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.
How many regular or one-off networking functions have you been to this year?
And how many of those have led to referrals, leads – and additional sales?
Connecting, building trust and relationships with other professionals, industry contacts and other referral sources – not to mention direct potential clients – is the backbone of any business. Especially sole traders and small to medium businesses.
Making it Worth Your While – Return on Investment
To get the best return for your time spent business networking, you have to create a few new habits and bolster your existing networking strengths. It is important to be able to get your “elevator pitch” – a succinct, easy to remember description of what you and your business stand for – down pat. It can vary with the person you talk to, of course. But be clear about your identity, about the voice and vision of your company.
Here are the tongue-in-cheek named “Ten Commandments” aka 10 Top Tips to successful networking.
Armed with them, you will be ready to go, and get amongst it in the networking jungle!
“The Ten Commandments of Networking” *
Thou shalt drop the “what is in it for me?”.
Thou shalt listen.
Thou shalt build a relationship.
Thou shalt give the first referral.
Thou shalt not tell others of the referral you require; thou shalt “show them” with a story.
Thou shalt be specific of the type of referral.
Thou shalt reciprocate when appropriate.
Thou shalt participate in the network executive, functions, and network time.
Thou shalt thank the person who gave a referral.
Thou shalt follow up on the referral within 24 hours.
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.
What’s your favourite blog?
Which websites do you enjoy reading?
Seen an ad lately that stayed with you for a long while?
Chances are, their writers were saying something that mattered. To you.
They appealed to you because you could find out quickly what the writer was trying to say. And they were relevant, not just waffling on. They may have been funny, entertaining, educational, silly, serious, or even pure marketing.
What they have in common is good writing – with you, the reader in mind. They “got” what you need, what you were looking for. Rather than just going on about themselves, without saying anything that matters to you, their reader/client/prospect/fan. People and companies can get very wrapped up in their own jargon, their way of talking about their services and products, because they are just too close to the topic they write about. It’s their baby, after all.
Getting a professional copywriter like myself involved, does not mean you loose control of what’s written. A copywriter or editor helps you say what you want and need to say – but in a way that actually gets your message across.
Seth Godin, marketing “guru” extraordinaire, has this example of copywriting gone haywire on his blog:
“The firm will remain competitive in the constantly changing market for defense legal services by creating and implementing innovative and effective methods of providing cost-effective, quality representation and services for our clients.”
Now, I am sure you’ll agree: there are better ways of saying whatever it was the writer intended to communicate.
Remember: Communication is what’s received.
Now… fire away & let me know your thoughts on this topic.
Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
We are all prone to a good dose of procrastination or “what are my priorities again?!” struggles.
Some days (or weeks, months,… years) just don’t flow the way we want them to.
There are many, many different reasons why we tell ourselves that we will just do that particularly nasty-looking thing later: The summer sunshine is too tempting, the winter cold too paralysing and plunging us into lethargy. Or something needs to be done first, urgently. Now. Sorry, just can’t wait. Honest, the world will end if I don’t deal with that (more pleasant looking) thing right now. Uh-uh!
But let’s face it, most of these oh-so-urgent (read: preferred) things can wait a while.
What it really comes down to is this:
We all rather deal with the pretty prince(ss) than the ugly frog first.
That ugly amphibian can wait, thank you very much!
Well, it can’t.
More often than not, the things we like to do least are the ones that are the most important to tackle.
If not for what they are in themselves – the insurance for the car or business IS important, even if it is boring and mind-numbing to get through the forest of paperwork and jargon – then for the challenges they pose.
What is the real reason I keep postponing a particular task? Do I worry about spending money and my financial security, or perhaps about not understanding the insurance jargon and subsequently getting the wrong cover?
So, what to do?
I have used a few techniques to help me hone in on the nasty-looking items first, get them out of the way. I find that the smaller, less daunting tasks end up looking quite pretty afterwards – and are a lot easier and faster to deal with once the dread of the ugly toad has vanished.
To kiss the ugly frogs good-bye efficiently check out Ask Rebecca How’s own Rebecca Well’s blog here.
Or perhaps you prefer to chuck a tomato at the little blighters? Try the Pomodoro Technique.
What works for you?
How do you set your priorities & overcome procrastination?
