how you want the sales presentation to go—she has her own agenda. As a result, some prospects will try to control the conversation by asking you questions in an attempt to steer the conversation in the direction they want it to go. 

Some people are impatient and will try to get you to cut to the chase. They will tell you they have only a few short minutes and ask you to get to the bottom line. Or they will tell you they’ve already looked into the matter extensively and have learned everything there is to know, and now they would just like to know your price. 

Obviously keeping control of the conversation during the sales presentation is important in selling. So how can you do this? 

2 Ways to maintain control of the sales presentation 

1) Preparation

One of the most effective ways to control the sales presentation is through preparation. You must practice, drill, and rehearse your sales presentation, your closes, and your answers to objections. Write all this information out, memorize it, and know it thoroughly. 

The prospect, on the other hand, will not be as well prepared as you are. If the prospect tries to throw you off track with a question or comment during the sales presentation, simply acknowledge it, respond to it, and then return to where you were in the sales presentation. 

2) Questions

Questions are another highly effective way to control the conversation during the sales presentation. Questions can steer the conversation in the direction you want. Questions allow you to keep the conversation going on the same subject or take it in a completely different direction. Let’s look at a typical conversation:          

Person A: “Hi, how are you?”         

Person B: “Good. And you?”         

Person A: “Good. Hey, can you believe that game last night?”         

Person B: “That was unbelievable. How about that run back on the kick?”         

Person A: “I know, and how about that fumble in the fourth quarter?”

Person B: “Yeah, unreal. Hey, did you look at those numbers from the meeting the other day?” 

Notice how the questions in this example dictate exactly where the conversation is going. Each question either keeps the conversation on the same subject or shifts it to a completely different subject. 

If you are in the middle of your sales presentation and the prospect goes on a tangent, acknowledge what has been said, respond to it with an answer or comment, and then take the reins of the conversation and steer it back to where you want it. 

When someone asks for the bottom line, ask the questions you need answered in order to work out a price or take an order. For example, you might ask what features and functions are most important to them. You can then write these on an order form and continue with all the questions you need answered to fill out the form. 

If they push with, “Look, I just want the bottom line.” Say, “I understand. I simply need to get this information so I know what exactly to include in the price I give you.”  

Bottom line: by being prepared and asking questions you can make sure things go in the direction you want them to during your sales presentations.

Sales training ideas – The importance of having a powerful sales presentation.

You want to have a compelling sales presentation for several reasons. In addition to personal agendas, prospects also have their minds on other things. We all have things going on in our lives that are important. If your sales presentation is boring or you talk over people’s heads, they will tune out very quickly. What happens is the brain literally stops listening to you and jumps to the most emotionally charged item on its agenda. It may be an upcoming vacation, the boss’s demands, or another project the prospect is working on. You may also be catching someone who is in the middle of a bad day, or worse, some other highly emotional situation such as a divorce. If this is the case, you will often find yourself in a tug-of-war for the person’s attention. 

Let’s look at one “worst-case” scenario: the prospect is in the middle of a bitter divorce. In this case, a majority of his waking hours will be spent focused on the divorce. Let’s say that on the emotion scale, the divorce rates an 8.5 on a scale of one to ten. When you start your sales presentation, you will most likely have the prospect’s attention initially. The trick is to keep his attention during the entire sales presentation, or at least as much of it as possible. 

In order to do that, you will need to keep your sales presentation on a level higher than an 8.5. Now this may not be possible for the entire sales presentation, and it is likely that the prospect will think about his divorce occasionally, even if you are over 8.5. At the same time, if your sales presentation is consistently below an 8.5, you will get to the end and the prospect will have heard very little of what you said. 

Granted, competing with an issue at an emotional level of 8.5 is not easy no matter how good a salesperson you are. It is also a situation you’re unlikely to encounter with any regularity. At the same time, you want to get your sales presentation as close to an emotional and logical ten as possible. If you are able to get close to that level, assuming you are talking to a qualified decision-maker, you will more than likely make the sale, because you will obviously have a very compelling sales presentation.

Sales training ideas – 2 ways to find out how you’re doing during the sales presentation.

As you are doing your sales presentation, you will occasionally want to find out how the sales presentation is going. This will let you know whether or not you are on the right track and also whether or not you should be closing the sale soon. 

2 Ways to find out where you’re at during the sales presentation 

1) Ask Questions

During your sales presentation, ask questions and get feedback to make sure you are headed in the right direction. These questions will also keep the prospect involved and make sure he or she is paying attention. In a sense you will be using trial closing questions. However, these questions are not quite as direct as those used when trying to close the sale. You want to embed these questions into your sales presentation in various places.  

Too many of these questions can begin to irritate the prospect, so keep them to a minimum. As a general rule, you should ask one question about every five minutes during the sales presentation. Here are some examples of questions to ask: 

• “How does this solution sound so far?”
• “Are we heading in the right direction with this solution, Mr. Prospect?”
• “Do you feel that feature would be beneficial to you?”              

With these questions, you are taking the prospect’s temperature. Is he hot, cold, or indifferent? If he’s hot, you want to be closing now or very soon. If he’s cold, you need to find some hot buttons, areas of interest, or otherwise figure out what the problem is. If he’s indifferent, again, you need to find some hot buttons and areas of interest before you attempt to close him. 

2) Look for Other Indicators

In addition to asking questions during the sales presentation, be aware of other indicators such as body language, facial expressions, and other “signs” that indicate how the prospect is reacting to your sales presentation. Pay particular attention to the person’s eyes, as they will be the most telling. These indicators will tell you which points are hitting home, which are not, and they’ll even tell you what the prospect’s hot buttons are. The key point to remember here is that you need to be able to read between the lines and “hear” and “see” what people are not telling you with their words. 

Keep these two points in mind to find out if the prospect is with you and you are headed in the right direction during your sales presentations.

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