Sales presentation, which is also known as the pitch, is the talk which is done to persuade or convince someone to buy something. The sales presentation is designed to close the sales of a product or a service.
The sales pitch is designed in such a way that it has to be either an introduction of that particular product or service to the customers who are unaware of it entirely or It is a description to the audience who are slightly aware of the product and have expressed interest in it.
The sales presentation is one of the vital steps to educate the customer about your offering, its benefits and finally the price. Salespeople give a sales presentation, or the customer may himself read it online. Product brochures, infographics are other forms and tools of the sales presentation.
Preparing a Sales Presentation
Often a successful sales presentation is essential to close the deal. It is necessary to understand how to make an excellent sales presentation so that the customer is convinced. Following are a few elements which should be included in a unique sales presentation:
1. Cover slide
The cover slide of your presentation should reflect the stance of your company and industry. Since attention is very disruptive nowadays, you have to design the cover side in such a way that the audience instantly gets what you want to say. Visual information is more attention-grabbing then regular words. There are many tools available online for getting excellent visual capturing tools, which would make a superb cover slide.
2. Value Proposition
The presentation should include a value proposition, which should be a summary of all the values that you are going to deliver to your prospects. The value proposition answers the question of why the buyer should purchase the product or service from you.
A conventional method is to use the name of the company and explain that it helps a particular target audience with their products or services so that you can get the benefits of the product. Establish the value proposition of your company as well as your product or service. If the customer is convinced, you can establish your value proposition as a salesperson.
3. A convincing story
It has been observed that many successful sales presentations are, in fact, long stories. The stories are presented to humanize your product or company and increase its acceptability as well as likeability. You have to include the reasons why and how your company, as well as your product, started.
You should address your customers that what motivates you as well as your team so that you wake up every day and do your job. Your story should not sound too farfetched. Customers should be able to believe and possibly relate to it. For this, it is recommended to use ample examples and true stories of people your current customer may know.
4. Enriching solutions
The essential thing is to focus on the problem of the customer. The problem is analyzed correctly, understood and evaluated by rechecking with the customer. The problem is defined precisely so that the customer as well as you are on the same page.
Then the problem is broken down into logical steps so that a solution is provided to your customers. It is imperative to break down the solution into small steps and related to your product so that the customer realizes that without purchasing your product, he will not have an answer.
This way, the customer understands the importance of the product and the hurdles of the price go down. If the customer is convinced about the product and that it provides a proper solution to his problem, then he wouldn’t mind paying the cost of the product without negotiation.
A general rule for giving a solution says that you should not provide too many choices, and the results that the customer will obtain should be communicated prior. Your answer should be easy and quick to understand and should have any examples to demonstrate the value of the product.
5. Show evidence
The proofs and evidence that you provide will answer the question of the customer, ‘how do I believe you?’
There are many ways to show proof for your product, like having testimonials in which the customers mention their delight in doing business with you. This also improves the credibility of your company. You can also share research data as proof that shows that the findings and benefits of your solution to the customer with valid and scientific data-backed research.
You can also compare your product with the competition offering and show the customer how your customers are we satisfied with your product; then, when they were with a competitor product. You can also provide extra benefits such as money-back guarantee, buyback guarantee, free shipment, which will help you to earn the confidence from the customer. This evidence will increase the credibility of your product or service in the eyes of the customer.
6. Call to action
The presentation should have a clear call to action command, which should encourage the customers to take action like buying the product, taking a free trial or taking a free visit. In the case of online products signing up for mailing lists can also be considered as a call to action.
Giving a call to action button with also help you segregate and understand if the customer is interested in buying your product. Sometimes it so happens that many customers come to listen to the presentation but are never interested in purchasing the product.
By including a call to action button, you can always remove the unwanted prospects and focus on the customers. Without a call to action, the presentation will be just storytelling.
Important tips for successful sales presentations.
1. Send your presentation before the sales call
Many companies have started doing this nowadays and believe it or not; it is a successful technique. You may assume that the customer will not read the presentation, but you will be surprised to see how many customers will be willing to go and do it by themselves.
It may so happen that during the sales call, the customer may be distracted, and you might have to explain it again and again instead of which you can always mail the presentation to your customer and then make your sales call short and sweet.
The customer may jump directly to the negotiation part, and your time will be saved. If the customer has any doubts, you can address them and proceed directly to the negotiation phase. Sending a presentation to your customer will also help him to prepare for other doubts which may arise later, and the sales deal may unnecessarily keep postponing.
