• Start with a preview of the benefits the prospect can achieve with your product/service. Promote confidence and justify the time you will need to conduct the presentation.
• Make sure the right information about the problem-solving offer is ready for presentation. Include in your preparation appropriate information about your company, the competition, and the business environment.
• Continuously seek out secondary sources of information. Make sure your information about the prospect is up-to-date and you’re aware of all issues the prospect may be facing.
• Practice questioning and listening techniques to ensure you ask the right questions and that the information obtained in the answers to those questions is useful.
• Offer a challenge. Ask the prospect to consider the cost of not using your product or service. Try to come up with a dollar figure.
• Recognize that whatever openers are used, there will be follow-ups, and the prospect will want to make sure that everything promised in the presentation becomes reality.
• Remind yourself of the lifetime value of the prospect. Think about how much repeat business the prospect will give you over the course of a long-term relationship.

Adapted from the book Selling ASAP by Eli Jones, dean of Louisiana State University’s College of Business.

Here are five steps that will help you open new accounts.

1. Establish rapport. Studies show that opening a cold call successfully depends 65% on the rapport you establish with the prospect and only 35% on your product or service. This means that unless you get the prospect’s attention quickly, the best product or service won’t result in a sale.
2. Identify key problems. Prospects become customers when you solve problems for them, and there’s no shortage of business problems. The difficulty with problems is not in finding them but in getting prospects to admit to them. Whether they admit it or not, prospects are always interested in ways to increase sales and profits and reduce costs. To overcome the initial barrier of resistance, try to find out exactly what’s important to your prospect and why.
3. Distinguish clear goals. You become invaluable to your prospect when you show that you understand his or her problems and goals, and have the ability to help solve them. Your product or service will become indispensable as soon as you’re clear on what it can do best for your prospect. It’s not a good idea to assume that prospects know the difference between good and poor quality products or services, and how they will help them achieve their goals. It’s your job as a salesperson to point out the relative advantages of your product or service, and how it will help prospects solve problems.
4. Develop the ability to persevere. Once you’ve identified problems, back your solutions with persistence and determination. Don’t consider the possibility of failure. Your ability to persist is what it takes to overcome the most difficult obstacles in opening new accounts. Studies show that the longer you persist with a new account, the more likely you are to succeed.
5. Understand the objectives and strategy of the prospect’s current supplier. It’s not enough to think only about how to convert a prospect to a customer. You also have to think about winning the battle with the present supplier. You can’t make the right decisions on your strategy without fully understanding the present supplier’s position, strengths, weaknesses, strategy and resources. Try to analyze all aspects of your competitor’s offering. How satisfied does the prospect seem to be with the present supplier? This perspective can be useful in arriving at a more objective measure of strengths and weaknesses rather than just relying on simple point-by-point comparisons.

Adapted from the book How to Get Your Competition Fired by Randy Schwantz, a sales consultant.

1. No surprises. Customers don’t look kindly on surprises. It’s always easier to deal with and defuse negative issues if customers are prepared for them ahead of time. Nothing in the proposal should be a surprise to prospects. The power of the proposal isn’t in flowery prose or multimedia graphics. It’s in the fact that customers have actively collaborated in its preparation and already agree with its conclusions. When they read the proposal, customers should agree that the solutions provided match their criteria.
2. Use the customer’s fingerprints. You accomplish this by using the prospect’s exact terminology and ideas as often as possible. Eliminate the verbal distinctions that separate you from the customer. Everything is “us” and “we” — that is, you and the customer working together. Try not to make customers translate your terms into their language. The more your proposal reads like a document that might have been produced within the customer’s organization, the higher the comfort level. You’re combining the best of your company’s experience and knowledge with the best of your customer’s and you’re describing the desired results in terms the customer is familiar with.
3. Ask for pre-proposal feedback. There will be times when the purchasing decision is going to be made outside the cast of characters you have met with. In these cases, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback on your proposal from the people you’ve been dealing with. They may provide you with some feedback so you can make adjustments before your proposal moves to a higher level.
4. Provide a participative presentation. It’s usually a good idea to ask members of the customer’s team to participate in the presentation. Customer participation is particularly effective when discussing problems and possible solutions. These are areas to which the customer’s team members can speak with an insider’s authority and credibility. Members of the customer’s team are usually more than willing to participate, since it gives them the chance to demonstrate their expertise to top management. The greater the team’s ownership in and comprehension of your proposal, the better the odds are that your proposal will stand out.
5. Identify the links between the solution you’re discussing today and future sales. At the same time you’re selling and installing the short-term value, you need to be positioning and anchoring your long-term capabilities. As you talk about the value the solution delivers, you can also mention opportunities for future added value.

