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6 Key Elements to Use in Your Ultimate Sales Presentation

The Sales Presentation is Step 4 of your Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation.

There is an old proverb that goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink!”

The same meaning is true for buyers. You can lead them to the right product or solution, but you can’t make them buy. Your job as a professional salesperson is to make the buyer “thirsty.” Show them why and how your product or solution is best. When you do that effectively, the buyer will buy.

Now, how do you make the buyer “thirsty?” The answer lies in how you craft your ultimate sales presentation.

Contents

In this article on crafting your ultimate sales presentation, we’ll examine:

• Three steps essential to your presentation.
• The sales presentation mix.
• Using persuasive communication to persuade.
• How to use visual aids to tell your story.
• Creating drama in your presentation.
• Using demonstrations to prove your point.
• Get ready for Murphy’s Law!

 

 

3 Steps Essential to Your Presentation

There are three essential steps to almost every presentation.

• You begin by discussing your product or idea. What are the features, advantages, and benefits of your product that will solve the buyer’s problem?
• Next, you present your marketing plan. If you are selling to a reseller or wholesaler, you discuss how they can resell your product. If you are selling to an end-user, you discuss how they will use your product.
• Finally, you need to explain your business proposition. Answer the questions: “What’s in it for your customer?” “How does the value of your product or idea outweigh its cost?”

Example

Here’s a simple example to demonstrate those three steps. In this example, I am selling Sterling Vegetable Oil to an Executive Chef who buys through a foodservice wholesaler.

• Product Features. Sterling Vegetable Oil is 100% premium Soybean oil. It is nearly colorless, and tasteless, and has been “winterized.”
• Product Advantages. Sterling Vegetable Oil’s clarity and non-oily taste make it an excellent base for your signature dressings and marinades. The winterized formula means it will remain clear even when refrigerated, unlike most other oils that get cloudy when refrigerated.
• Product Benefits. The clarity and taste of the oil mean the colors and taste of your spices will stand out in your recipe. Customers will see the bright colors of your ingredients and taste the flavor of your spices, not just oil. Additionally, you may find you can use less spice in your recipe and still have a great taste carry through in your dressing!
• Marketing Plan. Sterling Vegetable Oil comes in 1-gallon bottles, 4 to a case. It is stocked by both your primary foodservice wholesalers. With weekly deliveries from both distributors, you don’t need to carry a large inventory. Since you can reorder weekly, you don’t have to worry about running out of stock.
• Business Proposition. In the business proposition, I would discuss comparisons to competitive products, pricing, etc. I would also stress the value of using a premium oil in his signature dressings.

It’s important to note the features, advantages, and benefits are discussed when talking about the product. It is equally important to use the same feature, advantage, benefit technique when discussing the marketing plan and business proposition.

The Sales Presentation Mix

Every presentation is different, but every presentation shares six common elements. These six elements are known as the Sales Presentation Mix. The professional salesperson utilizes some combination of these elements (to a greater or lesser extent) in every presentation.

First, I’d like to introduce you to these six powerful elements. After a brief introduction, we’ll spend some time examining several elements of the sales presentation mix in more detail.

1. Persuasive Communication

Persuasive communication is critical to your success as a salesperson. You must be able to transmit your message to another person so they support your proposal. Plus, you also need to be able to persuade people to adopt your viewpoint.

2. Visual Aids

There is nothing worse than sitting across from a salesperson whose entire presentation is them talking. How boring is that?! So, as a professional salesperson, you must bring some interest to your presentation to capture the buyer’s attention and engage them. One way to do that is through visual aids.

3. Drama

Buyers see salespeople one after another, all day long. If you were a buyer, who would you look forward to seeing today? If you’re like me, the answer is someone who brings their presentation to life in some dramatic fashion. Someone who entertains me while they present.

That’s the power of adding a dramatic element to your presentation.

4. Demonstrations

Demonstrations are a great way to add drama to your presentation and engage your buyer. Good demonstrations are short, concise, and dramatically prove a point you are making in your presentation. The best demonstrations go one step further, getting the buyer into the act by inviting the buyer to participate in the demonstration.

5. Participation

Getting a buyer involved in your presentation increases their engagement and interest. So, finding ways to have a buyer participate in some way is important.

6. Proof

Buyers want to be convinced that what you are telling them is the truth, whether they say it out loud or not. The easiest way to do that is through proof statements. Proof of your claims can be provided in several forms, including testimonials, guarantees, company research, outside research, and the customer’s own past experiences.

So, there you go. We have now finished the quick introduction to the six presentation mix elements. Now, let’s take a deeper dive into using persuasive communication, visual aids, adding drama, and conducting demonstrations.