2. Self-discovery
The usual says call goes by the method of telling about your benefits, advantages over the competition and the expected result. Instead, you should let the customer speak up and explain his problem. Instead of telling the customer that this is the problem, and this is how you will address it, you should let the customer relate your solution to his problem on his own.
As much as possible, the customer should able to connect everything you say to his current problem on his own. This not only reduces your work of explaining but also gives the customer a sense of confidence that he has done his homework well and increases his confidence in the deal.
3. Talk about objective 1 and don’t skip to objective 2
Consider that objective no 1 is the problem of the customer. Objective 2 is the solution that you are going to provide, and you mustn’t relate 1 and 2 but let the customer do it. Focus your presentation on objective 1 and talk about the pain points of your customer.
Explain to him how this particular pain point is affecting him from progressing ahead. Instead of insisting on the benefits, you should ask about the losses that the customer will face if he does not buy your product. This principle is called the law of loss aversion. People will work twice as hard to avoid the loss than they will to get benefits.
Focusing on the problem will create a sense of urgency in the customer. Explain the pain that the customer is facing right now without your product. Only when the customer begins to get convinced, then you can start about the benefits of your product.
4. Don’t compare, instead, lead to comparison
Think about the unique features of your product or service. If your customer is not convinced of the differentiation, then no matter how hard you explain the unique selling proposition, it won’t matter to him. Help your customers understand the problem and the opportunity that they have missed but not having your solution with them. You have to educate them and ensure that the answer relates to your USP.
Instead of comparing your product with the competition, lead the discussion in such a way that your products are unique, and no other competition has them. The customer always brings up the competition when it comes to price discussion, at which time you have to point out that what you have with your product is not comparable to the competition.
This will devalue the competition and increase the value of your product in the view of the customer.
5. Make it a two-way conversation
The presentation is always dull. You prepare a slideshow, display it to your customer, you keep talking on, and then ask for the sales order. In this usual process, when you ask for the order, that is when the actual discussion starts. Instead, it is encouraged to make your presentation into a conversation. Talk casually in such a way that it should not look as if you’re pitching your product.
Instead, it should look like a story with truth in it and facts which will validate your point and get the customer to believe in your story ergo, your product or service. A conversation will happen both the way with you leading the discussion and answering the doubts of the customer and customer interacting with you at the necessary stages.
The presentation should be as engaging as possible and should be a means to have a good dialogue with the customer. Asking open-ended questions to the customer will initiate the discussion and start the conversation. Once the customer opens up, you know the pain points of the customer, and you can address it with your product features.
6. Substitute customer stories
It is a general habit to use the ROI calculator is in sales presentations. Instead of using this conventional method which could be not only misleading but pretty dull, you can use solid customer stories. You can show data in which another customer of yours was able to generate a lot of business and recovered his return on investment in a short time. Similarly, if you have any other success stories with your customers, make it a point to use them instead of the regular ROI calculator. This will further validate the trust of the customer on your product or service.
It so happens that when you talk ROI calculator with the customers, they often argue with the assumptions that you have taken saying they may not be valid. In such cases, customer stories, detailing the success of a customer who is almost under similar circumstances as your current customer, will help him to relate.
If the success story resonates with the customer, then he may also ask for contact details of your earlier customer where you had the success story, in which case it becomes a referral. Leverage such an opportunity because the buying decision will be taken on the reference.
7. Price after Value
Pricing is one of the critical steps for sales deals. If the product is out of budget for the customer, then the agreement will not happen, and most of the sales deals are lost because of the cost of the product. The common mistake that most of the salespeople do during their sales presentation is to discuss the price. The price should never be discussed in the sales presentation. The purpose of the sales presentation is to establish the science or technology of the product or rather the value of the product or service rather than discussing price.
It is essential is that customer understands the value proposition that you’re making him. The customers should see your product or service as a solution to his current problem rather than merely a process of buying a product. This is why it is it is essential to understand the exact nature of the problem so that you can provide the solution accordingly. For example if the customer is looking for a mobile phone with excellent battery backup then there is no point in delivering him a product that has a good camera.
Even if your product has a good camera focus on the battery feature so that the problem of the customer is addressed. Once he is convinced that you have provided him with the best solution, then you can further go on and elaborate on the other features to him. That will be an added advantage that the customer is going to get along with this. After he is convinced about all of these things, then you can start the discussion on price and if you have done well in convincing him the value than the price would not matter.
If done correctly, the sales presentation can convert the customer for your product or service and make him a loyal customer. Don’t overcommit and under-perform but do the opposite for a satisfied customer post-sales presentation.
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