Anne Miller | January 2010

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Guilty of "Presentation Babble?"

Here’s a mind-boggling statistic: According to a Global Information Industry study, the average number of words of information that each American consumed per day outside of work in 2008 was 100,000. It doesn’t mean you read all these words, just that they crossed your eyes or ears in a 24 hour period and, no surprise given the internet and mobile communication, that number increases annually.

No wonder it is so difficult to make an impact! I was reminded of this as I coached a really sharp sales rep yesterday for a leading media company. Her visuals were great, her information was compelling, her energy was infectious, but her key points were lost in “presentation babble:” extraneous side comments, sentences that were not really structured to hit home, and segues between points that were choppy or non-existent.

People are only going to listen to what stands out in the flood of information that washes over them daily. That means your words have to catch their attention, relate to them, keep what you are saying interesting, and make it easy to follow. Try video or audio taping your key business conversations: what you say on the telephone to get appointments; what you say when you first meet prospects in their offices; what you say when you meet people in a networking situation; and—absolutely--what you say when you are presenting to win business or gain support for your ideas. Are you part of the information overload problem or does what you say rise above the noise of those 100,000 words and make an impact that gets you what you want?

Time is short: Make What You Say, Pay!

Correction: I had the wrong link for Cliff Atkinson’s new book, The Back Channel. Here is the correct link. www.backchannelbook.com

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Negotiating Value Over Price

You’re too expensive. I can get this cheaper. Our budgets have been slashed. When clients say that in a negotiation, the knee-jerk reaction of many salespeople is to wind themselves up and sell the benefits of their products twice as hard as they did the first time they made the sale. But showing benefits is only one way to demonstrate value to clients. There are at least three other approaches. Do you know them?

1. Raise the issue of Loss: “What will it cost you not to have this policy?” “How much will you lose by not being in the market?” (It is said that people are motivated more by the fear of loss than the promise of gain. Will you stop eating chocolate tomorrow if I say you will be healthier without it or, are you more likely to stop, if I said, there's a good chance you will die at the end of the week, if you eat chocolate?)

2. Focus on Time and Resources: “Do you realize how many years it took to develop these contacts?” “How many people do you think you would need to add to staff to do this yourself?

(Clients forget what it took to make them successful and respected. Pointing out the depth of your resources, not as proud accomplishments, but as questions can often remove the price pressure on you as they recognize what they are indeed getting from you.)

3. Appeal to Ego: “As the leader in the field, why would you work with anything less than the best?” “If you want to compete with the larger, better known firms as you state in your annual report, why would you hire second tier people to fill these jobs?” (It pays to know how your clients see themselves and to what they aspire. A bit like Martial arts - using their weight against them.)

Value comes in many shapes and sizes. By all means, highlight the benefits of your products and services, but also have these approaches in your back pocket if you need them to show value in other ways.

Until next time, remember to Make What You Say, Pay!

P.S. Want to be happier in 2010? It’s easy. It’s fun. It may surprise you. Find out.

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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Must Reads for Communicators in 2010

One thing I love about the internet is all the amazing people I have met who would never have crossed my path otherwise. For example, there is the fellow in Saudi Arabia, of all places, who was the first person to download the ebook version of my book Metaphorically Selling and who sent me a video of his speech to critique his use of metaphors. That would never have happened, pre-online days.

Two others are Cliff Atkinson and Ardath Albee, who live across the country and who constantly add to my professional knowledge base.

Cliff is a presentations colleague and guru when it comes to technolog and presentations. His new book The BackChannel Book is a must read for anyone who presents to large audiences. He explains how with Twitter and social media, your one-to-an-audience presentation has become, whether you wanted it to or not or realize it or not, a one-to-the-world presentation and what you must do to ensure you succeed on this new world stage.

Ardath is the go-to person for B2B emarketing. She is a class act. Her content is solid and she is extremely generous in the depth of the information she provides on her site. Ardath epitomizes "thought leader" and "added value" to her market. Her book Emarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale is also highly recommended to help you get off to a good start in 2010.

What books are you reading to keep you ahead of the curve in 2010?

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Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Ants on the Picnic Table: What Buyers Know

Because of the internet, our clients are likely to be very well informed about an intended purchase before they ever see or talk to a salesperson. (Just think what you did over the vacation when you bought your holiday presents or your latest tech gadget.) Whether clients are looking for new financial software, marketing services, graphic designers, or tech equipment, you can bet they have been all over the web--like ants on a picnic table covered with spilled honey--comparing services, reading articles, and getting advice from chat groups and social media site friends. They do this to help them get smart about their intended purchase.

Pity the poor salesperson who thinks that he/she can then win business by simply identifying the buyer’s problem and wowing that buyer with a good solution-presentation. That approach is likely to generate tons of informed questions and objections from the buyer. Unanticipated by the salesperson, these questions and objections will cause a lot of embarrassing and counterproductive back-pedaling, ultimately lowering the chance of winning the business.

What to do?

Determine what your buyer knows about solving said problem before you even think of presenting your solution. Good questions to ask include:

What has brought this situation about?

Why are you interested in a change now?

What options have you looked at?

Which ones appeal to you? How do you see them helping address the situation?

What would an ideal solution look like? Why?

The answers to these questions will help you craft a more responsive solution to your client’s needs and increase your chances for winning business.

Happy New Year to all.

Remember, people have limited time: Make What You Say Pay!

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