Chapter Six Sales Presentation and Demonstration: The Pivotal Exchange PowerPoint presentation prepared by Dr. Rajiv Mehta.

Chapter SixChapter Six

Sales Presentation Sales Presentation and and

Demonstration: Demonstration: The Pivotal The Pivotal ExchangeExchange

PowerPoint presentation prepared byDr. Rajiv Mehta

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Chapter 6 | Slide 2

Chapter OutlineChapter Outline

• The first sales call and the sales presentation

• Planning the sales presentation

• General guidelines for effective sales presentations

• Sales presentations to groups

• Sales presentation strategies

• Adaptive versus canned sales presentations

• Written presentations

• Selling the long-term relationship


Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should understand

• Alternative sales presentation strategies.

• Guidelines for effective sales presentations and demonstrations to organizational prospects.

• Preparation of written sales presentations.

• Sales presentation strategies for different prospect categories.

• Use of adaptive and canned sales presentations.

• Sales presentations to prospect groups.

• How to make a sales presentation memorable.Royalty-Free, Digital Vision/Getty Images


Figure 6.1:Figure 6.1:The Personal Selling Process (PSP)The Personal Selling Process (PSP)

The fourth step of the professional selling cycle


The First Sales Call and the The First Sales Call and the Sales PresentationSales Presentation

• Successful salespeople think of the sales presentation and demonstration as the pivotal exchange between seller and buyer in the sequence of exchanges that make up the selling process

• The approach emphasized in this text is the consultative problem-solving strategy

• Consider several tasks before making the sales presentation


Planning the Sales PresentationPlanning the Sales Presentation

Gathering information1.

Identifying the prospect’s problems and needs2.

Preparing and presenting the sales proposal3.

Confirming the sale and/or the relationship4.

Ensuring customer satisfaction5.

• To prepare for the first sales presentation, salespeople can think of 5 planning stages:

Chapter Review Question:What are the basic steps in planning the

sales presentation?


Table 6.1 Planning the Sales Table 6.1 Planning the Sales Presentation and DemonstrationPresentation and Demonstration


1. Gathering Information1. Gathering Information

• Too much talk can be detrimental to the sales process. A chronic complaint is that salespeople talk too much, fail to ask the right questions, and do not really listen to the buyer.

• Top-performing salespeople understand the need to gather all the relevant information they can about prospects and their perceived problems.

• First, they make sure they’re talking to decision-makers (those with authority to buy) or key influencers, so neither party’s time is wasted.

• Next, they ask probing questions to encourage prospects to provide information on perceived problems, objectives, financial issues, needs, and personal feelings.


2. Identifying the 2. Identifying the Prospect’s Problems and NeedsProspect’s Problems and Needs

• Using a consultative, problem-solving approach, the professional salesperson tries to uncover the prospect’s perceived problems and needs through skillful questioning and careful listening.Royalty-Free, Digital Vision/Getty Images


3. Preparing and Presenting the 3. Preparing and Presenting the Sales ProposalSales Proposal

• Before making a sales presentation, take the time and effort to prepare yourself to give a superb performance.

• Thus, remember the following:

A. Professional approach to sales presentations

B. FAB leads to SELLS

C. Value-added selling (VAS)

Royalty-Free, Digital Vision/Getty Images




A. Professional approach to sales presentations

• Salespeople should custom-tailor the sales presentation and demonstration to the prospect’s specific business situation, needs, and individual communication style.

• The sales presentation strategy can vary depending on different types of prospects as shown in Table 6.2.


Table 6.2 Prospect Categories and Table 6.2 Prospect Categories and Sales Presentation StrategiesSales Presentation Strategies


Table 6.2 Table 6.2 cont’dcont’d



B. FAB leads to SELLS

—Features are the obvious characteristics of the product.

—Advantages are the performance traits of the product that show how it can be used to help the customer better solve a problem than present products can.

—Benefits are what the customer wants from the product.

—Show the product’s features.

—Explain its advantages.

—Lead into the benefits for the prospect.

—Let the prospect talk.

—Start a trial close.

F

A

B

S

E

LL

S



C. Value-added selling (VAS)• A comprehensive strategy, VAS focuses on providing customers with

extra, or value-added benefits over those offered by competitors

• VAS shows customers that the extra overall perceived value is greater than that the competitors are offering

• VAS presentations go beyond the FAB approach to convincingly present and demonstrate the overall added value (benefits) that the customer will receive from purchasing from their company across four categories:

1. Value-added product benefits

2. Value-added relationship benefits

3. Value-added company benefits

4. Value-added salesperson benefits

Chapter Review Question:What is the value-added selling approach to sales presentations? Identify and discuss the four value dimensions.


