If you sell things, then you must present things -- there’s no getting around it. Customers have to see what you sell, what it does, and how it can benefit them. I can’t count how many sales presentations I’ve done over the last 35 years, so I’ve learned a thing or two about how to do them correctly. Anyone who wants to increase revenue needs to learn to present better in order to make more sales.
Here’s how to present like a pro:
If you sell things, then you must present things -- there’s no getting around it. Customers have to see what you sell, what it does, and how it can benefit them. I can’t count how many sales presentations I’ve done over the last 35 years, so I’ve learned a thing or two about how to do them correctly. Anyone who wants to increase revenue needs to learn to present better in order to make more sales.
Here’s how to present like a pro:
1. Avoid product knowledge mistakes.
There are several problems with this.
A) You know too little about the product.
B) You share too much about the product.
C) You don’t know enough about the competition.
You can never know too much but you can certainly talk too much. Become an expert with your product and be able to discuss features, advantages, and benefits better than anyone. When comparing products, know how your product is different, know the advantages, and know how to make sense of the purchase.
Build your product up so much that people quit thinking about the competition. Your greatest advantage in selling anything is to be more prepared than your competition.
There are several problems with this.
2. Control your presentation.
My goal is to get complete control while presenting. The way to gain control is by getting an agreement. Get the buyer’s full attention, get the product away from other products so they aren’t distracted, and present the product while in full control.
Assumptions are my way of maintaining an attitude and language of agreement. It is projecting ownership into the future. Be confident when demonstrating and create mental ownership. The word assume means to take for granted or as the truth. You make an assumption of the future and project mentally where you want to go.
You need to project ownership with words during your demonstration. Use questions that create mental ownership. “Which course will you be taking your new clubs out on?” Mental ownership precedes every purchase and a big part of how you control your presentation.
3. Find what the buyer values.
If you are selling me a home, you’d make a mistake if you started from the inside of the home to do the presentation. To me, the most important thing is how the home feels and looks from the outside -- the view. Sure, I spend most of my time inside, but if you are selling me you have to know what’s most important and start there. “Sir, what’s most important to you in a home? The outside? Good, let’s start there, does that sound good?”
Tell your customer what you’re going to do and get an agreement. Be interesting and reassure the customer with any concerns. Break your presentation down into parts. Know where you’re going to start and end. Always get permission to give the presentation, address the time (how long it’ll take), invite any questions they may have, and start in the same place every time you give the presentation. You want stability for yourself.
4. Avoid lazy mistakes.
The biggest mistake salespeople do is not doing a demonstration. Another mistake is not believing that the buyer will buy. You don’t think the buyer can buy because you over qualify the buyer. This is another mistake. A huge mistake many make is thinking the demo does not influence people.
Whether you sell homes or phones, a mistake is taking the product you sell for granted. You begin forgetting some of the biggest benefits of your product. Other mistakes include believing the buyer when they say the price is most important. Price is never the reason why people buy something. Some make the mistake of using slang that a buyer doesn’t understand. Every industry has these words and it turns people off.
Let’s count where it all goes wrong:
Mistake: demonstrating without tying down the advantages and benefits to the feature.
Mistake: You don’t use enthusiasm. You go through the motions.
Mistake: You don’t know the why -- the real reason they want the product.
Mistake: You don’t build mental ownership.
Mistake: You don’t demonstrate what the product is worth. You should be showing how it’s double the value. If you have a $100,000 product, you want to do a $200,000 presentation.
5. Anticipate objections.
You’re going to get objections when you try and do a presentation.
“I don’t need to try it on”
“I don’t need to see how it operates”
“I know all about it”
“I don’t need to see this”
Don’t shortcut the presentation because this is where you build value. Understand that these objections are reactions, not valid objections. To handle these, you have to be committed to your demonstration. You have to know that your demonstration will be of value to your client.
A great sales presentation is more difficult to pull off than many people realize, but it’s also easier than you can imagine once you practice enough doing it right. Nobody is born a great salesperson -- it takes training. Over the years I’ve codified how to sell and I want to help you turn the knowledge I’ve gained into revenue for yourself.
Grant Cardone • VIP Contributor
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