Here are seven strategies that will help your salespeople overcome buyer hesitation:

• Try to anticipate objections your prospect may raise. That way you can be prepared to deal with them early on and impress the prospect in the process.
• When objections arise, use probing questions to help the prospect discover the answer for themselves.
• Put yourself in their shoes, and try to understand what they want and what you need to do in order to satisfy those needs. The bottom line is something’s stalling the decision. You’ll need to do some legwork to make the obstacle disappear.
• Ask your prospect for suggestions about how you can move the sale forward.
• State that you understand the prospect’s position, even if you don’t agree. Center your thinking on solutions to their problems, as opposed to stewing over your presentation being thrown off course.
• Track the objections you hear and at what point in the presentation they occur. You may find prospects are reacting to something you’re saying (or not saying).
• Prepare a list of common objections and responses in advance. Practice the responses, so when objections arise, the conversation will continue to flow naturally.

Adapted from the book Top Teaming by Lawrence Levin, President of the Levin Group, a global management consulting firm.

Here are seven presentation rules that will keep prospects in their seats.

• Rule 1: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Your presentation needs to be easy to follow and understood. Don’t clutter it up with too many words or examples.
• Rule 2: K.I.F.P. (Keep It Fast Paced). Prospects will get bored if you spend too much time on non-essentials. Keep the presentation interesting and moving.
• Rule 3: Use “wow” facts and statistics. You want the prospects to think, “Wow! I didn’t know that.” Factual information at the beginning of your presentation creates a sense of credibility that will lead to sales.
• Rule 4: Build in opportunities for stories. Well-told stories increase recall by another 26% over making a point without a story to illustrate it.
• Rule 5. Keep your presentation curiosity-driven. Unfold the information in a way that keeps your prospects curious. Try to give them a fact first, and then follow it with an explanation.
• Rule 6: Be confident but not obnoxious. Develop a rapport with everyone but pretend you’re speaking to one person at a time.
• Rule 7: Focus on them, not on you. Everyone’s favorite topic of conversation is him or herself. Try to think of the prospect’s needs and how you can meet them. If you concentrate on your prospects and remain focused on their needs and how you can help them, you’ll become a top producer.

Adapted from The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes, a corporate trainer and business growth expert. His clients include Pacific Bell, NBC, Citibank, Warner Bros., GNC, Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch.

If your folks don’t connect with prospects, they will probably be dismissed after a short meeting. If they show that they understand prospects’ problems and goals, they will be given a chance to discuss them in greater depth.

Test of effectiveness

The most important test of whether you’re handling preliminaries effectively is whether prospects are generally happy to move ahead in the presentation. If so, then you’re probably handling this stage of the call acceptably.

Solve prospect concerns

While you are thinking about the benefits of your proposal, your prospects will probably be thinking about problems, such as:

• Will I be able to justify a higher price?
• Will my present suppliers serve me better?
• Will there be political repercussions?
• Is the item too new or too radical?
• Are there built-in biases against it?
• Will bringing in a new product line create more problems than it solves?

Education is critical

Prospects always need to be educated. Don’t assume that they know the difference between good and poor quality products or services, and how that will affect achieving their goals.

It’s your job as a salesperson to point out the relative advantages of your product or service and how it will help prospects solve problems.

