How to Give a Winning Sales Presentation
Carrying out and executing a victorious sales presentation is when a salesman attempts to persuade someone to buy or accept something. A winning sales presentation is a good sales pitch.
A successful sales presentation is the result of practice, preparation, and an understanding of the fundamentals of salesmanship. The basis of a good sales presentation spans every type of sales one could pursue; from cars to cutlery, insurance to index cards. The best salespeople utilize a consistent sales presentation to ensure that each opportunity is confronted with a quality effort. Create your sales presentation to take advantage of your personality and salesmanship and watch your sales accomplishments soar.
A sales presentation should be entertaining. Your goal is to keep the attention of your prospect through the entire pitch. You cannot count on your prospect being otherwise interested in your product or service so it is incumbent upon you and your pitch to keep their interest. Being entertaining does not mean “distracting.” You need to ensure that the presentation maintains focus on the ideas you are striving to convey.
As with other forms of entertainment, your presentation should have elements commonly found in novels or movies. Elements such as transitions, pace, climax, and symmetry are keys to a complete and entertaining pitch. For example: As you detail the benefits and features of your product or service, the order of the items should follow a logical order. You can choose to prioritize the points you’d like to make or follow a sequence related to the physical form of your product (from top to bottom or left to right). Transitions from one topic to the next should be done with seamless segues instead of abrupt changes in direction.
The pace of your presentation should remain fluid but flexible. If you have a prospect for whom a facet of your pitch is more compelling than usual, it would be wise to explore that facet longer and with more emphasis versus maintaining a predetermined pace that leads you away from a selling point that you could exploit. Similarly, the alacrity of your speaking should mirror the customer. You would be wise not to use the same pacing with an 80-year old grandmother as you would a 19-year old college sophomore.
During your pitch, take time to ask questions of your prospect. Asking questions serves two important purposes at once. First, asking questions ensures that the prospect is following you closely. If you ask a question and the customer isn’t following you with undivided attention, you will know it and they will likely be a bit embarrassed. From that point forward, the customer will pay closer attention to avoid a repeat of their blunder. Secondly, asking questions allows you to learn which parts of your sales presentation resonates best with the customer; a factor that will be vital to your closing attempt.
Once you have explained yourself and your company as well as the service or product you provide and the price, ask the customer for the sale. You have earned the right to ask for the sale after the work you’ve put in during the presentation. If you are lucky, the customer will show resistance to your asking of the sale. Pay attention to the objections and begin your closing and negotiations; your presentation is completed.