Learn how to present your sales proposal like a pro. Here are 9 tactics that the best sales professionals in the world commonly use while presenting their sales proposals.
Know Your Audience
Your presentation should speak specifically to the industry, company and personal needs and interests of your client. Research your prospect before you present. Remember what makes them unique, learn their mission statement and values. Learn their products and services and how your solution helps them specifically.
Personalize Your Presentation
Recognize your audience by their first name. It personalizes the meeting which with all else equal, will improve your chances of winning the business. Learn about their positions in the company and who you are talking to. Always make eye contact throughout your presentation. Hold the attention of the audience by exuding a positive and resilient energy within the environment, while also connecting with everyone emotionally.
Set the Pace
People have a limited attention span. You must set the pace and keep your audience intrigued by presenting the critical information they are seeking. If you must present other information that is not critical, try creating a video or a PowerPoint to make it more interesting. This can help to hold your audience’s attention until you transition to your next critical key point.
State the Objective
Clearly state what the objective of your proposal is at the beginning of your presentation. Review the objective in the middle of your presentation after key points to reinforce the purpose of your key points. Finally, review your objective while concluding your presentation. Tell them, tell them what you told them and then remind them again.
Elicit Participation
It is a good idea to get people involved when they are deciding whether or not they are going to invest with you. This can help them learn more about your product, service, and company, which will build trust and confidence behind the decision to move forward with your proposal.
- Ask questions
- Invite them to ask their own questions
- Ask them to relate to a scenario
- Ask them to recall something
- Ask their opinion
- Ask their approval
Present Value
When people see value in a product, they are likely to purchase. Do not assume your audience sees the value, they don’t! Your proposal and presentation should show the client why this is important for them, what they will gain, what advantage this gives them and/or how revenue will increase or costs will decrease. A statement of value should be placed carefully throughout your presentation, at the beginning, before or after every key point and at the end.
Be Real
A genuinely caring attitude is the most important thing you can bring to a presentation. You must care about and pay attention to the people you are presenting to. Always be honest. A prospect will respect your honesty and feel more comfortable doing business with you even if the a piece of information you give them is not in their best interest. If you have prepared properly, you will have plenty of information that is in their best interest and disclosing information that is not will build the trust that is key to cultivating a relationship and making a sale.
Thank You!
Do not forget to thank your audience for their time, participation and consideration. You should thank them at the beginning of your presentation and at the end of your presentation.
Follow Up
Ask them when an appropriate time is for you to follow up. By doing this, you can take the guess work out of it. When you know they answer, you will know you are following up at the right time. You will not have to worry if you are following up too soon and being seen as pushy or anxious or too late and perhaps losing the business to someone else.
Learn more about how to present your sales proposal with The Sales Coaching Institute: one-on-one sales coaching & sales training.
