Many of you have heard of Dale Carnegie but what many of you may not know is Dale Carnegie is one of the world’s leaders in sales development and training.
Today I received an article titled “EASE PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY THROUGH PREPARATION”. After reading the article I immediately saw a direct link between the points being made about public speaking and a sales presentation.
I have made some changes to the article so it will be a little more sales related, enjoy and learn.
MINIMIZE ANXIETY THROUGH PRACTICE AND PREPARATION
Prepare, prepare, prepare. You can never be too prepared for a sales presentation. Knowing your presentation through and through can help boost your confidence while easing your fear and anxiety. Preparation does not just include knowing what you are going to say, it also includes how and why you are going to present the information. Here are some tips to help you create an effective sales presentation.Open with Confidence
Your opening gives your customer their first impression about you, your company, and your product. Know all you can about the customer and the purpose of the presentation. Find out what they might expect from your product and what they may already know about your product. Consider how you will grab the customer's attention. If you need to deliver bad news, consider ways to connect with the customer from the beginning of the presentation. Be well prepared for the opening because it sets the tone for your entire sales presentation-leave nothing to chance.
Focus on a Few Key Points
Know the major features of your product inside and out. This will help ease your worry and increase your confidence. Don’t FEATURE DUMP! Reciting a laundry list of features won’t move you closer to the sale. Probe and discover which features are important to the customer and feed those items to the customer during the sales presentation.
Support Ideas with Evidence
It is always important to provide evidence to support your main benefits. Supporting evidence will reinforce your benefits to the audience and give you a chance to explain them more fully.
Close with a Call to Action
This will be the last impression your customer has of you and your product. It is important to look at the purpose of the sales presentation and then determine a proper close. Emphasize the key action or actions that you want the customer to take after hearing your sales presentation. This serves as a nice summary of your content and assures they leave with a clear direction.
Remember, Anxiety is Normal
Most people have some presentation anxiety. Remember that people who don't feel some stress may appear to be taking their customer for granted. Replace negative thoughts that creep into your subconscious mind with positive affirmations from yourself and others.
Be Human
Allow yourself to make mistakes. Do not try to be a perfect presenter. A brief pause to collect your thoughts may feel like eternity, but it's not. Tell stories from your personal experiences. Conduct your sales presentations as if you are having a conversation with people rather than trying to sell them.
Ask for Feedback
You will be surprised how much will be positive. Accept and internalize compliments you receive about your product without minimizing them. Remind yourself about what went well rather than what didn't. Focus on one or two key improvement areas for the next time. Not ten or twenty.
Prepare for Future Success
View each sales presentation you give as a development opportunity. Enjoy the experience. Use each sales presentation as an opportunity to enhance your confidence and skills for the next sales presentation.
It doesn’t matter if you are making a speech to club you belong to or making a sales presentation to a customer these tips will help you become more affective and enjoy greater success.
Lorin
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