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Presenting

Companies seem absolutely obsessed with giving their sales force Product Knowledge. Of-course sales people need product knowledge but do they really need all the product knowledge they receive? I don’t think so.

A salesperson needs to know their company’s USP. They also need to know the USPs of the product they are selling. U.S.P. stands for Unique Selling Point. A prospective customer would probably want the same information. They want to know why they should buy this particular product and why they should give their order to this particular company. It is absolutely unbelievable how many so called salespeople cannot address these two basic questions. The answer is they are untrained.

If we take the insurance industry for example. Salespeople, or advisers as they prefer to be known, are given mountains of product training and little to no sales training. This is probably because insurance companies are of the belief that the best salespeople are the best informed people. If this were true then the best salespeople in the insurance industry would be actuaries, which is not the case. It would most likely be the same in every industry. Those who design and produce the product are usually not the best salespeople. It is a case of horses for courses. If a company needs a salesperson then hire a salesperson, but if they need a manager or a fabricator then hire someone who can do those jobs. Please don’t ask someone who is suited to one job to do another. This strategy can only end in failure.

What is happening so often is that companies are sending out representatives into the open marketplace and these representatives have lots of information about their product and no idea what they are doing in the sales meetings. They flounder like a fish out of water and become mere order-takers with poor conversion rates.

The niche system recognises that very often sales are lost inadvertently because during the presentation a salesperson says one thing but a customer hears another. We are about to discuss something which everyone accepts exists but few address. I refer to Facts, Claims and Benefits.

We have all heard of these words but we seldom try to separate them. For example, if I hold up my watch in a room full of salespeople and say, “Give me a FACT about this watch which would make someone interested in it.” Someone may say, “It’s a good time keeper.” That is supposed to be a FACT about the watch but should I ask a potential customer if the statement was a FACT a CLAIM or a BENEFIT they may not know or say that it is all three. Either way there is a breakdown in communication which should not be allowed to happen in a presentation. So how can this be solved?

I ask my students to deliver each of their USPs slowly and in the following way. Make a statement about the product, followed by the word BECAUSE. Instantly the first statement is a FACT and the second is a CLAIM. Finish the presentation of the USP with a phrase such as WHICH MEANS TO YOU THAT… This makes the third statement a BENEFIT. Now both you and the customer known exactly what is being said. How can anyone expect another human being to make a final decision if they are talking at cross-purposes?

Once you have done your FACT, CLAIM and BENEFIT for each USP you may proceed to say why you think it suits the customer. Begin that phrase with “WHICH MEANS TO YOU…” Finally, ask if the customer also thinks it is a good idea.

Why do this? Do this because you are adding to the Reasons For Buying Now column.

Niche can improve your conversation rates, BECAUSE, it utilises the techniques adopted by top sales persons, WHICH MEANS THAT, you will be more confident in the sales meeting since you are utilising techniques adopted by top sales people before you, BUT THE REAL BENEFIT to you is… you will make more money by closing more frequently. Now in your opinion doesn’t that sound like something which interests you?

Well does it? Have I impressed you yet? Could you do this? Of-course you could.

A story told by Norman Vincent Peale in the 1960′s is as true today as it was then. He told a story of a pastor who decided to preach a mission in the southern states of America. He prepared his sermon, hired a marquee, sent out his posters and waited patiently for the evening of the sermon. When it arrived only one farmer turned up. The pastor asked the farmer what he should do and the farmer replied that he had come to hear the pastor preach so he should preach. This the pastor did willingly. For three hours he delivered a sermon of hell fire and damnation and the farmer listened attentively. When it was over the pastor asked the farmer what he thought of the sermon. The farmer replied, ” Pastor, I don’t know much about preachin’ but I do know a lot about farmin’. Now if I had a barn full of hay and a field full of cows and it can to feedin’ time but only one cow turned up, I’d feed that cow, BUT, I wouldn’t give it the entire barn full of hay.” The farmer then left.

The moral of this story is that salespeople need to give their customers product information but they don’t have to give them everything there is to know about the product. That is why it is so important to find out what the client wants and for you as a salesperson to know your USPs without having to think. You owe this to yourself and to your prospective customers.

Every time a customer agrees with a USP, this is a buying signal. Trust me!

Every buying signal is an invitation to close.

I would recommend that all salespeople developed their presentations to make them short and to focus in on USPs. Observe successful salespeople and copy them if you have to, but develop a sound and informative presentation. Make it a short presentation. Remember, if your presentation is too long or just plain boring then your customers will probably lose the will to live and just simply switch off. You must excite interest at the presentation stage.

SUMMARY:

1. Excite interest by having a short but informative presentation centred around USPs. Don’t miss out this stage or rush through your presentation.
2. Remember Fact, Claims and Benefits.
3. Watch out for buying signals.

Although so much of the potential success of every negotiation is dependent upon doing much homework and preliminary examination of needs, priorities, etc., we often witness negotiations proceed without a clearcut direction or goals. To approach anywhere near out optimal potential for successful negotiation, we must first clearly know what we need, want, and are trying to achieve and accomplish. Some of the essential purposes that should be addressed include: to clarify and prioritize needs and positions; to disclose and “test the waters,” to open and have an direct discussion and divulge what you are looking for; to learn/ discover the degree of flexibility that the other side may have; to control costs and get what is needed; and to clearly identify and communicate specifications, etc. The best negotiating position nearly always begins when one side presents a Request for Proposal (RFP) that informs the other party what is needed and being looked for. Doing so will both clarify and expedite the process, weeding out and eliminating parties that are totally inflexible, and thus more easily identifying the business partners that show the greatest potential for meeting what is needed.

1. It is amazing how much time is expended and wasted because needs and priorities are not clarified, identified and prioritized from the onset. When these steps are taken, it potentiates greater understanding, and often lays the groundwork for true win – win approaches to the negotiating process.

2. Never assume that the other party knows what you are looking for. While there are often many similarities, it is important to understand that each negotiation has certain unique qualities and characteristics. Therefore, the best results generally occur when, early on in the process, each side indicates what it needs and wants, and the focus is on obtaining a meeting of the minds that both parties are satisfied with.

3. Many inexperienced negotiators often tend to try to “hide” their weaknesses, and therefore provide far less information than is needed to accomplish what is necessary. The best approach is to seek a solution where both sides benefit, where potential cost savings are discovered and passed on, and both parties needs are achieved. Great negotiating means having open discussions and clearly divulging what you are looking for. Remember, the other side cannot “read your mind.”

4. It is important to neither overestimate or underestimate the degree of flexibility that the other side possesses. There is almost always some degree of “give,” but the wisest negotiators are the ones that spend the time, listen effectively, and pay attention to where they can “push” more, and where to slow down.

5. Great negotiating has an objective controlling and knowing costs, while achieving what is needed. It requires seeking alternatives, and being flexible in approach.

6. However, there is no conclusion to any successful negotiations unless each side fully understands the specifications and details that are needed.

Successful negotiating is a step – by – step process. Only when both sides commit to getting something accomplished where both sides feel they have won, and are satisfied, does it accomplish what it should!