Nothing is worse than a long, drawn-out meeting that feels like a trip to the dentist. The last place you want to find yourself is leading a snooze fest or a presentation that has people checking their watches every other minute. To be an effective salesperson, it’s important to master your presentation skills and learn to engage your audience effectively with highly targeted information that gets results in the shortest period of time.
1. Be prepared. Always be ready for the people you’re meeting. Never make anyone wait for you.
2. Sell the jockey before the horse. Every sale begins with your first impression. Demeanor matters. Be likeable, down-to-earth, and confident. Attract people with your enthusiasm, energy, and passion.
3. Say it in 30 seconds or less. Get to the point. Your prospects and potential partners have other things to do, so get them to say yes as quickly as possible. The more you say, the more you’re giving people to consider. Make it easy for them: Say what needs to be said, and not a single word more.
4. Fit the pitch to the person. Create the right presentation, not “your” presentation. Do research before any pitch to customize applicable portions and ensure that you have all of the necessary and correct information as it pertains to the person sitting across the table—or on the other side of the Internet.
5. Show, don’t tell. Whenever possible, keep your presentations interactive. Demonstrate your product or service firsthand to show off your results rather than just talk about them.
6. Make it visual. Don’t kill people with excessive text. Keep slides or videos simple and clean. Focus on creating visually appealing presentations using photos, videos, audio, and graphics with minimal body text.
7. The best presentations are conversations. Talk with prospects; never lecture them, put forth mandates, or tout ultimatums. Engage and interact with the people in the room. Always encourage discussion and questions as you go.
8. Speak plainly. You’re speaking to people, not robots. Don’t use jargon or clichés to make your points. Eliminate terms such as these from your vocabulary: innovative or innovate, out of the box, Web 2.0, next generation, original, and world’s greatest. Use the tools on gobbledygook.grader.com to keep your pitches in check and jargon-free.
9. Back up or shut up. You are asking someone else to invest his or her time and money into your product or service. Show them that you deserve it by supporting your expertise with relevant experience and real results. Avoid hypothetical arguments or unsubstantiated claims. If you can’t do or promise something, then find another way to sell your services until you can.
10. Know what you are talking about. Don’t say things to try to look smart or claim anything that sounds too good to be true to close a sale. Less is not only more—it also keeps you out of trouble. Remember, you’re accountable for every word that comes from your company. The smartest thing to do when you don’t know something is to admit that you don’t know—then figure it out within 24 hours and get back to the individual with an answer.
1. Blog – A blog (a shortening of the term “web log”) is an easy-to-use type of website that also offers social and SEO benefits. Blogs are usually a series of more or less regular entries of commentary, news items, and other material such as videos. As most blogs are interactive, you can easily use this medium to interact and engage with your customers, existing and potential.
2. Newsletters & Email Marketing– Email newsletters are great ways to connect directly with prospective customers and stay connected to current customers. Newsletters provide a way to offer useful and targeted information to nurture leads and provide opportunities to find out more on products and services.
3. Media Coverage & Contributed Articles- Word of mouth is priceless for all businesses, especially small businesses. Getting mentioned in the local business media and trade publications can boost awareness, credibility and directly generate new business.
4. Resource Center - One way small businesses are often beating their larger competitors in search and in building authority, is to be more personable and quicker to react. And they are perceived to be a better resource for customers through useful content. Common formats for helpful information about buying, using and related information on products and services can include articles, videos and podcasts.
5. Social Networks & Media – In the way that customers expect a toll free number, website and blog, they’re beginning to expect the brands they buy from to be social. That means having a presence in the social networks that are most relevant to customers. A small amount of time consistently spent on interaction and relationship building can go a long way at developing a community.
6. Events– Networking for small businesses is as old as word of mouth marketing itself. Events are a great way to connect with prospective customers, marketing partners, new employees and influentials in your industry.
Based on an article by Lee Odden
“How Small Business Can Get BIG Online with Content Marketing”
Now where did 2010 disappear to so fast, hm? With another new year upon us (in the best possible sense), many of us take a look back at all the good, challenging, rewarding and inspiring things we encountered over the past 12 months. And many are planning ahead, making new year resolutions. So what will be happening here at Cavalletti Communications? And what does 2011 have in store for you and me as small business owners out there, I wonder?
2010 was an eventful year on all fronts
Cavalletti Communications celebrated its 1st official birthday, our team of talented experts has been growing steadily, friendships and collaborations have been formed across the net and at networking events. I have had the honour of meeting many business owners and thought leaders who shared their expertise and knowledge. You, my clients and connections have been kind and generous in passing on referrals to me, and thus help my business grow. Thank you!