1. Lay the foundation. The key to selling your ideas is to remember everything you do and say makes an impression. When you send an email, answer a call or make a presentation, you’re marketing yourself. Every interaction makes an impression. If you want people to be attracted to your ideas, try to be positive, open-minded and trustworthy.
2. Define the opportunity. You can’t sell your idea until you have clearly identified the opportunity at hand or the problem and its underlying cause. Try to determine what advantages the opportunity may generate or what it will cost if no action is taken.
3. Prepare your proposal. Describe the parameters of your plan, how long it’s going to take and who will be involved with its implementation. Customers may favor a plan that’s easy to understand, offers a realistic timeline and outlines the resources and investment required.
4. Understand the organization. Learn how the prospect’s organization operates and who makes the decisions. Know who the players are and what they need.
5. Rehearse the presentation. If you’re going to present your ideas to a group of managers or in a one-on-one session, practice your delivery. If your proposal is to be submitted in written form, be prepared to clarify and defend your ideas.
6. Present with passion. If you don’t have confidence in yourself or your idea, your prospect or customer won’t either. Confidence is convincing. Passion persuades because people want to believe.

Source: Jim Dawson, Managing Partner of ADI Performance, a sales training organization.

Salespeople face it every day. It never goes away. At times it seems to be in “remission,” but it always returns. Just when it appears to be under control and losing its grasp, it becomes overwhelming.

It’s the fear of rejection — the agony of once again hearing the two-letter word, “no.” Whether it’s trying to get an appointment or pushing for a close, the fear of being turned down is there, and it’s the leading cause of call reluctance.

Call reluctance is a mental condition that prevents salespeople from picking up the phone or walking up to someone to introduce themselves.

All call reluctance is based on fear — fear of rejection, fear of the unknown or the fear that we should be doing something more productive with our time.

It’s a deadly disorder that any salespeople can catch.

Understanding the fear of rejection
Here are a few ideas to help your salespeople understand the fear of rejection:

• Rejection is very personal. Selling is a profession where you put yourself on the line. Price is the most common excuse salespeople use to overcome rejection.  The price excuse takes several forms: “They didn’t want it because the price was too high.” “They were just shopping and didn’t want to spend.” The permanent solution is to stop using price to ease the pain of rejection. Look for the real reasons and the fear of rejection will disappear as the sale comes to a close.
• Ignoring the fear of rejection can be fatal. The fear never goes away. Some salespeople try to avoid rejection by staying with existing accounts and only occasionally calling on new prospects. Without even realizing it, the salesperson who avoids dealing with the fear of rejection becomes less aggressive, less adventuresome and less effective.
• The best way to cope is to focus on successful situations. Every salesperson knows success. It’s out of the successful situations that the fear of rejection can be controlled. The fear of rejection can keep salespeople from selling situations they need in order to be successful.

5 ‘rejection’ tips

Here are five tips that help salespeople cope with (and overcome) rejection:

1. Qualify every prospect. If you fail to qualify each of your prospects, you’ll make calls that foster rejection. Taking time to research prospects leads to more sales and less rejection.
2. Try not to make a call without adequate preparation. The prospect knows when a salesperson is “winging it.” Being prepared means knowing something about the prospect’s business and the challenges facing that business. Well informed salespeople are valuable to customers because they solve problems. By involving yourself more deeply in your prospect’s business, you’ll also become indispensable.
3. Be sure you’re meeting the prospect’s needs. The best advice is to try not to open your presentation by talking about your product or service. Ask questions that give you some insight into how you can best meet the prospect’s needs. If you propose to solve problems that don’t exist for the prospect, you’re almost sure to feel the pain of rejection. Figure out ways to help your customer become more successful. Taking on the prospect’s problems is an important success strategy.
4. Use your presentation to justify the price. You have little control over price, but you do have control over presenting the prospect with enough reasons to buy. Your price can be higher than the competition as long as the prospect feels it’s justified in terms of the values and benefits offered.
5. Differentiate your product or service from competitors. Before you can prove that your product or service is better, you have to prove that it’s different. If your prospects can’t see the difference between your product and the products you’re competing with, they will usually buy the cheapest one. Even if your products are nearly the same, there are always ways to differentiate, such as service, delivery, product durability or company reputation.

