B2B sales presentations – score quickly with a football mindset
sales presentation best practices
Just move the ball 10 yards
It’s generally over when a salesperson opens the presentation with something like ‘I was born in a small town…’.
No matter how many qualified leads you or your demand gen team find, you won’t move the ball far with an opening like that.
Let?s try to understand the sales presentation in terms of a football drive. By the time you’re in the sales presentation, you already have the ball on your 25-yard line. The most any presentation can do is get a first down conversion. Enlist your audience in the effort.
They’re not interested
Few people will be interested in when or where your company was founded. Or about your product?s ?state-of-the-art? features. Or about your onboarding process.
They’re not interested because 99.9% of the time they?re thinking about themselves, their problems and their challenges.
You must rise above that noise.
Sales presentation best practices: Part 1 – quick interaction is key.
The best approach to sell ourselves, our company and our offering is to tell stories not about us, but about them and other clients we’ve served. And we then map those stories to challenges the prospect wants to overcome.
You have, at most, a few seconds to launch a story so engaging that your audience can?t help but pay attention. You can help do that by quickly getting your audience to interact with you and each other. Here?s how you do it.
Engaging the prospect
Whether you’re in a one-on-one presentation or in a room with people, you must get your audience engaged quickly. Look confidently at the person, or a person, and say something like, ?Sally, congratulations on your company?s new product launch (or success at XYZ tradeshow, or whatever). I know your time is valuable so let me ask ?what would you like to get out of our time together today??.
Regardless of the answer, build on it. ?Yes, that was a concern of most of our new clients when they first became interested. Can I share a story about that??. Have a couple of 2-minute sound bites ready that tell interesting, positive client stories.
In a few seconds you have the audience?s attention and shown that it?s all about them. You’re already moving the ball downfield.
“Just to refresh, here’s what makes us different…”
Next, say something like ?If you don’t know about our company and our solution, here are the top 3-4 things that make us different.?
Do not make your sales presentation solely about your product. Why? Because, if they’re like most B2B prospects, they’ve already done their research and know something about your product and company. Let them guide you on what more they want to hear.
?Sales presentation best practices: Part 2 – ask these questions.
Next, go into the challenges facing their company, their industry or their market space.
?We all know that lots of companies your size struggle with data security (or whatever relates to what you?re selling). Data breaches are costing companies your size an astonishing _____ dollars a year. And we all know what happened to XYZ company after their last cyber-attack.?
Next, ask:
?What other stories have you heard?? You must get your audience talking with you and each other to keep them focused. And in the process, you’re gaining more yards.
Next, say (don?t ask):
?Tell me how well your current solution is working.??
It?s likely that you?ll get a litany of things they?d like to improve. Even if they say the solution is all they ever dreamed of, you can now move into total cost of ownership, terms, vendor likability, customer support and other variables that impact the entire customer experience. If you?ve done your homework you already know where the fulcrum is and where to lean on the lever.
Finally, ask:
?Now that you’ve shared the changes you desire, what questions do you have for me about how we can deliver those changes??
You may get some questions, you may not. It doesn?t matter because you already have your call-to-action ready.
?At this stage, companies that became customers decided that a pilot (or trial, or visit to our headquarters, or a chat with a current customer or user, or fill-in-the-blank) is the next step. Let?s go ahead and set that up while we?re together today.? More yardage gained.
Getting to the first down: stop talking
Once you’ve introduced the next step, just stop talking. Someone will say something, guaranteed. If all goes as planned, you?ll get the conversion and the opportunity to gain 10 more yards in the next series. If it doesn?t go as planned, just back up a bit to the step that makes sense. Quarterbacks think on their feet.
Remember, never ask a question that can be answered with a ?no?, because that will stop the conversation cold. For example, ‘would you like to set up a pilot?’. You will almost always get a ‘no’ response because it’s more comfortable than taking a risk. You must keep the conversation alive all the way through the buying journey until the deal is signed and the first check clears the bank. Only then is it a touchdown.
Also, here’s where you will encounter objections. That’s a good thing because, if you’ve done your homework, you know which objections are coming and how to respond to them.
Conclusion and resources
Keep repeating this process until you cross the goal line. Unlike football, however, you?ll need a whole different set of plays for each conversion. Do your homework and have a game plan for each prospect.
If you understand sales presentation best practices, you know that getting and keeping your prospects? attention is tough. Especially in complex sales situations. If you?re not achieving the results you want, there are plenty of resources to help.
If you or your team need help to improve the results from sales presentations, here are some of the experts and resources I recommend: ?Patricia Fripp,?ZoomInfo, GONG, and Sales Hacker.
“If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?”? ? Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers
If you are on the phone, a webinar, or in person, and you have a few minutes with the executive, what do you say to keep on track and be professional?
Here is an invaluable framework. Adapt it to your situation, and boost your confidence and credibility.
Imagine that you have a satisfied client company for one of your offerings. You feel now is the best time to discuss your next and higher investment offering.
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
The team, your main contact, is ready to view a product demonstration set for the next day. All your demos are delivered in a webinar.
At 2 P.M. you get a call from your main contact who says ?Great news! Tomorrow our boss, who is the real decision-maker, is going to be in our office. Rather than just showing our team what you have to offer, the boss said he would like to sit in on the first five minutes. I know you will do well.?
Don?t panic. This is a great opportunity, and once you make a positive impact, the sales cycle is going to be cut short. You will not have to hear, ?We love this, but now we have to convince our boss.?