Using Persuasive Communication to Persuade

As I said before, persuasive communication is critical to the success of every salesperson. You must be able to persuade people to adopt your viewpoint. If you can’t do that, your career as a salesperson will be short-lived!

There are libraries of books on the “how to’s” of persuasive communication. In this article, I can only give you a topline look at some of the most powerful elements of persuasive communication:

• The SELL sequence,
• How to use logic,
• The power of suggestion, and
• The importance of trust.

SELL Sequence

The SELL sequence is one of the most versatile and powerful tools in the persuasive communication arsenal. Every professional salesperson must master the use of the SELL sequence.

SELL is an acronym that stands for:

• Show the feature,
• Explain the advantage,
• Lead into the benefit, and
• Let the customer talk!

You should use the SELL sequence when discussing any of the three stages (product, marketing plan, or business proposition) of your presentation.

For Example, I might ask an executive chef if the quality of the salad oil he uses in his signature dressings is important. I know he’ll say yes, of course, it is.

• Then I’ll hold up a small vial of Sterling Salad Oil and explain one feature of Sterling is it is the purest, 100% Soybean Oil available on the market.
• The advantage of Sterling’s purity is it is nearly colorless and tasteless.
• The benefit of being colorless and tasteless to you, chef, is the color and taste of the ingredients in your signature salad dressings will stand out, not the flavor of the oil.
• Then, I will let the customer talk by using a trial close. Knowing the taste of his signature dressings is important to him, I ask, “Is that important to you?”

The key to using a tool as powerful as the SELL sequence is to use the feature, advantage, benefit combination that is most important to the buyer first. Don’t start off by explaining something that isn’t that important to the buyer. Focus instead on the feature, advantage, and benefit that is most important to the buyer.

Another important tip in using the SELL sequence is to complete the sequence for each feature, advantage, and benefit before moving on to the next sequence. I’ve seen it over and over with less experienced salespeople. They are so excited they vomit out everything they know about a product in some random order that makes no sense and confuses the buyer.

Don’t be that salesperson! Be organized and follow your plan to talk about the most important thing first, then the next most important, and so on.

Logical Reasoning

Using logic as a persuasive communication tool is especially effective with analytical buyers. Analytical buyers appreciate the thought process that goes into the logical flow of establishing a premise followed by a conclusion.

A simple form of logical reasoning in a presentation calls for the salesperson to establish a major premise, then a minor premise, and finally, a conclusion.

For example. A major premise is, “Your trucking company wants to increase efficiency while reducing costs.” A minor premise is, “Brand X Trucks will increase efficiency while reducing your costs. And finally, the conclusion, “Therefore you should buy Brand X trucks from me.”

Another form of logical reasoning is called SCQA.

• Situation. Describe the current situation.
• Complication. What is the problem?
• Question. How can the problem be solved?
• Answer. Deliver your brilliant solution.

For example. You want to expand your trucking company business (situation). However, you can’t afford to expand because profits are down (complication). How can profits be increased to allow the business to expand (question)? Buy my new high-efficiency trucks that get 50% better mileage than your current fleet of trucks (answer).

These are just two of the many forms of logical reasoning that can be employed as part of a persuasive communication presentation. The important thing with these, or other logical reasoning tools, is that you adapt them to your buyer.

Suggestions Persuade

I don’t know about you, but usually, I don’t like being told what to do. If a salesperson tells me I need to do something in that “or else” tone of voice; my reaction is a hard “no!”

On the other hand, if a salesperson, respectfully suggests a course of action that will benefit me, then chances are good, I’ll take his or her suggestion.

That’s the power of persuasion through suggestion. You use suggestions to get the buyer’s attention, interest, desire, conviction, and action!

Here are six of the most common suggestion techniques you can deploy in your persuasive communication.

1. Suggestive Propositions

A suggestive proposition simply proposes the buyer should act now. It is particularly effective with buyers who procrastinate when making a decision.

For example, “Do you think it is beneficial for you to order before the price increase.?

2. Prestige Suggestions

The prestige suggestion appeals to the aspirational desire of the buyer. The buyer visualizes the prestige of a famous product or person associated with your suggestion applying to them.

For example, “Would you like to be like nine of the top ten manufacturers in your field who use Brand X?”

3. Autosuggestion

The autosuggestion technique asks the buyer to imagine themselves using or benefiting from the product. Almost every television commercial uses some form of autosuggestion.

For example, “Imagine how you will look when you lose that last 20-bs. You will be the envy of all your friends in the gym with your new physique!”

4. Direct Suggestions

Salespeople use the direct suggestion technique frequently because it is so effective. With the direct suggestion, you simply suggest what the buyer should do next.

For example, “Based on your recent sales volume, I suggest you purchase 20-cases of Brand Z.”