1. Determine your purpose. Are you looking for information or feedback? Do you hope to close the sale with one meeting? Is your goal to secure a second meeting after you pinpoint decision makers? It’s important to determine your purpose and stay focused until you accomplish your goal.
2. Visualize a successful outcome. Try to run through the entire presentation in your mind, concentrating on the important points you want to make. Picture yourself as being confident, knowledgeable and articulate.
3. Find out how much time you’ll have before the meeting starts. Then be flexible enough to change your presentation to fit the time allotted.
4. Differentiate yourself. Always keep in mind a list of benefits that make your product or service unique. Prospects want to know what you can bring to the table that no one else can. Try to provide practical solutions to their problems.
5. Summarize. Go over the key points you’ve made and the key concerns the prospect has raised. Show your prospect that you understand their problems and offer solutions that work.
6. Keep your purpose in mind and close for the next step. That could be getting more information, securing a demonstration or asking for the order.
7. Follow through. Strong follow-through is what keeps customers loyal, and the best salespeople make it a part of their sales philosophy.

Adapted from the book 12 Clichés of Selling and Why They Work by Barry Farber, a consultant and sales trainer.

Take a close look at your standard presentation, the “about us” section on your corporate home page or your PR material. Highlight every instance of the words leader, leading, best, top, unique, great, largest, solution, innovator or innovative.

Go and find all instances of the phrase, “We work to understand our customers’ unique needs and then build customer solutions to meet those needs.” Then hit the delete key. Because every time you use one of those buzzwords or phrases, you’re telling your customers, “We’re exactly the same as everyone else.”

Study results

A recent study of company promotional materials showed that 161,000 companies considered themselves to be leaders in their industry. More than 75,000 companies think they’re the best or the top; 30,400 think they’re unique.

If you think the word solution makes you unique, think again. More than 30,000 companies claim they offer the leading solution. Have you ever met a salesperson who didn’t think his or her value proposition was better than any competitor?

We’re here to create value

No matter how much you tell your customers, “We’re here to create quantifiable business value,” keep in mind that the next salesperson through the door is saying the exact same thing.

Differentiating yourself

A good way to differentiate yourself from the competition is not to describe your differences, but to make customers value them. First, try to be memorable, not agreeable. Try to frame your conversation around an edgy or unique insight. Being different is better than being forgettable.

Then try to build a presentation that leads to your solution, not with it. Before even talking about your capabilities, try to identify a problem customers didn’t even know they had – one that you can solve better than your competitors.

When you do that, you don’t need hackneyed words or phrases to close the deal.

(Adapted from The Challenger Sales, by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson.)

Here are five bad habits that are almost guaranteed to turn prospects off.

1. Acting smarter than the prospect. Salespeople who try to be the smartest person in the room don’t impress anyone. Of course, anyone will deny that they would ever act like that deliberately. But when they nod their heads impatiently while a prospect talks or drum their fingers on a table, they send a message that they don’t want to hear what’s being said.
2. Passing judgment. There’s nothing wrong with offering an opinion during a presentation. But it’s not a good idea to pass judgment about what a prospect is saying. Try to accept ideas as they are presented with complete neutrality. By not expressing opinions, you can reduce the number of pointless arguments that go no where and often cost the sale.
3. Starting a sentence with “no,” “but,” or “however.” When a salesperson starts a sentence with any of these words, no matter how friendly the tone, the message to the prospect is, “You’re wrong.”
4. Making destructive comments. These are the thoughtless remarks that run the gamut from jabs at competitors to unkind remarks about former customers. A good way to cure this habit is to ask yourself whether the comment will help your customers, your company or the person you’re talking to.
5. Passing the buck. A salesperson who can’t shoulder the blame is not someone who builds long-term customers. While they’re trying to save their own skin, they just end up sending a negative message to their customers.

Principle No. 1 — People make decisions for their reasons, not yours.

If you can show people they can get what they want from your company, they will generally agree to do whatever it takes to do business with you.

Principle No. 2 — People must trust you and believe in what you say.

Trust cannot be taken for granted. You must continue working to earn their trust. Three ways:

• Always believe in what you say
• Always keep the commitments and promises you make, and
• Always be yourself.

Principle No. 3 – People have a built-in fear of being sold.

They will buy when they are convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs in time, money and effort.

Most people have questions that must be answered to their satisfaction before they will allow themselves to commit to a course of action, so it’s critical that you encourage them to be open and straightforward with their concerns.

