Creating a Sales Presentation that Works.
You’ve got cutting-edge solutions, innovative processes, and the best team in the business. Crafting a persuasive sales deck around all the amazing things your business brings to the table seems like a no-brainer.
But, in today’s customer-centric marketplace, it’s not the best way to win sales. A deck focused on your products and services won’t get the results you want for one important reason:
Your sales presentation shouldn’t be about you.
We’ve entered a new era of selling. Modern buyers are tech-savvy, empowered by information and motivated by personalization. By the time they talk to a sales rep, they’ve already had multiple touchpoints with your business, learned all about your products and services, and compared your offerings to competitors. In fact, by the time a customer sees a sales presentation, they may already be 50% – 90% through the buyer’s journey.
“When you’re building your next sales deck, keep one thing in mind: prospects don’t care about your product.”
That’s why a product-focused sales pitch just won’t resonate. They use up valuable face time to give prospects information they already know, can’t relate to, or don’t really care about. According to SalesForce’s latest State of Sales Report, today’s buyers are looking for more.
- They want problem-solving partners.
79% are looking for a trusted adviser who adds value to their business.
- They want personalized information.
High-performing sales teams are 2.8x more likely to personalize customer interactions.
- They want it to be about them.
83% look for a sales rep who is focused on helping achieve their company’s goals.
Sales presentations need to demonstrate that your business is ready to meet these needs. Leading sales teams are nimbly pivoting their tools and tactics to meet the customers where they are. They’re focusing less on the capabilities of their company and more on the aspirations of their audience. Read on to find out how you can use this strategy to craft a killer sales presentation that appeals to the modern buyer.
The anatomy of an effective sales presentation
Though each presentation should be personalized for the customer, their industry, and where they are at in the sales cycle, no sales team has time to build a deck from scratch for every sales meeting. The following is a proven framework that will allow you to focus on your customer while maximizing the time of your sales team.
Part 1: This is you now.
Begin by laying out the challenges — specific to your customer and their industry — that you plan to solve. You can win immediate interest and credibility by proving that your team has an in-depth understanding of the buyer’s industry and the frustrations that they face.
Part 2: This could be you in the future.
Next, talk about the results your audience can achieve. What will life look like thanks to having your solution? Will they be soaring to the top of sales in their industry? Will they become the latest trend on social media? Will they reinvent their customer experience? Use this portion of the presentation to allow your audience to picture themselves achieving specific goals.
“To win at selling, sales professionals must help customers to win, too.”
Part 3: Here’s how you’ll get there.
This is where you introduce your offerings. It’s important to be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about your solutions, but remember that prospects don’t care about every feature and benefit your company has to offer. Keep their interest by focusing on the solutions that will help them address specific challenges and achieve specific goals.
Part 4: Here’s why you should take the journey with us.
Your audience has an abundance of options. Whether you’re selling CRM software or industrial lighting, prospects can go online and instantly find a long list of competitive offerings. Not only that, but you also have to compete with your audience’s “business as usual”. People naturally “overvalue the benefits of what they have over what they’re missing.” That’s why it’s important to differentiate your solutions. Highlight the tangible differences between partnering with your business and going with the competition (or maintaining the status quo).
Part 5: Here’s how we’ve done it before.
Even if you have developed a great rapport, most people are skeptical of sales pitches. You have to definitively demonstrate that you can deliver on your promises. The most effective type of proof you can present is a success story about how you’ve already helped someone else. Capture their attention and their trust by closing with a story about how similar clients used your solutions to reach their dreams.
3 differentiators to set your presentation apart
Now that you have the basics of a solid sales presentation, it’s time to take it to the next level. With intense competition for your prospect’s time and attention, it’s important to stand out in the crowd. Here are some ways to give your presentation the edge.
- Lead with a revelation – There are always big changes happening in the world. Shifting priorities, surprising trends, disruptive technology — these are all things that can create both fear and opportunity. When the world is changing, every business worries about being left behind and wonders how they can get ahead. Leading with a big relevant change is a proven effective way to open a presentation that commands attention.
- Tell a compelling story – Adding storytelling elements to your presentation will help with both interest and retention. Prospects remember just 5-10% of bare statistics, but retention increases to 60-70% when stories are used to convey the information. That’s because you’re not just selling to a business, you’re selling to a person. And people are moved by emotion as well as facts. They want to partner with someone who they believe in and who believes in them. Tell a story that your prospects can see themselves in to help make your message stick.
- Include creative visuals – Presentations move fast and attention spans are short. No one wants to try and remain focused on a slide with paragraphs of text. Images are a much more interesting and effective way to paint a picture of what you’re selling. Whether you include photos to create a connection with your audience or graphics to help explain complex ideas, strong visuals are the key to a stand out presentation.
What can go wrong?
Sales presentations are one of the most important resources in your sales reps’ arsenal. You want to make sure you get it right and avoid the dreaded death by PowerPoint. Here are some common mistakes that might cause you to lose your audience (and your sales) along the way.
- There’s too much info on a slide – Don’t overload your slides with text or confusingly complex graphics.
- It’s off brand or uses outdated information – Make sure your sales reps are always use polished presentation that represent the best version of your business.
- Not including how to implement your solution or next steps – Once you’ve gained their interest, you have to let the audience know how to take advantage of your offer.
- It’s simply too long – Keep your presentation as short as you can while covering only the most vital and compelling information.
Improve your win ratio with perfected presentations
GO2 Partners can help you craft a stunning presentation that help close big deals for your business. From Assembly — our state-of-the-art presentation builder — to our extensive graphic design expertise, we can help you empower your sales team with the tools they need to succeed.