This is, however, now your number one priority to prepare. You may be seasoned, but take this seriously. Your sales manager is always telling you, ?Sell to the C Suite.? This is your chance. Remember these five simple suggestions for sales success.
5 Crucial Steps – [scroll down to see Fripp’s video]
Build rapport before you speak. It is easier to connect if you can make eye contact with the client, so turn on your webcam to welcome everyone and then again when you answer questions. Although many professionals say they are not comfortable doing this, it has many benefits. Who can resist your friendly smile? You will look more confident, and it is tougher to say no when they are looking at you.
Be prepared, and get to the point. Remember, with an executive you need to be clear, concise, credible, and able to articulate the bottom line of your message. The higher up the corporate ladder you go, the more quickly you need to get to the point and demonstrate value. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the less time you have in which to present your case, the longer you will need to prepare. You may have friendly chatter with the team before you get to business, but in this case every second counts. Be polite, respectful, and get to the point fast.
Remember you are not alone. Speak on behalf of your leadership. This way you can feel you are making a connection with the position, even when you are not holding that position yourself. You will discover that this technique adds to your confidence.
Remind the executive they have already made a wise decision by doing business with your company.
Remind them that they have already researched your company and that they were comfortable enough to make you a vendor of choice. This is just a logical next step.
Make heroes of the team you are working with. These are your internal champions, and although they may not make the ultimate decision, they certainly have influence and can sabotage your sale. Your job is to work closely with the team or champion who will give you information. Do your research so that you are on target with your questions about their company and the approach the executive will most likely respond to.
When you have to deliver an executive overview, be clear and concise and sound credible. When you adapt this framework to your situation, you will get results.
Suggested Talking Points -?[scroll down to see Fripp’s video]
?Good morning, Mr. Smith. On behalf of our leadership and my team, thank you for your business. As you know, we are committed to delivering the best service for our valued clients like you.
“On a personal note, working with John and Mary is a delight. They are both helpful and incredibly efficient.”
“The purpose of this call is to deliver a high-level overview of our product that you have invested in, review your results compared to your expectations, and then introduce you to three other ways in which we can be of service.”
“Once we have proven the power of (our product), most of our clients find it logical to add ________ and ______ to their package.”
“John suggested you are most interest in seeing . . .”
“Mary mentioned you have ambitious goals for next year to . . .That is an area in which we could be very advantageous to you.”
“My understanding is that we have four more minutes. Is that correct??Let me roll up my sleeves, and you just sit back, watch the demo, and be amazed.”
“Please feel free to interject at any time.”
“Do you like what you saw?”
“Then, our next logical step is to continue the conversation with John and Mary and prepare a draft proposal for your review.”
“Does that make sense to you?”
“Moving forward, is there any other area you would like for us to pursue?”
“Again, thank you for your business and the opportunity to demonstrate how we can continue to streamline your company.?
In Conclusion
Can you see the five suggestions in this simple outline? Again, I recommend you turn on the webcam when you open and close the conversation. This makes it easier to make an emotional connection.
Because you are on a webinar, you can have your opening script and outline printed. Once you internalize your new, tightened script, it will become second nature.
Make sure you smile. Your client will hear it in your voice.
Video: Fripp’s 5-Point Framework for C-Suite Sales
About The Author
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is an award-winning speaker, author, sales presentation skills trainer and in-demand speech coach. Her speech-coaching clients include corporate leaders, celebrity speakers, well-known sports and media personalities, ministers, and sales teams. Meetings and Conventions magazine named her “One of the 10 most electrifying speakers in North America.” She delivers high-energy, high-content, and dramatically memorable presentations.
Why pay attention to the 2022 trends in martech and CRM platforms? We’re now up to 10,000 martech platforms alone.
That’s too many.
How is a small-ish company supposed to navigate this?
The big names, like Salesforce and Hubspot, command ridiculous prices. Unless you’re already in the $500 million+ range in revenues, there are way better choices.
When you hop over to Capterra to look at platforms, you’ll still see they’re divided into ‘CRM’, ’email marketing’, et.al.
Regards 2022 trends in martech and CRM, I believe sales and marketing functions are on a collision course to become one function, underpinned by a single platform.
There’s not much reason for those two functions to be in separate silos anymore.
Today, both functions are playing nicer together. There are too many interdependencies to do otherwise.
Many, many companies do not need the more expensive platforms. Those companies just need to use, more effectively, the platforms that cost a fraction.
Culling your stack in 2022
Not many tech or SaaS marketing departments can stay on top of new developments in martech and CRM. Most are busy chasing new prospects.
Here are the key 2022 trends in martech and CRM:
Prices keep coming down. Every new entrant in this space intensifies competition.
There’s no reason to buy and manage separate platforms for marketing and sales. There’s just too many that do both functions well. Native integration is a huge bonus for users.
The C-suite is waking up to efficiencies gained, and costs cut, by culling sales and martech stacks. Many are replacing outdated stacks altogether with all-in-one solutions that cost less and are easier to use.
How do you navigate the 2022 trends in martech and CRM?
New and better sales and marketing automation platform emerge continuously. Purpose built for small and mid-sized B2Bs, these platforms are designed. from the ground up, to integrate sales and marketing.
No more jumping around from platform to platform to get a campaign out the door, send alerts to the sales people and measure engagement.
No more ‘who do I call’ when something goes wrong.
Best of all, no more annual subscriptions and cumbersome contracts.
Smart tech and SaaS companies are taking advantage of new offerings.
every second counts. Be polite, respectful, and get to the point fast.