Principle No. 4 — Emotions influence people’s decisions, and they won’t act until they are emotionally ready.

Logic alone is usually not enough to move a person to act. Two powerful emotions that come into play during the sales process are fear of loss and desire for gain.

You must build upon both emotions throughout the sales presentation. However, the fear of loss can often be the more powerful catalyst when moving a prospect to act. That’s because the fear of loss tends to elicit the more immediate response of the two.

Principle No. 5 — Prospects will make buying decisions when salespeople make it easy for them to do so.

People are afraid of making a bad decision — so many times they avoid making a decision altogether.

You must reassure them the decision they are making is an intelligent one and infinitely less risky than not making a decision at all.

Principle No. 6 — Trial closes can secure small commitments throughout the sales process.

Trial closes are questions asked at predetermined points in your presentation to gain commitment. Positive responses to your trial closes give the clearance you need to proceed with the presentation.

Whenever you use trial closes, you are asking for a commitment from the prospect. If the person says yes, it is your cue to move forward. If the person says no, it either means your prospect doesn’t understand parts of your presentation or isn’t interested.

Adapted from the book Building Customer Partnerships by Phillip Faris.

Here are six common presentation blunders salespeople make. Each is a complete turn-off to prospects.

1. Poor preparation. They don’t prepare properly so they go into a presentation without understanding the prospect’s business. They forget that most presentations are won in preparation, not in the sales call.
2. Jumping to conclusions. They offer solutions before they have a clear understanding of the prospect’s problems. So they base their presentation on what they think is important instead of what their prospects want. Top salespeople never try to solve a problem without the right information.
3. Talking too much. They take control of the conversation, thinking it’s the best way to move to a successful close. Top salespeople listen more than they talk. When they do speak, it’s about prospect problems, concerns and goals. They also take notes to make sure they have a clear understanding of prospect needs.
4. No personalization. They don’t customize the presentation for the prospect. They show up and give a canned presentation with no consideration for the specific customer.
5. No differentiation. They don’t identify their competition before making the presentation. If they have a competitive advantage, they’re not aware of it.
6. Poor close. They fail to ask for the order so they don’t get it, no matter how persuasive their presentation has been. The goal of every presentation is to close the sale. Top salespeople either achieve that goal or identify the next step that will bring them to a successful close.

Adapted from the book The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes.

What are the worst blunders you’ve seen in a sales meeting? Share them in the Reply box below.

How do top salespeople bridge that gap to connect with prospects and consistently build strong relationships?

Here are four ideas to consider:

• Know the prospect’s priorities beforehand. Asking good questions is a great way to understand a prospect’s needs. But doing extensive pre-call research gives salespeople a chance to get acquainted with the prospect’s corporate culture, what has driven past buying decisions and how his/her company does business. The more a salesperson knows up front, the more comfortable prospects feel discussing business with him/her. Pre-call research also allows salespeople a chance to ask targeted questions and confirm what they already know, while demonstrating to prospects they understand their needs.
• Create a buyer-centric timeline. Top salespeople work with prospects early on to establish a timeline that takes into account all the factors that will contribute to their buying decision. This way they have a better grasp on whether a prospect is stalling, or if there’s another reason for their not moving forward with the sale. Great salespeople use timelines to send a message that they want to work as a partner, putting the prospect’s needs before their own.
• Prioritize each prospect’s need. Some needs are more important to a prospect than others. The salesperson who creates a value proposition based on the prospect’s biggest hot button needs is often in a much better position to win the sale. The best salespeople create a hierarchy of needs based on what has motivated a prospect’s past buying decisions and where prospects see their company headed in the months to come. Salespeople use that hierarchy as a gauge for how to focus the presentation.
• Take personal responsibility. Just as most prospects like to make a connection with salespeople before agreeing to do business with them, they also want to be assured that the salesperson will work as a partner for the duration of their relationship. Top salespeople are proactive, following up at regular intervals in order to ensure they’re: aware of any potential problems before the prospect has to contact them, constantly on the prospect’s radar and building the type of relationship that leads to higher levels of loyalty and satisfaction.

Source: Achieve Sales Excellence, a book by Howard Stevens.

