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In today’s information age, people are overwhelmed with information, data, and events to the point of being bombarded.  With the advancement of technology that overwhelmed feeling is increased tenfold by the quick access to everything.  So what does this mean when you are trying to command the attention of your audience, a prospect, an employee or a client?

With information overload in abundance, the attention span of most people is shortening requiring marketers to come up with creative ways to make messages stick and to use communication tactics designed for maximum impact.  A proven and influential technique is to use storytelling in your sales meetings, presentations and employee communication.  Studies have shown that people think visually.  When they are asked to recall a word typically it is not the spelling of the word that enters into the heads of the audience rather the image of that word enters into their heads.

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Do You Know the Top Presentation Mistakes Made by Millions and How to Avoid Them?

Join me for a complimentary 30 minute teleclass January 18th @ 6:00 pm est

Welcome to Marketing Mondays… the place where business professionals, entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, small business owners and anyone who wants to learn something new, come together to learn new tips & techniques about sales and marketing.

This week’s topic:  Mastering Presentation Skills

1)    The #1 thing you need to focus on to get BIG sales results during presentations. (Most presenters don’t know this!)

2) 4 simple strategies to engage your audience and keep them motivated during your presentation so your message sticks! (Psst — This is the exact formula I’ve used for my last three launches.)

3) Exactly how to structure your presentation so you get results! (Hint: It’s different than how you were taught)

4) The most critical mindset shift you need to make before attempting to sell anything.

Register Here:                            

http://www.kelliedandrea.com/blog

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I am so excited, we hosted our second webinar presentation on “Worst Presentation Mistakes Made by Millions and How to Avoid Them” and what a wonderful turnout.  I had my good friend and colleague Jordan Majkszak , Marketing Manager of NEST International, join me again for his wonderful insight and wit.  This was our second run testing out new technology and all though there was an improvement, we still had issues. – Murphy’s Law “what can go wrong, will”.

We set everything up, had hundreds of people registered for the call and I stayed late the night before to practice with the new recording feature to make sure we were ready to go and we find out that there is a chance that the wrong dial in numbers may have been sent out…… ugg!,  Nancy, my “super admin” quickly researched the problem and sent out a blast with all the correct numbers (just in case)…… then wouldn’t you know it, during the Webinar, the recording featured delayed the start by 3 slides and the audio component was not of superior quality…..   But we had a great turn out, a wonderful event and a strong message!

So even in the face of adversity, we rose to the top!.  The moral of my story is, things have a tendancy to work themselves out so do not stress over the small things.  People actually relate to folks who seem normal and have some flaws.  We made lemonade out of lemons and had a blast doing it!

Thank you to all who participated in the event.. I cannot believe how many stayed on even after the event was over.

I wish each of you wonderful success in all of your presentations!  Remember Power Presenters Master These Techniques:

1)  Focus on their audience

2)  Connect the objectives of their audience with their own and customize messages based upon audience.

3)  Use a rule of thumb to present key information. – 1 point for every 10 mins.

4)  Engage, Entertain and keep the attention of your audience.

5)  Use Visual aides to reinforce your message, not convey it.

6)  Do not be afraid to ask for what you want – the business.

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In today’s environment, reaching your target audience and key decision makers is more difficult than ever.   Whether you are in a corporate sales position, involved in internet or retail sales or simply just pitching a solution or idea to a colleague, chances are you are making some critical mistakes that are resulting in you not reaching your goal – the sale!  There are dozen obstacles in your way – busy schedules, limited budgets, gatekeepers and communication breakdown.   So how do you overcome these obstacles and engage your customer to take action?  You have a small window of opportunity to entice your prospective customers to want do business with you and with your company.  You must improve your skills and work through a process that delivers the optimal results.  However, in order to do this, you must avoid 5 common and costly mistakes many people make while selling.

Mistake # 1:  Allowing Customers to Lead the Sales Process

The customer is always right has been burned into our brains since the moment you enter into business so it is a natural action to follow the customers lead and  allow them to dictate the steps of the process but before you know it, your meeting has been high jacked and every aspect controlled by your prospect.  You need to own the sales process and be in complete control of every aspect while allowing you customer to feel they are still in control.  The best way is to ask quality questions that uncover specific issues, concerns or initiatives that your customers are faced with and bring them back to a similar situation where you supplied the answer and make the emotional connection that your solution was the answer. You will immediately position yourself as an expert and gain instant credibility.  Once you have this emotional connection, you can easily guide them through your process, educating them along the way as to the next steps and what they can expect.  This will move you closer to your sale and when done correctly, will keep you in complete control.

