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(PLEASE NOTE: We are excited that many of you have been scheduling Tim to come to your business or training event. Tim is one of the best sales trainers out there today! His schedule is filling up so don't hesitate giving us a call if you'd like book Tim. Contact Eric directly at eric@salestrainingcentral.com)

 
Imagine you’ve been working on a significant opportunity for several months. You’ve invested long hours with all of the key players and it’s almost time to go to contract. The final step is a simple “show-n-tell” presentation that you need to deliver to the executive committee. All you need is their nod and you’re off to the bank to deposit the commission check.
 
The day of the big pitch arrives and you’re feeling good. You walk confidently into the board room, connect your laptop and launch the presentation. Suddenly all eyes are on you and without warning you find yourself stumbling through a lame introduction that goes something like: “Hi, my name is Bob and I work for XYZ Company. Thanks for taking some time to be here today."
 
You race through the deck until you get to the meat of the presentation (easily identified by the slides that have lots of words typed in small fonts). Finally you begin to feel strangely comfortable as you start reading these complex screen shots to the decision makers. 
 
And then, without warning you find yourself staring at a blank slide. There is nothing left in the deck so you immediately ask for questions and of course there aren’t any. You awkwardly thank everyone for their time and head back to the office. Now you’re left with no clue if you’ll win this opportunity but you’re certain that you won’t get a second chance.
 
Sound powerful? Probably not, but I’ll bet it sounds familiar.
 
So what does it take to keep the Board Room from becoming a Bored Room? Here are three quick tips to get you back on track now:
 
#1. Get a hook!
 
Most audiences rush to conclusions in the first two minutes of your presentation. Failure to develop a solid introduction is one of the biggest mistakes sales professionals make. Leverage those first two minutes to take command of your listeners. Engage them with a relevant story. Grab their attention with an alarming insight. Or just make them smile with some simple humor. Worry less about educating (do you like to be educated?) and worry more about entertaining (everyone likes to be entertained).
 
I’m not suggesting you start your next presentation with a card trick (although that could be a great hook). But I am suggesting you take a hard look at how you get your audience to lean in for the first two minutes of your next presentation. 
 
Script, practice and polish your hook until it is rock solid. Grabbing their attention from the very start sets you and your ideas apart from everyone else who just “wings” their opening. And a great hook creates confidence that you can build upon throughout your presentation
 
#2. “I know this next slide is a little hard to read."
 
PowerPoint was originally developed to be a visual aid; a tool that presenters could use to add “power” to their message by highlighting a key “point.” Think big fonts, few words, maybe even a picture or two to drive home important ideas.
 
PowerPoint was not designed to be a proposal tool or a script. Save the Gantt charts for the appendix… PLEASE!
 
PowerPoint decks aren’t the presentation, you are the presentation. The deck is there to support you and your ideas.
 
Look at it another way. PowerPoint decks that are jammed full of data, charts, conclusions and complete paragraphs could just be emailed to the customer. What do they need you for? The customer can read it themselves and it saves you from having to make a sales call. What an interesting way to decrease business and work yourself out of a job.
 
#3. The two words that everyone loves to close with.
 
Most of the sales presentations I get to watch (and I get to watch hundreds every year) close with the presenter saying “thank you.”  Not exactly a strong call to action, is it?   
 
You deliver presentations because you want someone to do something. You might want their approval or an introduction or maybe you want their feedback on an idea. The bottom line is you want something from your listener and the best way to get it is to ask for it!      
 
I know you won’t always get what you want, but if you’ll ask for something specific it becomes a springboard for questions, discussion and next steps. You walk out of the boardroom knowing where you stand versus going back to the office and hoping that your phone will ring.     
 
Want to learn more? Then register for this month’s webinar where I’ll show you how to avoid the ten biggest presentation blunders. Hoping you will join us!       
 
Remember it takes courage to admit you could be a better presenter and confidence to believe you can change. It takes nothing to create excuses?
 
Asking great questions is a skill that top performers master. They refine their questions every week and benefit from increased insight, opportunity and bottom line sales.
 
It takes courage to admit you could be a better sales rep and confidence to believe you can change; it takes nothing to create excuses.
 

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In an article in the current Issue of Men’s Health Magazine Steve Calechman says the best advice is brief, and yet it resonates throughout your.

He created a list of “Three Words to Live By.” A few examples include, check the oil, call your mom, and write it down.

His article got me thinking about entrepreneurs and salespeople.

So I created my own list of “Three words to live by."

The best-selling advice you can get should be simple and not complicated.

If you’re an entrepreneur or a professional salesperson here’s my list of “Three words to live by.”

Three Words to Live By In Sales
Dress for success
Shine your shoes
Get the appointment
Always be early
Qualify your prospects
Smile when talking
Prepare and practice
Avoid winging anything
Don’t talk excessively
Ask good questions
Learn to listen
Take good notes
Always be smiling
Don’t blend in
Try being different
Dollarize the problems
Dollarize your solutions
Avoid doing quotes
Do sales proposals
Use odd numbers
Anyone can discount
Explain your value
Present tailored solutions
Communicate with brevity
Less is more
Have positive expectations

= = = More Thoughts on Selling = = =

Simplicity works best
Establish professional goals
Establish personal goals
Attitude is everything
Close the sale
Handle the objections
Avoid using clichés
Monitor your competition
Show your appreciation
Say thank you
Measure what’s important
Use a headset
Proofread your work
Balance your act
Read every day
Have some fun

