"Thanks! Great Presentation."

“Great Presentation!” These could be the worst words you can hear after your sales presentation! Another horrible response for a presenter might be, “Thank you very much. We will keep this in mind.” Without an inspiring action step, most presentations inform without compelling an active response from the audience members.

Almost anyone can deliver an informative presentation. However, when you combine an informative presentation with a customer-focused approach, you have a powerful combination that will more likely achieve the desired result: a trial, a visit, or an order!

Two other critical components of a compelling presentation are its visual appeal and flexibility to accommodate the audience’s interests. The graphics, support materials, and content flow must be stimulating. It’s boring to use a PowerPoint presentation with black type on a white background in the default font of Arial. If this describes your presentations, maybe you hear the refrain, “Thanks, we’ll get back to you.” more than you would like. There’s no question that a visually attractive presentation commands attention, but it also needs to be flexible. Use hyperlinks to navigate to content when your prospect shows interest in a point or asks a question. It’s more important to respond to your prospect’s thoughts than following the order of your slides. Visual appeal and flexibility will produce a more proactive response from your prospects. You may have to brush up on your PowerPoint skills. However, some of the best presentations we have seen did not use PowerPoint at all! If you prepare and practice with your prospect in mind, you can command the attention yourself! Gasp! Remember, PowerPoint is there to support you, not replace you.