Mistake #2:  Focusing To Much on “The Pitch”

Many sales people feel compelled to share all the information they can with a  prospective customer during the first interaction –a  meeting, a sales page or a  marketing message.   They arm themselves with the company presentation booklets  and head out to make a typical canned sales pitch.

It looks something like  this:

• “Introduction to Company”
• “Products & Services”
• “Client List”
• “Key Differentiators (you know the ones – quality service, market leader, one stop shop, strategic partnerships, etc.)”
• “ Process Overview”
• and finally “Questions”.

This may be the only opportunity you have so don’t waste precious time on the “company pitch”, focus on engaging your audience and demonstrating you understand their needs and the issue at hand.   Audiences need to be engaged and be part of the process early on so organize your sales discussion in a way that provokes interest in you and your company.   Treat each sales call, presentation and message as an opportunity to personalize the conversation between you and your prospect.  Demonstrate a genuine interest in their problems and bring forward your solution and why your solution is the right decision for them.  Stay away from generic buzz words that do not really tell the customer anything about your product and/or service and customize a discussion based upon the customer and not your company.

Mistake # 3:  Selling the Features of a Product vs. the Emotional Connection

You should never focus your sales message to selling a specific product – even if that is the end goal.  You are selling a result, a benefit, an experience or in other words, an emotional connection.   All products are a dime a dozen even if you have the fanciest widget on the block.  Your customer will buy based upon a perceived emotion and where many sales people fail is to use emotion as an effective selling tool for closing the sale.    For example, if you are selling fractional shares of a luxury jet to the super affluent, you could focus on engine power, wind speed, and all the mechanical items that go into flying a plane, or you could focus on the status, the experience and luxury of time and create an emotional response that motivates your customer to buy.  Connect with your prospect and show them how this purchase will empower them.

Mistake # 4: Not Focusing on the Specific Business Challenges

Over 90% of sales meeting are held with individuals who are satisfied with the status quo for a variety of reasons.  They may be too busy, they may have existing relationships or the thought of making a change is an unbelievable undertaken that they would rather stay right where they are then even think about it.  Regardless, if you do not switch the focus of your meeting to address these constraints and what it means to the individuals involved, you are making a serious selling mistake that may delay your process or end it right there.  Decisions are made by people and most people are tuned into their own radio stations WIIFM (Whats in it for me).  You need to do your research and understand your prospect’s business, limitations and current situation.  How will he or she be impacted?  What is important for them to reach their goals?  Is there a specific business challenge or issue they are faced with?  And lastly, can what you are offering solve their problem and cause the least pain along the way.

Mistake # 5: Neglecting To Ask For the Sale

Many people who are selling are concerned with coming across too pushy and often look for ways for a sale to happen “naturally” so they neglect to ask for the sale.  They present their ideas and solutions and lose control of the entire process at the end of the meeting and never restate what they really want – the sale.  There are many ways to ask for the sale in a non-threatening, confident way where people will usually respond in a favorable manner.  It is okay to ask “what do I have to do to win the mandate for your business” and if you have demonstrated to ask for the business.  In the event you do not win the business, don’t be afraid to ask for second best.  Perhaps there is a second tier piece of business out there and unless you ask, the answer will always be no.

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©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site? You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D’Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes “The Marketing Edge” a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.KellieDandrea.com.

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Each time you engage in a conversation, dialogue or speech with the intention of convincing another person to do, think or act upon anything, you are making a presentation. You don’t have to be in front of large crowds to be giving a presentation or using visual aids such as PowerPoint to be giving a presentation. Presentations are given everyday and are one of the most powerful communication tools exist and has the ability to propel your business, career and sales to ultimate levels. Master presenters get their status by mastering the art of delivery from setting up their content, structuring the flow, controlling non verbal and verbal actions and delivering a powerful message that is engaging and memorable. They master techniques to ultimately reel their audience in and leave them wanting more so why do 99% of the presentations fail?

Too many times, presenters fail to successfully connect the dots between the audience’s objectives and their own objectives. They have a tendency to focus on features rather than highlighting benefits and never clearly state what they hope to get out of the presentation. If you are not clear, your audience will not know what specifically they should be focusing on. You need to develop an uncanny skill to present from a benefit position and clearly build the roadmap to the audience’s goals. As Craig Valentine states in his Free Audio Series “7 Step World Class Speaking Toolkit”, It is important to make a “Big Promise”. What specifically brings you here today, what will your audience gain from listening to you today. Lay the framework for their audience and clearly state what their audience can expect over the next 45 minutes and keep your presentation on task to support that objective.

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