1. Show the true cost. Include all costs that prospects will incur when making the purchase. Try to offer prospects what they need. If you’re offering more than one option to prospects, it’s best to provide multiple proposals.
2. State the objective. The proposal should show the prospect what the product or service will achieve. If the main focus is to reduce production costs, try to explain how it will be done to give a competitive advantage.
3. Reveal the process. The prospect should be able to look at the proposal and tell when the product will be created, shipped and installed. It’s never a good idea to over promise in the proposal, because customers will hold you to what’s in print.
4. Display expected results. Proposals should remind prospects of what the benefits are by showing the impact that the new purchase will have. It’s a good idea to clearly display why it’s to the prospect’s advantage to do business with you.
5. Provide closing arguments. A proposal should restate the points that caught the prospect’s attention. If your company reputation is what sold them, try to include customer testimonials in the proposal.

The best way to do that is to immediately spark enough interest that prospects give your salespeople the time they need to make a presentation.

Here are five steps that will help your salespeople open new accounts.

1. Establish rapport. Studies show that opening a new account depends 65% on the rapport you establish with the prospect and only 35% on your product or service. This means that unless you get the prospect’s attention quickly, the best product or service won’t result in a sale.
2. Identify key problems. Prospects become customers when you solve problems for them, and there’s no shortage of business problems. The difficulty with problems is not in finding them but in getting prospects to admit to having them. Whether they admit it or not, prospects are always interested in ways to increase sales and profits, and reduce costs. To overcome the initial barrier of resistance, try to find out exactly what’s important to your prospect and why.
3. Distinguish clear goals. You become invaluable to your prospect when you show that you understand his or her problems and goals, and have the ability to help solve them. Your product or service will become indispensable as soon as you’re clear on what it can do best for your prospect.
4. Develop the ability to persevere. Once you’ve identified problems, back your solutions with persistence and determination. Don’t consider the possibility of failure. Your ability to persist is what it takes to overcome the most difficult obstacles in opening new accounts.
5. Understand the objectives and strategy of the prospect’s current supplier. It’s not enough to think only about how to convert a prospect into a customer. You also have to think about winning the battle against the present supplier. You can’t make the right decisions about your strategy without fully understanding the present supplier’s position, strengths, weaknesses, strategy and resources. Analyze all the aspects of your competitors’ offering, not just product, service or price.

Adapted from the book How to Get Your Competition Fired by Randy Schwantz.

It’s estimated that four out of five deals are closed with buyers who’d previously rejected a similar offer. So prospects who rejected you yesterday may be ready to buy right now if you approach them the right way.

Here are a few tips to share with your salespeople when they’re calling on prospects who have turned them down in the past.

• Approach these prospects as if you’re calling on them for the first time. Try to avoid any references to prior calls, unless the prospect brings them up. It’s usually better to start with a clean slate.
• Try to remember what you did or didn’t do on the previous call. List a few things you plan to do differently when you call on the prospect again.
• If possible, try to come up with the reasons  the prospect turned you down previously. If you know the specific objection, what will you change in your presentation to address it?
• Research the buying needs of the prospect. You will get turned down again if you don’t come up with a plan before the call.
• Make sure the prospect has a clear understanding about your products and services. Do any objections seem product-related or personal?
• If your prospect turned you down because of budgetary reasons, address those reasons early in your proposal. Try to help the prospect envision a high-value payoff with your product or service.
• Keep a journal of positive customer feedback and repeat sales. Compare that feedback to what you get from prospects that turn you down. It might lead to a breakthrough.

Here are 5 ways your salespeople can make sure they answer that question:

1. Answer communications. Prompt, clear and complete telephone and e-mail responses send the message that your company is timely and efficient — qualities that’ll set you apart from competitors.
2. Offer ideas. What customers need more than anything else is help coming up with innovative ideas. Be their sounding board. You’re the expert. If you can’t be of assistance, you probably won’t get the business. Show them you can deliver more than a product or service.
3. Make every presentation valuable. Don’t just drop in on customers unannounced. Have a clear purpose when you ask for a meeting and make sure the customer agrees that it’s worthwhile. Presentations must speak to customers’ concerns. It shows that your company’s in sync with theirs.
4. Show ways to reduce costs. Don’t assume your customers believe you’re looking for ways to save them money. Be on the lookout for cost-cutting solutions, and share what you find. This reminds customers that you always have their best interests in mind.
5. Tighten your schedule. Giving customers proper attention takes time, so it’s critical that you set plenty aside to stay in touch.

