Archive for the ‘Sales Presentation’ Category

“Been There … Tried That” Do you sell a product or service that has similar products or services available from other sources?  If your answer is “Yes,” I am certain you have heard a prospect say something that sounded like this: “We have tried that and it did not work.”  Of course what the prospect is saying is that they have tried something “similar” to your product or service and were dissatisfied with the results. There is a wonderful “word track” that has been working for salespersons for many years that you might want to try here.  It would go as ...

Have you ever noticed the “pitch men” on the television commercials?  The next time you see one, do not dismiss the commercial.  Pay close attention!  If you listen carefully, you will likely hear some “great sales techniques.” For example, have you ever heard one of these “pitch men” saying something like this?  “If you order two boxes of our “Super Suds” dishwasher detergent today we will give you a third box free.”  Or perhaps you have heard something like this.  “Call within the next 10 minutes and we will include ABSOLUTELY FREE our handy dandy, super absorbent, long lasting, specially imported, ...

The great sales technician and trainer, Doug Edwards, said “people buy emotionally and then justify their purchase logically.”  Salespersons have been proving this statement true for decades through their own experiences.  Since we know that our prospects are very likely to have their emotions involved in their buying decision; that should affect how we present the benefits of our product.  As professional salespersons, we know that a presented benefit tells the prospect what the product “helps them gain” or “helps them avoid losing.”  Should we present our benefits positively or negatively?  The answer is “Yes.” Studies over many years have determined ...

Some salespersons sell products that lend themselves very well to “add on” sales.  For the purpose of this article, I define “add on sales” as additional products or services that may be of value to a buyer of a new item.  In this article I will use the sale of a 54” High Def Flat Screen TV as the primary purchase.  This product is currently listed at about $2000.  The two “add on” items I will use are a stand to hold the TV and a Five Year In-Home Service Warranty.  This stand would sell for approximately $200 ...

Communicating with one another is an interesting process.  We use words to help each other understand what we want each other to know.  However, when we say a word, the other person does not really envision the word we have said.  For example, when we say the word “dog,” the person does not see in their mind the three letters “d o g.”  The person will see in their mind an image of a dog.  So what actually happens when communicating is that we paint “word pictures” in the mind of the person to ...

Do You Have an “Elevator Speech?” The other day my son called me.  He is a new, but already successful, young internet entrepreneur.  He told me that he had been invited to a luncheon of businessmen and that he would be given 60 seconds to introduce himself to the group.  He told me that he had gone onto this web site to use the FAB Script writing tool to prepare what he proudly referred to as his “Elevator Speech.”  (If you are a member of this site, you have free access to this great tool.)  It is obvious that he had ...

As all of us in the sales profession know selling is a communication skill.  Communicating is not an easy process even in the most trusting of settings much less the precarious setting of a sales presentation.  Often we think of communicating as the sounds that are being sent back and forth between people.  However, communication scientists tell us that in speaking to one another, we actually communicate more non-verbally than we do with the words we say. When we are making a sales presentation we should be aware of what our body is saying while we are speaking and listening.  Just ...

One of the longest standing, most respected and basic presentation methods is F.A.B. Selling.  I do not know who first identified this method, but I learned it from Larry Wilson in a Sales Sonics course in the late 1960s.  The abbreviations stand for Feature, Advantage and Benefit.  Many salespersons would tell you that they understand F.A.B. Selling.  My 40+ years experience in sales training has taught me that this is not necessarily so.  When salespersons say they understand it, what that has usually meant is that they know that prospects do not ...

Sales Presentation: What Causes the Prospect to Buy NOW?

What Causes a Qualified Prospect to Buy … and to Buy Now? A prospect buys all products/services on emotion!  However, there must be a “logic safety net” in place when he reaches the “Buy Zone,” so he can justify his emotional decision. What causes a qualified prospect to buy and buy now?  The answer is: a professional salesperson has taken a prospect into the “Buy Zone” and then closed.  What is the “Buy Zone?”  The “Buy Zone” is that point in time when our prospect has bought our ...

Zig Ziglar, one of the most well known sales authorities of all time defined selling.  Zig said, “Selling is the transference of feelings.  If I can get my prospect to feel about my product or service the way I feel about my product or service, he will not only want it … he will demand it.”  To persuade someone, it is not nearly enough to get them to think as we think, it is imperative that we get them to feel as we feel.  Getting a person to feel the ...