There is nothing worse than a sales person, who continues on; even though they have completely bored and disinterested the prospect. Sometimes more importantly than teaching rep.s techniques to make the deal is teaching them to have the common sense not to kill the deal. Here are 6 very important tips, to include in all your presentations; to make sure that you don’t shoot yourself in the foot & maximize your chances for closing sales.

1. Get in touch with the prospect before you say too much! It is a common mistake for sales rep.’s, even business owners make to make too big a deal out of the features of their product or service. And not enough of a deal out of asking questions and listening to a potential customer’s needs. Nobody likes dis-interesting facts rammed down their throat and if you have not made a connection with your prospect you are unlikely to interest them. Make a meaningful rapport with your prospect, before you try your song and dance.

2- Listen for the cues. Jumping into a presentation or close before you have signals from your customer is often like trying to serve a hot-dog, to somebody who wants a hamburger. As you should know; assuming is based on ASS/U/ME . I hope I do not need to explain that one.

     If you listen intently to what your customer is saying and pay attention to the vibes they are putting out; you will be 10x more likely to make the sale. You will know what they want, BEFORE you make the mistake of trying to force feed them something they are not interested in.  In order to achieve this, You just need to ask enough questions and then shut up.

3. Tune the engine before taking it on the track. Prepare for success in your sales game. No matter how good you are at thinking on your feet, your intuition will work better with proper preparation. Preparing for your sales efforts in advance will help you stay on course, if your sales dialogue takes some unexpected turns. Just like you know that you must prepare for a race to do your best; you must prepare for the sales arena to achieve success.

4.   Sizzle and warm fuzzies sell.  While facts are king. People do not like to be bored to death in a sales presentation. If you want the client to buy from you, be pleasant and uplifting. Have a little fun with the prospect. Boring presentations of fact from a dull monotone voice will not win the day.  Tired stories that have been overworked and that are used instead of honest interest in the customer seldom prevail. In today’s competitive market place, your presentations need to be genuinely entertaining, as well as factual.

     Go to ToastMasters. Practice with another rep. Work on facial expression in the mirror. Whatever it takes, plan to be interesting to your customers. Your prospects will appreciate it and so will your bank account.

5.   Use source materials, samples and relevant examples. Bringing out an object that shows what you mean at an important point in demonstrating your product is like putting chocolate in the ice-cream. It adds flavor to your presentation and makes it stick out in your customer’s mind. Find literal examples that your customer can see, touch & feel to make your points. Great reinforcer’s like this will often say as much to the customer as you do. They add fuel to the fire. They turn your points into visible facts that stick in your customers minds. I keep steel samples on my desk that show a powerful point. My steel, even when smaller is heavier than my competitor uses. All my customer has to do is pick it up and see for them-self.  This kind of support to your presentations turns them into moments, where your customer sees with their own conviction, that they should buy from you! Failing to do this can kill deals. Good demonstrations can create them.

6.  Always create a new agenda, until the sale is closed. You may not get the order the first time out the gate. So create the context for the next step with the client. Decide upon a time that you will talk again. Agree upon next steps that you will take to help them further. Go ahead and set the date and time for your next meeting and set the expectation, of what you will do for them at this meeting. The oldest adage in the MLM business is the goal of a successful meeting is to set another meeting. Let the end of your meeting be the beginning of the next steps, to conclude in serving the customer and winning the sale. To avoid killing the deal; keep it alive by making sure that you and the prospect agree on the next steps.

Work on these tips to improve your sales technique. Let me know how you do!

Tim G. Carter – aka “Slam”