When giving a sales presentation or product demonstration, many sales people jump immediately into the content. Some creative sales people will open with a joke. No one is ready for content immediately after they take a seat, and jokes or stories are ok if the audience is larger than 10 or so people – most sales presentations given by security sales people have less than five people present. When your customers arrive for your presentation, they’re thinking about something else – the email they just sent, the meeting with their boss later that day, or the call they forgot about. One of the last things on their mind is you.
The goal of the opening a sales presentation is to shift your audience’s attention to you. They might be smiling and nodding their heads, but 70% of their attention is somewhere else. It’s your job to get their full attention, and then deliver the content. How?
The best way to shift your audience’s attention to you is to ask about them. Before jumping into the session, confirm that you understand everything about their scenario and the goals of the session. Be conversational and tell them what you’re doing: “Before I jump in, I want to confirm that I understand your situation. From earlier discussions, these are the four bullet points that summarize your current challenges.
Are these accurate?”
Get them talking! You’ll learn something and they’ll be engaged and then bam – knock ‘em out with your content and skills.
