Sales Effectiveness Articles

PowerPointless: Presenting Without a Point

So here is my most used quote, from Lewis Carroll:

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Why? Because most people begin a presentation focused on content and design rather than purpose and objectives.

I’m not sure why people attempt to write presentations without this crucial step but they do—all the time. Today I sat with some sales guys bidding on a £350m project for which they have spent 6 months developing the solution, 6 months in dialogue with the prospect and 6 months getting ready for the big day.

And when I ask what’s the objective, they laugh and say “to win!”

Well, that would be the objective of the entire process–the months of work that led to the invitation to present. Today is the day they figure out what they hope to accomplish in the 45 minutes they have in front of the prospect. Continue reading →

Interaction Throughout the Presentation

Moving from Monologue to Dialogue to encourage audience interaction and involvement.

A couple of weeks ago I was preparing a sales team for a two-day presentation session. The prospect is outsourcing a $1 billion IT project and scheduled 14 different sessions, 30-90 minutes each with 25 presenters and contributors in total.

In a sales situation like this, the more the prospect talks the better. So as the presenter, how do you encourage participation, control the debate and build on the relationship? Continue reading →

The Pursuit of Happiness

Not for the first time, I’m wondering about the insanity that is the global procurement process. One of my clients is bidding on a £1 billion IT outsourcing project – alongside 10 competitors – a process that has collectively cost these companies upward of £10 million. Eleven teams, eleven solutions developed over the past year and only one that will see the light of day.

Of course, I believe the team we are supporting is the clear leader –  not just because their presentations are going to be Killer – I think they are going to win because they’re happy! Continue reading →

Lies, Statistics and Audience Recall

A friend e-mailed me last week with this great article for adult learning professionals (instructional design). I encourage you to read it, but the gist is that the following data are lies:

People recall:

• 10% of that they hear
• 20% of what they read
• 30% of what they see

My friend was concerned that I refer to these stats in my book and corporate website. More specifically,  “On average, bullet-point slides yield a 15-20% recall of information after just five minutes.” 

While I am not about to make ANY academic claims,  I routinely do two tests with clients – one during the sales process and one during the training course. Continue reading →

Obama vs McCain

Presenters’ first rule: What’s the message?

I am a self-confessed Americanophile – I love the country, I have been to 34 states and spend probably 50% of my working life there. But for the fact that my wife cannot legally practice medicine there I would move. I’m not sure where to – but probably Denver or San Francisco (with ski resorts being the pull). So it is with utter fascination I have been watching the presidential race. It will affect us all. Continue reading →