Running an expanding business has also thrown challenges my way, of course: How do you do it all in only so many hours in the day? When do I find the time to put all those fantastic (I think) ideas into practice? Surely I can do that myself? We have to learn the hard way at times, and so have I here and there.
On a personal note, 2010 saw me getting married and meet the huge gaggle of what is now my new, significantly larger (but equally lovingly boisterous and fun) family. So, 2010 certainly held a lot of changes for me, on all fronts.
Starting off a successful 2011
So far so good: January of this new year is already over, and has been a good month for most of us. Like many of you, I have made plans and set goals on various fronts. On where, how and when to grow my business. And personal ones (hello, fitness & balance!).
2010 will see a new range of Cavalletti Communications writing & marketing services developed. I am already in exciting conversations with a number of very talented people regarding affiliations and working with us. And Cavalletti Communications will get another boost via our about-to-be-signed-off membership at the Artisans chapter of BNI.
But as business owners we also are people. And as people we need personal challenges – and time to relax. I was lucky to be able to combine the two on a recent camping trip in the beautiful Snowy River and Snowy Mountains regions. If you like a glimpse of the stunning view from Australia’s highest peak, Mt Kosciuszko, below is a little video for you. I scaled my first mountain for 2011. : )
So, what are your challenges and inspirations for 2011?
Looking forward to reading your take on the new year!
Thank you very much for all your kind words and wishes on my getting married in early September. We had a wonderful time honeymooning and seeing our families in Europe and are now settling back into Sydney- and work-life.
So keep an eye on this blog, Twitter and Facebook for new posts on language and its sometimes amusing twists and turns, writing, web content, marketing, life, business – and of course fun.
Regular readers of my blog have heard me (well, “read me”) talk about passion in the past. A lot, in fact.
Passion – and the excitement of getting right into it, getting my hands dirty, give whatever I do intense focus and the best I’ve got – sits at the core of my personality.
Enthusiasm for and commitment to a person, an event or subject is something I cannot do with less than 100%. Whether I talk about a book I love (as a copywriter, words are my passion, of course), revel in the glow a beautifully shot film can evoke, share my passion for my sports (diving, martial practice and holistic exercise) – or talk about and work in my business.
It’s catching
And I find that passion is infectious: I converted a number of girlie girls to try krav maga, a full-on self defence style. Without trying hard I managed to get a better price with a vendor because he saw my passion for my work. And my clients are regularly repeat clients (and that’s the type of client all us entrepreneurs and business owners like best!) because, as one of them put it, I show “passion and care for their business, as if it were my own”.
Passion generates success
I am not telling you all this because I like to blow my own trumpet, but because it took me a little while to distill that passion breeds success. And you do not have to be an extrovert to show passion: quiet enthusiasm and commitment to your interests, work and clients works just as well.
Take a break, get it back!
But even the most enthusiastic person has an off-day every now and then, and finds it hard to muster the passion for what they do and usually love. Be it that you have the ‘flu that’s going around (again!), your kids have turned the house into a right royal mess when you need some quiet time, or you simply need a break from the daily grind. Take it.
Take out some time for yourself to reflect on why you started that fitness programme that you are now neglecting, remind yourself why you took that job, or what motivated you to started your own business. Get your passion back!
How do passion and enthusiasm influence what you do?
How you see the world, your relationships and the work you do? I look forward to your thoughts.
The Influence Project is open to anyone and everyone. All registered participants will have their picture appear in the November issue of Fast Company as part of an amazing photo spread. The more influence demonstrated by a participant, the bigger their picture will be. Even those with smaller social networks can learn something about their influence by participating.
Contributors may discover that they are more influential than they think. Influence is not only about having the most friends or followers. It’s about being able to affect the behavior of those you interact with, to get others in your social network to act on a suggestion or recommendation. That’s what The Influence Project will measure.
The competition for 2010’s “Most Influential People” ends August 15 at midnight EST. Fast Company has created a blog dedicated to the project at www.fastcompany.com/influenceproject, where coverage will continue through the publication of Fast Company’s November 2010 issue.
A friend of mine, who loved how he could relate to my recent post on Allizan Nazarian’s shitty day advice, asked me to re-post her humorous and wise insights into coping with “The Lull”.
So here it is…. Click here for the link to “The Lull” and enjoy.
Copywriting is the art of writing sales- and marketing-related material. That means a copywriter uses well-chosen words to promote a product and business (or a person, idea or opinion) to a specific target audience. Some people may relate the job of a copywriter to the creation of advertising “copy” (i.e. text, words) only, but a good copywriter is a business writer and content expert for all areas of your communications – internally or externally.
If it’s written material, then a copywriter has been involved!
Copywriting is used in every major business and communications area, e.g. websites, business plans and reports, newsletters and brochures, press releases and advertising, catalogues and point-of-sale materials.
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