Little Pointers That Will Increase Your Sales

By Jim Klein

By the time you finish reading the next few "Sales Advisor" articles, you will have learned how to present your product or service properly, and how to present the benefits of your product or service that will solve your prospects problems and make closing the sale a mere formality.

Before I talk about the right way to present, let's first talk about the wrong way.

One of the most common mistakes sales people make when presenting their product or service is to use a generic presentation. They design and use one presentation, or use the presentation their company designed on every sales call.

This type of presentation has one key problem; it does not deal specifically with the problem your particular prospect has. These generic presentations may cover general problems or situations your target market has, however, for a sales presentation to be extremely effective it must deal with the specific issues of your current prospect.

A lot of sales presentations are very boring to the prospect. Many sales people spend too much time during their presentation talking about their company, how big they are, and the structure of the company and other boring facts. They list all the features of their product when the prospect doesn't care about features; they want to know how the product or service will benefit them.

A generic presentation contains many features and benefits that will not be relevant to every prospect. Many sales people think if they learn every feature and benefit their product or service offers, and then present them all to their prospect, the prospect will pick out the ones they like and purchase.

However, there are far too many features and benefits of any product or service to include them all in a generic presentation, in hopes the prospect will pick the ones that fit their situation and then based on those decide to purchase from you.

This type of presentation doesn't really even require a sales person to be present. This type of presentation could just as easily be put on a CD and played for the prospect.

This generic presentation shows no professionalism and a total lack of preparation on the part of the sales person. The prospect will feel like they're just another name on your list of possible buyers. They don't want to be just another buyer. They want to feel special, like they're the most important person in the world. Because to them they are the most important person, no one else matters.

I know that may sound cold, however, it's true.

Many sales people forget that all other information matters to the prospect only if they are getting what they want. The prospect doesn't want to hear about you, your company, or any other information unless you answer the most important question on the prospects mind.

What's the one thing the prospect wants to know?

They want to know WIIFM.

What's in it for me? How am I going to benefit from buying and owning your product or service?

Talking about everything else without answering this question only turns the prospect off, and makes you sound like every other sales person they've ever met.

When you ask questions and probe for the problems the prospect faces during the qualifying process, then you can take the information you gathered and tailor your presentation, presenting the features and benefits that will give them the results they desire, and show the prospect that your product or service is the answer they have been searching for.

You will then answer their most important question, "what's in it for me?"

You need to be prepared with a presentation you can tailor to each individual prospect's wants, needs and desires. Your presentation should be well planned in regards to the language and structure.

By this point, you should have an in depth understanding of your target market so you can prepare and rehearse a presentation, allowing places in the presentation to make it unique to each particular prospects wants and needs.

Much of the tension and anxiety many sales people feel prior to presenting their product or service will vanish by preparing and presenting in this way. You will have the confidence that what you are going to share with them will be of interest to them and provide them with real value.

Most importantly, you'll find you're more effective; you'll close more sales in less time, and provide a win - win situation which will ultimately put more money in your pocket and provide you with an abundance of satisfied clients. And satisfied clients become a source of repeat business and referrals for years to come.

Next week, I will show you the right way to present your product or service.