Table 6.3 Value-Added Benefit Comparison Chart


4. Confirming the Sale and/or the 4. Confirming the Sale and/or the RelationshipRelationship

Professional salespersons:

• See their prospects and customers as business partners cultivating a relationship based on trust, mutual interests, and cooperation, instead of aggressively on “closing the sale.”

• Spend considerable time trying to undercover and fully understand the needs and concerns of their partners through attentive listening and by serving as trusted advisers, consultants, and even friends.

• Do not want to sell products or services with which the customer will not be satisfied.

• Realize that only by providing continuous customer satisfaction will they obtain the repeat business that leads to long-term customer loyalty and higher commissions for themselves and greater profits for their companies.


5. Building Relationships and 5. Building Relationships and Achieving Customer SatisfactionAchieving Customer Satisfaction

• Some underperforming salespeople neglect post-purchase customer service. Immediately after the sale, their interest, contact, and relationship with the customer fall off rapidly.

• Such shortsightedness or indifference is a “relationship killer,” and these salespeople may later have to work doubly hard to reestablish rapport and rebuild the relationship with that customer.

• High performing salespeople are committed to providing prospects and customers with totally satisfying service throughout the long-run relationship—before, during, and after the sale.

• They understand that fully satisfying current customers generates repeat sales, referrals to other prospects, and increased sales as customer needs grow.


General Guidelines for General Guidelines for Effective Sales Presentations Effective Sales Presentations cont’dcont’d

• In sales presentations and demonstrations, salespeople can facilitate prospect involvement and the learning process by using 4 learning principles

1. Participation

– Prospects who participate in the sales presentation and demonstration retain more information and develop more favorable attitudes

2. Association

– Prospects remember new information better if they can connect it to their personal knowledge, past experiences, or frames of reference



3. Transfer

– Prospects who see the product being used in situations similar to their own can better visualize its benefits

4. Insight

– Product demonstrations should weave facts and figures from the sales presentation into the prospect’s own experience



• Prospects want to understand a product with all their senses, so where appropriate in the demonstration help prospects see, hear, feel, smell, and taste a product.

• Eight planning steps to prepare for the demonstration are:

1. Demonstrate benefits that are custom-tailored to the prospect's needs

2. Decide what to say about the benefits from the prospect's perspective

3. Select sales aids that involve the most human senses and will make the most positive impact




4. Pre-check all sales aids to make sure everything is working smoothly

5. Decide when and where to make the demonstration (usually a controlled environment is best)

6. Involve the prospect in the demonstration. Remember the motto:

"If they try it, they'll buy it”7. Prepare a written demonstration outlining three columns:

• Benefit to demonstrate

• What to say

• What to do8. Rehearse the demonstration many times until you have the right timing

of actions and words




Dressing for Success

• Additional suggestions for dressing for success are found in Table 6.4

An important part of any sales presentation is the salesperson's personal appearance



Table 6.4 Dressing for Sales Table 6.4 Dressing for Sales Presentation SuccessPresentation Success


Effective Behavior and Effective Behavior and Listening PrinciplesListening Principles

• Look like a successful salesperson

• Develop rapport early

• Adjust to the customer's communication style

• Present the strongest customer benefits and selling points first

• Establish credibility

• Make the presentation fun

• Arouse as many of the customer's five senses as possible

• Combine factual and emotional appeals


Effective Behavior and Effective Behavior and Listening PrinciplesListening Principles

• Look for and use responsive behaviors

• Help prospects draw the right conclusions

• Avoid making puns

• Never tell ethnic or offensive jokes

• Never disparage another company or individual

• Assume a relatively firm negotiating position initially

• Help prospects draw the right conclusions

• Use humor with discretion and only when appropriate

• Readily admit minor product weaknesses


Table 6.5 Behavioral Guidelines for Effective Table 6.5 Behavioral Guidelines for Effective Sales Presentations and DemonstrationsSales Presentations and Demonstrations


General Guidelines for Effective Sales General Guidelines for Effective Sales Presentations: Listening PrinciplesPresentations: Listening Principles

• The old maxim “The reason you have two ears and one mouth is that you should listen twice as much as you talk” is especially true for a salesperson

• Salespeople must act professionally and listen reactively to their prospects

© Royalty-Free/CORBIS


Table 6.6 Keys to Good ListeningTable 6.6 Keys to Good Listening


Table 6.6 Keys to GoodTable 6.6 Keys to GoodListening Listening cont’dcont’d


Sales Presentations to GroupsSales Presentations to Groups

• Sales presentations to organizational prospects and customers must include a business strategy (business plan) explaining how the product can profitably be resold or used to make other products

• When making presentations to groups, salespeople may wish to use a presentation planning checklist