5. Indirect Suggestions

The indirect suggestion is also used to recommend a course of action. Often the indirect suggestion is used to assume the buyer will buy but give them a choice in how much or when to buy.

For example, “Do you think 50 cases of Brand Z will be enough for your next promotion, or would 75-cases be better?” Or, “Would you like delivery as soon as next week or would you prefer to take delivery at the end of the month?”

6. Counter Suggestions

The counter-suggestion is my least favorite technique. The idea is you make a suggestion counter to what you know the buyer wants.

For example, “Are you sure you really want the quality of these 1,000 count Island Cotton sheets?”

When you know a customer wants a specific product, the counter-suggestion can get them to defend their purchase decision. That is why I am not much of a fan of this technique. It tends to put the buyer in a defensive position, and that can easily backfire on the salesperson.

Build Trust

Trust is what I call a “hidden” element of persuasive communication. If the buyer trusts you, he or she is more likely to believe what you say. If the buyer doesn’t have a trusting relationship with you, they may take what you say with a grain of salt or disbelieve what you tell them.

For that reason, I always tell young salespeople for long-term success, be honest in all ways with everyone.

When I was a brand-new sales representative, I called on small independent grocery stores. I had trouble breaking through and selling a group of my customers. I kept calling on them every two weeks and finally got an order from one customer. Then two weeks later, I got an order from another customer in this group, and then another. Suddenly, I was flush with orders!

It turned out all these independent grocery store owners were part of a group, and they all talked to each other. The first owner ordered from me because I had quoted exactly the same prices and promotional offers to every one of my customers. Eventually, he had come to trust me. Why? Well, because I delivered exactly as I said I would, word got around, and the rest of the group ordered from me because they now trusted me.

If I hadn’t been honest with every one of the owners, I never would have gotten the first order. If I hadn’t delivered exactly as I said, I would never have gotten the other owners to order.

So, you always need to be honest with everyone all the time if you want to build trust. Trust that derives from honesty is a valuable tool in your persuasive communication.

How to Use Visual Aids to Tell Your Story

A visual aid is any physical item you use in your presentation to illustrate a key point. A visual aid leverages sight to reinforce the point being articulated. So, you appeal to two senses, hearing and sight, linked to make your point. Often visual aids are used to emphasize features, advantages, and benefits of the solution you are presenting.

Some of the common visual aids I’ve used over the years include

• Samples of the product itself.
• Photographs of the product.
• Testimonials from current users of the product.
• Product brochures and catalogs.
• Sample advertisements.
• Flip charts and posters.
• Printed presentations, including charts, graphs, and feature, advantage, benefit summaries.

I’m sure you can think of other visual tools you might use. The key to using a visual element is to use elements that support the point you are making in the presentation. You’ll just confuse the buyer if what you say doesn’t match what you show them in the visual!

Creating Drama in Your Presentation

Think about how you would feel if you were a buyer listening to one salesperson after another all day long, every day, day-after-day. How engaged would you be if the salesperson simply sat across the desk talking through a presentation, flipping through pieces of paper?

Or, would you be more engaged if they found a way to present their product in some striking, entertaining, or extravagant way?

I remember one sales rep that spoke about the quality of Iams Canned Dog Food to a buyer. He showed the buyer the can, then popped the top off the can, grabbed a spoon from his bag, and ate a big spoonful of Iams. He did this to make the point with the buyer that Iams is so pure it is fit for human consumption.

If you gagged a little bit just now, you know how I felt as he pulled this surprise move with his buyer.

I guarantee you that moment of drama engaged the buyer in the presentation. And I suspect, the buyer talked about this crazy salesperson eating dog food the rest of the week!

That’s what adding drama does for a presentation. It takes what might be a routine presentation and makes it stand out in the mind of the buyer!

Using Demonstrations to Prove Your Point

Another way to create drama in your presentation is to use demonstrations. Demonstrations are one of my favorite tools as a sales representative because the demonstration proves the point I am making in the presentation.

I have found that employing more of our senses when making a presentation always makes the story you are telling more powerful. Most salespeople talk all the way through their presentations. However, talking only employs the hearing sense, and we all know we tend to forget most of what we hear.

On the other hand, if what we hear is reinforced by a demonstration that dramatically makes the same point, we are much more likely to believe the point and to remember it. So, if you can use a demonstration to engage sight, touch, taste, and smell besides hearing your presentation will be far more memorable and convincing.

Example

I was presenting at a convention of restaurant owners about the importance of using high-quality dish soap to clean their dishes and utensils. Does that sound like a snooze fest or what?!

The topic itself is important since a restaurant’s rating from the health department is based in part on how clean all those dishes and utensils are. But most restaurant owners think soap is soap, so who cares?!

