What to include in a sales presentation that sells benefits, not features.
If you’re not landing your sales pitches, keep this quote from investor Dina Routhier in mind:
“The most common thing that pegs an entrepreneur as an amateur is when they come in and immediately start talking about their amazing new technology, and forget to start the discussion with, “What big problem in the market am I trying to solve?” If they don’t start with the problem, then I know they are green.”
The same applies to sales. Sell benefits, not features.
If you’re a new salesperson, this could be news to you, but the one thing a prospective client wants to know is, “what’s in it for me?”
While there is so much you could say in a sales presentation, it’s important to stay away from words like “I”, “we” and “us” when you could be using words like “you” and phrases like “your company” and “for you.”
In a sales presentation, show that you are knowledgeable, engaging and ready to work toward a brighter future for your new client. One more time: it’s about them, not you.
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What to include in a sales presentation
Who are you?
This is the only moment when it’s about you. Tell them who you are, how long you’ve been in business, and why you went into business. Use this time to build a personal connection. Are you a family-run business? Did you name the business after your daughter? Sales happen between people, not pieces of paper, so connect with the person or people you’re presenting to. Keep it short and simple.
How do you make your clients’ lives easier?
Many new salespeople make the mistake of using this time to talk about the services they provide when they should be talking about the pain points that their clients have. If you’re a commercial cleaning company, there are pain points a business owner has: a filthy office with employees that don’t pick up after themselves. Do they pay someone a full-time salary to clean up, or is their administrative assistant tasked with emptying the trash cans? Are they small enough of a business where they’re the one vacuuming after hours?
And more importantly, tell them: don’t they have better things to do?
What will they in return for their investment?
Butter them up by explaining what they’ll get in return for their investment. More time, and more freedom to focus on what matters to their business. Then tell them what the actual investment cost is. If you’ve done a good job in the first half, the price won’t be a dealbreaker. Here are some desires people touch on in world-famous copywriting headlines:
- Saving money
- Losing weight
- Making money
- Becoming famous
- Having more free time
- Impressing people
When someone says, “I can’t afford it,” what they often mean is, “I don’t need it” or ” I don’t see the value in this.” If you can find out what it is they want, you can pitch your sales presentation toward their desired outcome.
What are others saying about you?
Everybody wants samples. If you work in an agency, they want samples of how much you improved revenue over a certain amount of time, or how many Facebook fans a campaign earned. In services like commercial cleaning, they’ll want testimonials. What have your other clients said about you? Talk to each of your best clients and ask them for a testimonial that you can use on your website and in your sales presentation.
How to design a sales presentation
How your presentation looks is almost as important as the content within it. The important thing to remember is to make it concise. You don’t want to bore your prospect, but you need to be thorough enough so they understand your purpose.
Use short bullets, not paragraphs
If you’re presenting a slideshow, use bullet points that are no more than one sentence. You can’t grab their attention if too much text is overwhelming them. Use graphics whenever possible, and talk to them. If you spend your whole time looking away from them and reading the slide, you’ll miss the personal connection required to complete a sale.
A presentation that’s presented, and not read, also shows your prospect that you know what you’re talking about.
Include demo graphics when necessary
If you sell a Saas, along with easy-to-read bullet points, displaying images will paint a vivid picture for your new client. Show them how the product works by providing them with a look behind the scenes. Or if you offer a service, go through the steps of how your service works with each image leading up to the result.
Include room for conversation and questions
Create a period at the end of your sales presentation so that your prospect can ask questions. Allow them the chance to process the presentation before you jump right into this segment. They’ll probably need time to absorb what they just heard from you.
And when they do ask questions, always be positive with your answers; especially if they have a question or comment that objects anything you had said. Try to keep it professional while using terms like “I understand…” or “we’ve discovered…” It’ll also make them feel comfortable. Give succinct explanations that allow them to develop a deeper understanding of your company.
During this question and answer time, prepare yourself to ask your new client questions, too. Ask open-ended questions to your prospect and try to get thorough responses in return. Take notes as they tell you things or express concerns. Taking notes will be useful to you for your next presentation or when you are closing a deal with an already existing client.
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Tired of creating sales presentations? Sign up with Blitz today for a 30-day free trial of our lead management and sales automation software to turn more leads into customers with less work!
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Did we miss anything in this blog? Tell us what to include in a sales presentation in our comments section!