Sweat the right stuff

Most people have a terrible dread of presentations. And of selling. But I’m going go to go out on a limb here and work on the assumption that if you’re reading Winning Edge you’re probably not too freaked out by the prospect of either.

So... why write articles about presentations for people who aren’t anxious about them? Precisely because you aren’t freaked out. Stay with me for a minute…

Pretty obviously, if you’re anxious about your presentations, you try to minimise the time you spend in the spotlight, and that brings with it all kinds of problems. But for salespeople, who are generally confident and outgoing types who relish the chance to speak in front of an audience, there are risks that aren’t quite so obvious. Sadly, however, marketing and sales superheroes and heroines aren’t immune to mistakes, so here’s a scamper through some of the classic issues many sales professionals have when they’re over-comfortable about making a presentation to a client or prospect.

To be honest, the rules that marketing lives by, such as getting emotional buy-in before you try providing too much technical information, are also spot on for sales presentations. But all too often that kind of rational thinking goes out of the window when it comes to presenting.

SWEAT THE RIGHT STUFF The traditional sales presentation starts with an attempt to establish credibility. Great, as far as it goes, but if your idea of establishing credibility is talking about your company, you’ve already lost me. Even things you might think are pure credibility builders, such as “We’ve got offices in 15 different countries and work with over half “Concentrate your presentation the Fortune 500”, won’t make anyone care. Sorry. Think of it this way – purely on the problem and, even more so, on your solution” if I put a pair of handcuffs on you, you’ve got a problem, right? I’m fairly certain that you wouldn’t really care who solves your problem – you just want the problem to be solved. You want the key to those handcuffs, no matter who gives it to you.

So, what should you do instead of talking about yourself and your company? You should establish the credibility of the solution you are about to offer. Concentrate your presentation purely on the problem and, even more, on your solution. People will happily test out your credibility for themselves if they’re already partially committed to your solution.

Yes, yes, I know… it’s common sense. But if it’s really common sense, how come it’s not all that common? Most sales professionals waste the first few minutes of their presentation talking about themselves. Why on earth do they do that when this is the time when they most need to grab the audience’s attention?

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF And, let’s face it – it’s all small stuff. Trust me on this – unless you’re selling a cure for cancer or world hunger it’s more or less all small stuff. But what’s not necessarily small stuff are the consequences of your sales presentation – and therein lies the rub. Time and again I’ve seen sales professionals get worked up over a presentation because of the consequences of a success (or failure). Don’t get me wrong here, just because you only spend 10 minutes preparing for a presentation worth £50, I’m not suggesting that you should only spend 10 minutes on preparation for a presentation that might net you £5m. I am simply suggesting that once you get to the presentation itself you let go of all thoughts of the possible consequences and focus entirely on the “gig”. Think about the mindset of a professional tennis player. It’s championship point at the Wimbledon singles final and the weight of the entire nation is on their shoulders... Sporting glory and millions of pounds are at stake... The BBC is broadcasting live around the world...

A nation holds its breath and prays... No pressure, Mr Murray! But the second he thinks about any of that, he’s lost. His muscles will tense, his shoulders will go up, and his natural flow will vanish, promptly causing a double fault.

On the other hand, if it’s just another serve, it happens like it’s supposed to, and he aces it. (As an aside, this is how beginner’s luck works – beginners have nothing to lose.)

It’s exactly the same for sales professionals making a vital sales presentation. You must stay wholly focused on the job in hand. When you’re in the room, be in the room. Don’t be distracted by anything outside the room – and don’t start sweating the consequences.

SWEAT THE KEY DETAILS Not sweating the consequences aside, don’t forget about sweating the right details. All too often a confident presenter slips, unaware, into being an arrogant presenter, confident in their ability to cope with whatever comes up. That would be great, except for the way it interferes with their preparation and presentation.

There’s a thin line between confident and arrogant. Over-confident presenters: l Don’t check their slides (“Oops, that one shouldn’t be there!”) l Don’t pay attention to their audience (clue – if their eyes have glazed over, you’ve blown it and there is absolutely no way back) l Don’t notice who the real decision-makers are in the audience and generically pitch to the room. It’s brutal, but you should often ignore half your audience as “person-padding”.

LET’S TALK TECH Consider this: if you mess up your technology in any way (“How do I connect my laptop to your projector?”) you undermine your audience’s faith in your product or service. Let’s face it, if you can’t work the projector, how can you be trusted to work your widget-making machine?

I’ll be talking tech in more detail in the next edition of Winning Edge. In the meantime, here’s some basic advice on how to stay out of trouble: l Practise operating your equipment l Have a checklist of what to take to every presentation – and use it l Set up early, before the presentation begins.

I know this is blindingly obviously stuff, but you’d be amazed how many experienced, confident salespeople fail to do it. LEARN FROM THE FEARFUL I’m not suggesting you should suddenly begin to feel the fear that most people experience when they’re forced to make presentations, but I am suggesting that you take a minute to think about what you can learn from the fearful.

SIMON RAYBOULD is one of the country’s leading trainers in presentations and also a professional speaker. His clients range from one-man bands to major multinationals. Visit PresentationGenius.Info