Years ago one of my mentors gave me great advice as I prepared for an important sales presentation for a key client. He said, “If you do not want to speak to an empty room, remember that audiences are self-centered, egotistical, and selfish.”
His recommendation made it a lot easier to design a winning sales presentation. Here’s how…
We removed all of the slides and data about us and focused 100% on the client. Every slide told a story about how we could help them solve their most pressing problems in a way that made sense to them and their industry. Each member of our presentation team put every ounce of their energy into looking the client in the eye and authentically speaking about what we could and could not do and how we could add the most value in the areas that mattered most to them.
While we were all excited and a bit carried away by the potential of winning a large new account, we followed my mentor’s advice. We subtracted all the “arguments” about us and put ourselves in their shoes, clearly and articulately sharing how we would help them get to where they wanted to go.