Check out:

Selling Made Simple – 32 Things You Should Never Say
During a Sales Call
http://amzn.to/17mgGU0

Make sure you check out Jim's Sales Trailblazer program: http://salestrailblazer.com

Jim is a Sales Strategist and is the creator of No-Brainer Selling Skills. He shows salespeople and entrepreneurs how to increase sales, earn more money, have more fun, and how to do it all in less time. His focus is on practical ideas that get immediate results. He offers Advanced Sales Management Workshops, Sales Coaching, Consulting, In-house Sales Training Programs, and a wide variety of Learning Tools i.e. books, special reports, sales manuals, and CDs.Jim Meisenheimer is a member of The National Speakers Association, where he earned the C.S.P. designation, Certified Speaking Professional. He has authored five books including, "The 12 Best Questions To Ask Customers," and the recently published “57 Ways To Take Control Of Your Time And Your Life”.

Websites: http://www.startsellingmore.com

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What salesperson out there doesn’t want some quick tips to increase their sales and their sales motivation.  Consider these:

1. Use the first 10 minutes after coming back from lunch to make prospecting calls.
2. Contact all of the customers who have purchased from you in the past, but for some reason you no longer hear from or you haven’t called in a long time.
3. Ensure you contact every customer at least twice as often as they normally buy. For example, if a customer normally places an order every two months, make sure you’re talking to them at least every month.
4. Ask every customer you have who else they know who could benefit from what you sell.
5. Before quitting work every day, make one more phone call.
6. For people who are hard to reach, vary the time of day and the day of week you attempt to reach them.
7. Make the best calls of the day by 8:00 a.m. to reach people before they get too busy.
8. Have a reason for every call. Provide the customer a piece of information or follow up on a question to show how much you want to help them.
9. Refer your customers to others who might benefit from doing business with them.
10. Unless a prospect has been willing to provide you with some information or has done something for you, they’re only a cold prospect. Don’t let them take your time.
11. In addition to the telephone, use email and mail as additional ways to stay in touch with customers.
12. When you conclude a phone call with a customer, always suggestive sell one more specific item or service.
13. In addition to confirming orders via fax or email, verify them with a phone call and use it as a way to get one more item added to the order.
14. With every fax or email, be sure to include one more piece of information regarding another item/service the customer would benefit from buying.
15. Send the customer a hand-written note at least once every other purchase to thank them and and to further develop the relationship.

Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter, is author of “High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.” He is a consultative selling expert committed to helping individuals and companies identify better prospects and close more profitable sales. To get a free weekly sales tip, visit www.TheSalesHunter.com. Read the first chapter of his instant-classic “High-Profit Selling” here.

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Have you come to the conclusion that many of the decision makers and buyers you call on are less than truthful when they tell you your prices are not competitive with the prices they've been quoted by your competitors?

Put more bluntly, do you believe a lot of the buyers you deal with out and out lie to you in an attempt to get a lower price?

I don't believe there's any doubt about it that some buyers do out and out lie to salespeople, but it has been my experience that they are more likely to MISLEAD salespeople than out and out lie to them.

Buyers I've interviewed tell me that they don't believe salespeople are completely truthful with them, either. Buyers say they have learned that they come out better when they "test" salespeople. The reason: because salespeople will oftentimes lower the initial price they quoted when they believe lowering their prices will motivate the buyer to give them an order.

So buyers might respond to a price a salesperson quotes by saying something like: "…if you want my business you're going to have to sharpen your pencil a little bit…"

To which the salesperson might respond: "…could you tell me where we need to be to get a piece of your business?

And all of a sudden the buyer and the seller are in the middle of a back and forth negotiation, all of which began with a "testing" statement from the buyer that gave the salesperson the motivation to express a willingness to lower his prices.

If you want to avoid price negotiations, you have to quote a firm price. The way you quote a firm price is to have resolve in our voice when you say, "The price is $____________!"

Then when the buyer asks if you can do a little bit better, you answer with, "No, this is our very best price."

This is why I say salespeople and buyers often mislead each other. As a result the buyer feels as if he must "test" the salesperson to get the best price. And salespeople feel they must quote a little high to leave room to lower their price.

Trust is an essential ingredient to a solid relationship between a salesperson and a buyer. When a salesperson quotes a price and then under pressure lowers the price, the buyer is rewarded for testing the salesperson's resolve. And on top of that, the buyer doesn't believe the salesperson then next time around when he tells him he's quoting his best price.

When salespeople lower their prices the end result is almost always negative. The buyer always questions whether he ended up with the salesperson's lowest price. The buyer doesn't believe he can trust the salesperson to quote his best price up front. The buyer becomes convinced he must shop the salesperson's prices to find out where the bottom is, etc., etc., etc.

The best policy is to give your prices integrity by using the words, "THE price is $_________" when you quote. Then when the buyer tests you, answer with, "No, I can't do any better. We do a lot of research before we set our prices and we are convinced that this is a very competitive price."

Bill Lee Sales Seminar Services

Would your salespeople benefit from a sales seminar that would teach them how to bring in more new customers without cutting the price? Do your salespeople need some help in defending their prices? Call Bill Lee at 864-303-8366 or email Bill at LeeResourcesInc@gmail.com to schedule a Master Selling Skills Seminar for your sales team.

Bill Lee is a consultant and sales trainer to building supply business owners and managers. For more information to BillLeeOnLine.com or dial 803-303-8366