I knew I had a great story to tell because institutional Joy Dishwashing liquid is far superior to just about everything else on the market. It is a little more expensive per gallon, but it is so much more effective you can use less and still end up with sparkling clean dishes.

So, to keep my audience from tuning out, or worse, falling asleep, I conducted a demonstration to prove my point.

I filled two beakers with some water, put in equal amounts of dirty oil, and shook them up.

Then I put ten drops of a competitor’s dish soap in one beaker, and five drops of Joy in the other beaker. I shook them both up, and the results were dramatic.

The competitor’s product still had oil floating on the water and no suds. The Joy beaker had all the oil trapped in the suds and lots of suds remaining.

That demonstration proved my point far more effectively than anything I could have said! The only thing I would do differently is getting an audience member to participate by doing the demonstration as I talked him or her through it.

Demonstration Checklist

As I said, I love doing demonstrations, but to be convincing, you must spend some time planning your demonstration. Here are five things to think through as you plan your next demonstration.

1. Will the demonstration reinforce my presentation?
2. What is my objective with this demonstration?
3. Have I planned how I will conduct the demonstration?
4. Have I rehearsed every element of the presentation, so I know it will flow smoothly and achieve my objective?
5. Is there anything that can go wrong with this demonstration, and if so, how will I recover?

Remember, the whole reason for doing a demonstration is to increase the effectiveness of your presentation. You need to do three things.

• Capture the buyer’s attention and interest.
• Engage them through participation in the demonstration.
• Reinforce the features, advantages, and benefits of your product as a solution to the buyer’s problem.

One final note on demonstrations. You spend all this time and energy, creating and conducting this demonstration. Take advantage of the powerful conclusion to your demonstration by incorporating a trial close. In my Joy Dishwashing example above, a trial close might be something as simple as saying, “Do you all agree that Joy has done a better job of trapping the grease than the competitive product even though I used half as much Joy?” (We’ll talk more about the trial close and how to use them in your presentation in the near future.)

Get Ready for Murphy’s Law!

I suspect you are aware of the adage known as Murphy’s Law. Murphy’s Law states, “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

You’re my friend, so let me assure you Murphy is alive and well, and his law is still in place!

As a professional salesperson, you might as well get used to the idea that things will go wrong when you are giving a presentation. However, I’m sure that you understand that I can’t possibly cover everything that can go wrong (that would be another book). Although, I know that there are two of the most common things that can and will go wrong at some point in your sales career.

Interruptions

You will be just about ready to close on a major point, and the phone will ring, or the boss will stick his or her head in the door and interrupt your presentation. What do you do? If the discussion is personal (like a spouse is on the phone) motion you will step outside to give the buyer privacy.

Meanwhile, wait and gather your thoughts. Quickly think about exactly where you left off in your presentation. Also, while you are waiting, decide how you will reengage the buyer when you resume.

Once you are ready to resume your presentation, give the buyer a moment to clear their head and focus their attention back on you and the business at hand.

Next, I like to restate the last point I made to help get the buyer’s attention back on track. In the Sterling Oil presentation, I mentioned before; I might say something like, “As I was saying, Sterling Oil is nearly clear and tasteless, which means the color, and the taste of your spices really stand out. Does that sound good to you?”

Technical Fails

Technology is often a vital element in our presentations today. Sadly, technology has a way of breaking down and not working right when we need it the most. I try to protect myself from technology failures ruining a presentation by having duplicate systems.

I don’t like to rely on internet downloads when I am in someone else’s’ office. So, I make sure that I have downloaded the videos, presentations, and everything else I need on my computer hard drive. Often, I will make another backup of all those important files on a second device like a thumb drive.

If my computer won’t run, I always have paper copies of my presentation so I can go old school if needed.

The point is, be prepared. Interruptions will happen. Technology will fail. Don’t get upset. Don’t let your frustration show. Just smile and get back on track as fast as you can and close that sale!

The Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation Series

Step4: The Presentation is the fifth in a series of articles, which have been created to teach you how to craft and deliver the Ultimate Sales Presentation in 10-Steps.

If you missed a prior article in this series or you want to review one again, you’ll find them here:

• Kick-Off: The Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation
• Step 1: Customer Prospecting
• Step 2: Pre-Approach Planning
• Step 3: The Approach
• Step 4: The Presentation – Part 1
• Step 4: Key elements of the Sales Presentation Mix to Use in Your Presentation (you’re here)
• Steps 5-10: Coming soon. A new article releases every two weeks.

If you want to make sure you don’t miss one of these articles, you can sign up to receive the series here.

Join the Conversation

As always, questions and comments are welcome. What questions do you have about the Sales Presentation Mix elements of the Ultimate 10-Step Presentation model?

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Category: Salespeople