• Organizational customers must be convinced of the soundness of the overall business strategy before they will buy the product


A. Sales Presentation FormatA. Sales Presentation Format

• Salespeople succeed using many different kinds of group presentations. One popular group presentation format follows this sequence:

2. Product2. Product

1. Problem1. Problem

3. Benefits3. Benefits

4. Evidence4. Evidence

5. Summary5. Summary

6. Action6. Action


B. Alignment of the Sales PresentationB. Alignment of the Sales Presentation

• Before your talk, align the sales presentation by knowing:

1. Who is the prospect audience?

2. What benefits are the prospects seeking?

3. How do the prospects prefer to communicate?



Table 6.7 Sales Presentation Alignment Table 6.7 Sales Presentation Alignment and Guidelines for Prospect Groupsand Guidelines for Prospect Groups


Guidelines for Guidelines for Sales Presentations to GroupsSales Presentations to Groups

1. Begin with an audience-focused statement of purpose

2. Translate the product into prospect benefits

3. Energize the sales presentation and make it memorable by using S A D T I E:

S — Statistics

A — Analogies, similes, and metaphors

D — Demonstrations

T — TestimonialsI — Incidents

E — Exhibits

Chapter Review Question:In context of making presentations to groups, what does the acronym SAD TIE stand for?

Define and give an example of each of the following aids for sales presentations: (a) analogies, (b) similes, and (c) metaphors.


Guidelines for Guidelines for Sales Presentations to Groups Sales Presentations to Groups cont’dcont’d

4. Encourage interaction and participation

5. Show your commitment to customer service

6. Ask for specific action

7. Critique the sales presentationRoyalty-Free, Digital Vision/Getty Images


Sales Presentation Strategies Sales Presentation Strategies cont’dcont’d

• In preparing sales presentations to achieve specific objectives, you can use several alternative strategies, including:

• Stimulus-response

• Salesperson asks a series of positive leading questions

• Formula

• Salesperson leads the prospect through the mental states of buying (attention, interest, desire, and action)

• Need satisfaction

• Salesperson tries to find dominant buying needs

Chapter Review Question:List and briefly describe the basic sales presentation strategies. Which one is generally considered best for professional salespeople? Why?

© Royalty-Free/CORBIS


Sales Presentation Strategies Sales Presentation Strategies cont’dcont’d

4. Consultative problem solving

• This is the most frequently recommended and most successful sales presentation strategy for today's professional salespeople by

a) Focusing on the prospect's problems, not the seller's products

b) Emphasizing the partnership of buyer and seller and stresses "win-win" outcomes in negotiations

Chapter Review Question:What is the consultative problem-solving sales presentation strategy? Give an example of a selling situation where this strategy would be especially appropriate?

5. Depth selling

• Employs a combination of several sales presentation methods

6. Team selling

• Presentation made to a group of decision makers from different functional areas


Table 6.8 Sales Presentation StrategiesTable 6.8 Sales Presentation Strategies


Table 6.8 Sales Presentation Table 6.8 Sales Presentation Strategies Strategies cont’dcont’d


Adaptive Versus Canned Adaptive Versus Canned Sales Presentations Sales Presentations cont’dcont’d

• Adaptive selling • stresses the adaptation of each sales presentation and

demonstration to fit each individual prospect

• Canned selling • is any highly structured or patterned selling approach

• Both adaptive and canned sales presentations can be effective when matched with the appropriate prospect in a designated sales situation

Chapter Review Question:Explain the difference between adaptive

and canned sales presentations.


Written PresentationsWritten Presentations

• Whether used at the time of the verbal sales presentation or mailed as a follow-up after the sales call, a written presentation can be very effective in winning sales

• Several suggestions for writing effective sales presentation include:

1. Tailor each written sales presentation to the specific customer

2. Make the opening paragraph of the presentation sparkle

3. Sequence benefits in the most effective order

4. Be positive and upbeatRoyalty-Free, Digital Vision/Getty Images


Written Presentations Written Presentations cont’dcont’d

5. Use a natural, conversational style in writing

6. Use a lively and logical format

7. Never disparage competitors

8. Ask for action

9. Personalize the proposal with a handwritten note

10. Double-check and proofread everything

Chapter Review Question:Give some basic guidelines for written

sales presentations.



Table 6.9 Tips for a Table 6.9 Tips for a Written Sales PresentationWritten Sales Presentation


Selling the Long-term RelationshipSelling the Long-term Relationship

• As many industries seek to improve quality and reduce costs, the trend toward closer supplier relationships, longer-term contracts, and fewer suppliers is increasing

• Salespeople must go beyond mere “selling” to “serving” their customers much like consultants or business partners

• What these trends tell selling organizations is that selling the long-term relationship is not just another strategy, it is fast becoming the only viable strategy


Key TermsKey Terms

• FAB• A memory-aid acronym that stands for a product’s Features, Advantages,

and Benefits that will appeal most to a salesperson’s customer.

