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It’s About the Audience – Not You

January 27th, 2009 mikeR Leave a comment Go to comments
Inside the head of your audience

Knowing your audience and what problems they have will make your presentation compelling to your customer. You won’t be “the guy trying to sell us”, instead you’ll be “the guy who will solve our problem”.
It’s About the Audience – Not You
It’s About the Audience – Not You
Consider these two scenarios: At your presentation you tell your prospective client about the wondrous aspects of your Widget. Alternatively, you come in and show that you understand that their industries’ costs have skyrocketed in the past few years. You show them that by using your Widget their costs will be reduced by 10% – 20% each year. In the first scenario you leave it up to the customer to figure out how you can help them. In the second case you let them know that you understand their situation and that you are there to help – a much more successful pitch.

Write the story about solving the problem

Your presentation is a problem solving story that your audience will relate to when done correctly. It needs to flow logically reflecting people’s natural thought process while always keeping your audience interested and wanting to hear more.

Preparation

Start by writing the story from the beginning to the end. Break the story up into short 1 -3 line individual sections where each section tells something different. Don’t worry about how you will present the story with words or graphics yet, that will come later.

The elements of the story

Of course every presentation is different and depends on variables such the goal, and the subject matter. However, most sales presentations will contain most or all of the following elements:

  • Feel their pain – Describe their problems in brutal clarity. The greater your empathy, the more they know you understand, and the more interested they will be in your message.

  • Relieve their pain (i.e. Solve their problem) – Illustrate how by solving their problem, your audience no longer needs to suffer.

  • Explain the product – You know how it works, but they don’t. Just keep it simple.

  • Be the best – Tell them why you are the best company or person to solve their problem.

  • Establish credibility – You say you’re the best, but hard facts or third party opinions are more credible in a cynical world. How long have you been in business? Do you have certifications? Has anyone endorsed your company?

  • Close – Summarize the most salient points and tell them the next steps to take to begin solving their problem with your product.

Solve their problem, win their business

Create a presentation that flows and talks about solving problems. If you are successful doing this, giving the presentation will become easy and enjoyable and your audience will be excited to watch it and speak with you afterwards!
Categories: Presentation Development Tags: pitch, presentation, sales
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