1. Determine your purpose. Of course, your ultimate goal is to make a sale, but that may not necessarily be the reason for your presentation. If you’re dealing with a long and complicated sales cycle, the purpose may be to set up a trial, secure a second appointment to meet with other executive committee members or to get the information you need to submit a formal proposal. It’s important that you determine your purpose before you get to the meeting, and stay focused on it until you accomplish your goal.
2. Visualize a successful outcome. Run through the entire process in your mind. Reiterate the most important points you want to make. Go over your research and the benefits you think will be most important to this prospect. Picture yourself confident, knowledgeable, articulate and able to handle whatever comes your way.
3. Find out how much time you have. You could find yourself in the middle of your presentation when your client says, “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go now!” Your best bet is to ask at the beginning start how much time the prospect has. Then be flexible enough to change your presentation to fit the time frame.
4. Build rapport. You may not have a lot of time for small talk, but a short time spent getting to know someone is never wasted. If you have time, ask the prospect’s assistant or secretary if he or she can give you any information about the prospect that might be useful. Find areas of interest you and the prospect can chat about briefly. Look around the office and see if there is any common ground on which to build a smooth start to the conversation.
5. Qualify. Although you have probably qualified the prospect before the meeting, you can expand on this during the presentation and get any additional information you might need.
6. Differentiate yourself. Always keep in mind a list of three things that make you, your company and your product/service unique. Prospects want to know what you can bring to the table that no one else can. Make sure they know how your unique strengths will be of benefit to them, and try to provide practical solutions to their problems.
7. Keep your audience involved. You want to get your prospects emotionally involved in the sale early. Keep asking for their feedback. Ask questions to find out whether or not you’re on the right track. For example, ask “Based upon what we’ve talked about so far, is this of interest to you?”
8. Summarize. Go back over the key points you’ve made and the key concerns the prospect has raised. Show the prospect that you’ve listened to what’s important to him or her, and connect your product to those needs.
9. Close. Keep your original purpose in mind — setting up a trial, making a second appointment, etc — and close in on that goal.

Adapted from the book “The 12 Clichés of Selling” by Barry Farber.

Great salespeople don’t just ask, ask, ask … hoping for a positive response. They follow rules. Every question they ask is meant to lead the presentation in a specific direction.

More importantly, the goal is to also establish trust through dialogue — and maintain control of the conversation by designating its course.

Here are some secrets you can pass along to your sales reps that’ll make the most of each question they ask:

• Segment customer goals by past, present and future. Have a list of questions at your disposal that will help you understand why prospects made the decisions they did in the past, what they currently require to fulfill their needs, and how they perceive those needs changing down the road.
• Explain your process. During your introduction, put the prospect at ease by describing what you intend to do. For example, a good opening statement would be something like, “In order to understand more about your company, I’d like to ask a few questions about what you’re looking for and what your expectations are.”
• Start with broad, general questions. As you gain the prospect’s trust, move toward more specific questions.
• Avoid close-ended questions that require simple, one word answers. Seek to learn not only what the prospect does, but how and why they do it.
• Use “layered” questions to prompt more specific answers. For example, when asking a prospect where they see their company six months from now, be prepared to follow-up with more pointed questions like “Why do you see your company heading in that direction?” or “How will that impact your operations?”

In many cases, the right question will uncover a hidden objection before the prospect has a chance to raise it.

The end game in any sales presentation is to uncover needs that allow your company to match a solution to the prospect’s problem or challenge.

And before any presentation, it’s a good idea to tell your reps to outline their goals. For example, are they looking to close a deal, understand the prospect better or demonstrate a product’s effectiveness?

Once your reps know what they’re trying to achieve, they can design questions to lead the sales call down that road.

Source: The Secrets of Successful Selling by Kristina Susac.