And now, I better sort that insurance out…
Until soon, Daniela
As an entrepreneur, business owner or marketing manager, you all face the same issue: how to create engaging and on-target marketing messages, and truly connect with your audience. How to create leads and convert them into (preferably repeat) customers.
Here are five steps for creating an effective marketing message:
Identify your Target Market
Understand your Target Audience’s unique Problems, Needs and Wants
Offer a Solution to those Problems, and Fulfill Desires
Provide Testimonials (customer experiences) as a Proof of your Solutions
Differentiate Yourself from your Competitors
And remember: what your prospects and customers really want to know is “what’s in it for them” when they buy your product or engage your services. How you achieve that result for them that (i.e. what you do), is of secondary interest to them. So, your audience mainly wants to know you provide a specific benefit that’s important to them. For example, that what you sell provides security and safety – not so much the details of the insurances you offer or the technical specifications of a security system.
Read more on how to create a strong marketing message here.
Wow! Some information I gather, read, like, digest and get (very) excited about is just too spot-on to even try to change! So, here is the text of marketing “guru” Seth Godin’s latest blog offering – shamelessly repeated in its entirety.
He poses some very important questions that are worth considering before you start any new project, job, venture or adventure. I hope you will find his writing and ideas as useful and thought-provoking as I do. Enjoy!
If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur or a freelancer or a project manager, the most important choice you’ll make is: what to do?
As in the answer to the question, “what do you do?”
Some questions to help you get started:
Who are you trying to please?
Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy?
How will the world be different when you’ve succeeded?
Is it more important to add new customers or to increase your interactions with existing ones?
Do you want a team? How big? (I know, that’s two questions)
Would you rather have an open-ended project that’s never done, or one where you hit natural end points? (How high is high enough?)
Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff, or are you expecting that buyers will walk in the door and ask for it?
Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better?
If you take someone else’s investment, are you prepared to sell out to pay it back?
Are you done personally growing, or is this project going to force you to change and develop yourself?
Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask…
How long can you wait before it feels as though you’re succeeding?
Is perfect important? (Do you feel the need to fail privately, not in public?)
Do you want your customers to know each other (a tribe) or is it better they be anonymous and separate?
How close to failure, wipe out and humiliation are you willing to fly? (And while we’re on the topic, how open to criticism are you willing to be?)
What does busy look like?
In my experience, people skip all of these questions and ask instead: “What can I do that will be sure to work?” The problem, of course, is that there is no sure, and even worse, that you and I have no agreement at all on what it means for something to work.
Ah, privacy…. Not the first thing that springs to mind when you are posting something out there, on the Net.
But here is a nifty little tool that allows you to shorten and also password-protect URLs. It can help you turn your very public information into something a little more private. Or you could use it for a promotion. Or just for a bit of fun…
Here is an example of how it works:
I could tweet or post on LinkedIn “Found this great mentor and coach! http://trick.ly/35O“. Anyone can see the link, but only people who can figure out my clue can discover the site my link is pointing to.
You can try for yourself on the trick.ly website here.
Are you a soloist, entrepreneur, micro- or small to medium business? If so, sometimes, as the owner of such a business, it can feel like you are all alone, out there on a big big ocean and only a few islands in sight. But you are not alone. And dry, solid land is there for the taking – if you know how to look for it and stake your claim.
In their book The Risk Takers Renee and Don Martin identify ten common traits, challenges and ultimately opportunities for entrepreneurs:
Trust your Instinct
Challenge Convention
Persist
Find your Niche
Spot Trends and Act
Fill the Gaps your Competition’s Left
Just Start – there is no Perfect Time
Get Creative in Marketing
Competitor’s Weakness = Your Strength
Never stop Changing
I like to add another point here: Be Clear and Consistent about your Brand.
Ensure you communicate clearly, regularly and in an engaging way with your target audience, i.e. your potential and existing clients.
Be relevant, give them something for free, don’t just hard-sell. Be professional, yet personal. Put yourself in the client’s shoes and think how you would like to be communicated with and treated.
There is much you can do yourself towards this aim. Everything else a good copywriter and communications expert can help you with. Help is at hand – for all budgets.
Read more on how to get motivated, find your niche and not lose the edge over your competition here.