• SELLS• A memory-aid acronym: Show your product’s key features, Explain its major

advantages; Lead into specific benefits for the prospect; Let the prospect do most of the talking; and Start a trial close, and use more throughout the presentation

• Value Added• Providing customers extra or added-value benefits than offered by

competitors.

• SAD TIE• A memory-aid acronym that stands for Statistics, Analogies,

Demonstrations, Testimonials, Incidents, and Exhibits, one or all of which the salesperson may use to spice up a sales presentation.


Key Terms Key Terms cont’dcont’d

• Core Selling Team• Members of the selling firm assigned to particular prospects or customers to

develop and maintain ongoing buyer-seller relationships with them.• Selling Center

• Members of the selling organization assigned to a certain prospect to close a particular sales transaction. After the sale is consummated, the selling center is likely to disband.

• Adaptive Selling• Modifying each sales presentation and demonstration to accommodate each

individual prospect.• Canned (or Programmed) Selling

• Any highly structured or patterned selling approach.• Written Presentation

• In sales presentations to organizational prospects, the salesperson’s explanation of how the prospect can profitably use the product. Also called a sales proposal or business plan.


Chapter Review QuestionsChapter Review Questions

1. Why are the sales presentation and demonstration so important in the Personal Selling Process?

2. Why are clothing and accessories important considerations in making an effective sales presentation?


Topics for Thought and Topics for Thought and Class DiscussionClass Discussion

1. Why do you think the consultative problem-solving sales presentation is the most successful strategy for professional salespeople? What are the benefits of this strategy to the prospect or customer?

2. Name at least five special prospect categories, and describe an appropriate strategy for a sales presentation to each.

3. Which do you think is more effective for most business-to-business selling, an oral or a written sales presentation? Why?

4. Do you think sales presentations and demonstrations are more important for tangible products or for intangible services? Why?


Internet ExercisesInternet Exercises

1. Using an Internet search engine, find three firms that specialize in sales presentation training, and visit their websites to determine whether they use other types of sales presentation strategies in addition to those identified and described in this chapter.

2. Use Google or any other search engine to locate two examples of sales presentation strategies being demonstrated using Flash or streaming video.


Projects for Personal GrowthProjects for Personal Growth

1. Contact two business-to-business salespeople and ask them about their methods of preparing sales presentations, dress style during the presentation, and demonstration techniques.

2. Research the following two industries and report on the methods and approaches that each uses to sell its products: (a) airplane manufacturers, and (b) manufacturers of household products.

3. Contact three salespeople (one who sells to manufacturers, one who sells to resellers, and one who sells to the national government) and ask them how they prepare for their sales presentations and demonstrations. Are there major differences? What similarities emerged?


Projects for Personal Growth Projects for Personal Growth cont’dcont’d

4. With a classmate, take turns playing the role of a publishing company sales rep trying to sell a new textbook to a college professor who might be nicknamed “Skeptical Sid.” Then prepare a written sales presentation to sell a textbook to the instructor of your personal selling class. Depending on how creative or cooperative your instructor is, you may want to ask him or her to play one of the prospect stereotypes described in Table 6.2.

5. Assume that you are a sales representative for a manufacturer of automatic fire sprinkler systems for commercial buildings. Outline sales presentations using each of the seven basic strategies. For each strategy, create and then describe the individual prospect or group of prospects to whom you’re presenting.


Case 6.1: Self-Analysis of a Case 6.1: Self-Analysis of a Sales PresentationSales Presentation

1. What should Peter say and do now? How do you think Mr. Spearman will react? Why?

2. What do you think about Peter’s sales presentation? What could he have done better?

3. What advice would you give Peter for capitalizing on the interest Mr. Spearman showed in environmental packaging?

4. Should Peter mention the union strike at Megastar?


Case 6.2: What Makes Him Case 6.2: What Makes Him So Successful?So Successful?

1. What do you think Dan will tell Wanda about his selling philosophy and use of different sales presentation strategies?

2. Describe in a few sentences the most important lesson you think Wanda should have learned on her day in the field with Dan.

3. What advice would you offer Wanda to help her sell more successfully in her sales territory?

Case 6.2 is found online at http://college.hmco.com/pic/andersonps2e.

http://college.hmco.com/pic/andersonps2e





Chapter Six Sales Presentation and Demonstration: The Pivotal Exchange PowerPoint presentation prepared by Dr. Rajiv Mehta.

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