69. How can you prepare the customer for your presentation?
Use the first few words of your presentation to prepare the prospect for what they are about to see.
Lets look at your presentation as you unfold it step by step, from another angle, that part which should come first. A presentation is like any good show. The opening of the first act must be unusually good or your audience will walk out before you get underway. And the first few lines of any play are used by the writer to prepare the way for the action which follows. Therefore the first few words should fit the prospect with a pair of "spectacles" so that he will see what you later display.
You might say, for example, "now I am going to show you the new marketing program which will begin next month". Before I take it out of my brief case I want you to bear in mind that a good marketing plan is one which moves, which has brilliant color, which carries a headline to stop the customer." Then when you bring out your new program, you force him to see it through "spectacles" of your own making, enhancing its value to him.
Never dump a sample, or a prospectus, into his or her lap without first preparing his mind to see what it is. Even a monthly flier should not be shown without first holding it back for a moment until you explain what you are going to show. This move brings into play one of the strongest of his mental attributes ...Curiosity.
Your presentation should be looked upon as a good teaching job. Keep technical terms and discussions out. Don't describe how it is made, what it is made of, what its construction advantages are over a competitor's... unless you do so in terms of what these advantages will mean to the buyer when he uses it. You cannot transport the prospect to this better tomorrow until he or she understands what you are selling. Hence the next step in your presentation is a straight forward teaching job, simply one of downright instruction which must be finished before you can talk about the value of your merchandise.
In going through a prospect's ear to the seat of his imagination in order to help him "take off" to an ideal "tomorrow", you should use all of the known principles of effective speech. Keep the voice low, modulated, which conveys the impression of reserve power and gives casual emphasis to important points when you raise your voice.
The finest check you can use to avoid making this common mistake is to keep in mind constantly your objective, to build a picture of the prospect - seeing him or her using your product. No one is interested in the exact mixture of a product, or the percentage of this or that ingredient, unless they view it from the standpoint of how it will be a benefit, making more money and bringing in more customers.
Here is a good example: I got on the plane and just as I settled in, the woman next to me asked where I was from. I told her, trying not to encourage a conversation.
She not only told me where she was from, she volunteered that she had brain surgery – twice! I tried to look interested but I was tired. She kept going on and on and the next thing I knew, I fell asleep while she was talking.
It was a good reminder on how our customers feel most of the time. Sales people call on their customers and talk about their "brain surgery" while the customer has a hundred things on their mind and a hundred things to do.
What is the solution? How do we get our customers to listen?
Pinpoint relevancy: asking well thought out questions to find out what future pictures your customer has in their mind, and then positioning your product or service with surgical precision to help turn those pictures into reality.
Here's how David Vize, a real sales pro and friend of mine, describes it:
"One thing I learned over the years is the most powerful tool to use in a presentation is the customer's own words or their own understanding of what they wanted. At the point of giving a presentation I will have already gathered all the needed information. I start my presentation with,
“Early on you told me…”
“Now I want to make sure I understood you to say…”
“You told me you wanted to achieve…”
"I will use their name in place of the word, you. “Mr. Smith, early on you told me….”
"Using the person name will wake them up to you a little, and using their own words will tie them to your presentation."
"It’s easy to say no to you or to your offering but it’s hard for one to say ‘No’ to what their own words have said. "
Selling isn’t brain surgery, or is it? Selling is psychological brain surgery and pinpoint relevancy is when the sales person asks specific questions about what the prospect is interested in.
If the woman sitting next to me on the plane would have asked me a few questions and used my answers to set the stage for her "brain surgery," I would have felt more engaged and would not have fallen asleep.
However, "where are you from let me tell you about my double brain surgery" just didn't cut it.
The key lesson is simple - engage and set the stage before you tell your story.
Comments:
The best way to prep a customer is to call them to let them know you are coming and let them know you are going to be talking about x, y or z. Let them know you have the stuff you said you would. This will give the operator time to warm himself up and sell himself on his own ideas. By the time you get there they are ready to go, excited and have questions for you to go over.
Dave Ferren
The best way to prepare your customer is to first let them know you are coming. I had one of my biggest presentations to date, and I had forgotten to call him. When we arrived he was on his way out the door to a doctor’s appointment, and only a couple minutes for to me to talk about our services. Although, it still went well, we did not get the entire message across. So always be prepared on your end before attempting to prepare your customer.
Jason Kirouac
Being able to make the customer “see” how you can help them become more efficient and effective is a good way to prepare them for the presentation. I emphasize on the features I offer that will ultimately make their life “easier”.
Brooke Knight
I think a good way to a great presentation to a future client/customer, is show them in detail, of what your company is capable of & what we do. As well as using bold colors & words to entice them so you catch their attention.
April Swain
This approach is similar to movies. At the beginning they begin to set you up slowly & get you excited & curious about what is fixing to come. Taking it one step at a time & then showing excitement for the conclusion builds their anticipation & curiosity so once the grand finale is presented they are just as excited about the product or service as you are.
Carla McCrea
A good presentation is like a great menu. A great menu has a menu cover has to attract your attention and WANT you to open the menu to order the product! Once the menu is open, the waiter/waitress (salesperson) must guide them through the menu to relive the customers hunger and thirst. AND do not forget about dessert! This is a classic example of first and last impression but with great thoughts, ideas, products and services in the middle.
Roland DeGregorio
I really like the concept of selling by using senses. We have a very colorful sheet that lists our 57 solutions by columns which is a great selling tool for our payroll services. (I ran out one time and had to make photocopies and that was not impressive) We use a colorful folder to display our brochures. The only thing I put in front of the customer is our 57 solutions sheet. This is a good way for the customer to follow me when I am explaining what this service covers. I pull my chair right up beside them and point things out as I am talking and answering their questions. I want to be on their level and almost look at it, as if for the first time myself and display my excitement about what this service covers. Thank you for your other hints regarding the senses. This will help me a lot.
Patsy Clements, Sales Manager
"To avoid becoming too technical stay foucsed on your objective, to build a picture in the mind of the prospect using your product."