b'SALES & MARKETING CSIA 31A samasterofceremoniesforCEOCertainlysomethingamongthecornucopiaof summits,Ivieweddozensofsalesofferings you are describing should fit their bill! Just presentations delivered by vendors to achoose one, so I can make my commission!gatheringoftheseC-levelexecutives. Vendors paid tens of thousands of dollars each toInstead . . .get in front of this elite group of potential clientele.Ifyoucanthaveanactualcustomerbeginyour Here are five key mistakes the ineffective presenterspresentation, deliver a case study on their behalf.made(andwhattheycouldeasilyhavedonetoSay something like, You know, customer X came correct them): tousbecausetheyhadachallenge,something that may also likely be facing you. When we started Mistake #1: Start the presentation talkingtalking with them here is what we found . . .about the companyMistake #3: Death by PowerPointThe amateurs begin by delivering information like:ManypresentersusePowerPointsimplyasa When the company was founded substitutefornotecards.Theyhaveslideafter Where it is located slide flash up on the screen with bullet points that What products are services are offered remind them what to say next. Or they load slides What awards they have won and certificationswith complete paragraphs, as though Microsoft had they have earned charged them by the slide.How many customers they haveThis would be similar to going to a movie, and rather Yes, this seems like a logical place to start, sincethanseeingactiononthescreentoengageus, most sales presentations do. the producer has simply elected to put the actors scripts up on the screen.But why doesnt this work? Because the presenter has not first given the prospect a reason to evenInstead . . .care!AlthoughthepotentialcustomermaybeCENTRAL STATES INSULATION ASSOCIATIONsmiling or nodding, he or she is probably thinking,Take a lesson from Hollywood. After all, Americans Yet another sales presentation! When will this dogspend billions of dollars to go to the movies each and pony show be over? year. Yet no one has ever spent even a dime to see a PowerPoint presentation.Instead . . .UsePowerPointtoprovideimagesthatreinforce Have a real-life customer start your presentation.your use of stories.Tell a story about your customer. The prospect is more likely to bond with someoneMake the customer (not you or your company) the who seems a whole lot more like themselves ratherheroofthatstory.Yourpotentialcustomerwill than listen to someone whom they perceive to beidentifywiththecustomerandseehow,ifthey yet another salesperson. choose you, they too can become the hero in their own story.Mistake #2: Talk about all of the products and services that you offer.Potentialclientsmaynotrememberyourcharts, graphsandstatistics,buttheywillremember In other words, you are expecting the customer tostories, especially emotional ones.diagnose their problems and pick their own solution. continuedon pg. 33csiaonline.org'