The Right Price

How many of us are in a business where presentations are expected to result in sales? 

Presentations explain the features and benefits of a program or product. 

Giving presentations are the easy part, with so many electronic products available to make your presentation professional and convincing. 

It is understood that you are highlighting benefits to them, not just features of the product.

But when your presentation comes to the last slide, what then?

Will your audience just sit there, not knowing what comes next?  This is where you have to confirm the sale.  This is the close, where you move your audience from a passive, receiving position into action. 

The Close:

This is your summation, where you condense your message, reiterate the key points and move them toward the path you have laid out for them. 

It is a common wrong assumption that your audience is now in tune with you and knows exactly what you want them to do. 

Tell them what to do next:

I worked with a man selling electrical saving devices for the home.  The devices were not cheap ($500), but they would save 20-35% of a home’s electric bill.  He offered to install a model without cost for a month, so the homeowner could see the difference. 

He told his prospect exactly what they were going to do next, what they needed to do and why they should do it (the benefit).  If he assumed the customer knew what to do, he would many times be left with a prospect thinking “that’s nice” rather than participating in the sale.  He guided the prospect toward an installation date, assuring him that he was taking all the risk and the homeowner was taking none. 

He knew his customers would pay to keep the device once they saw the savings on their monthly bill.

Selling multiple products like courses or recordings can be achieved through a checklist where prospects select their choices as each is presented.  Question marks can highlight any cloudy areas.  In this way, the audience is interactive.  This is exactly the way builders go over upgrades to a new house, or companies with multiple product offerings offer selections. 

The assumption is that the prospect will buy one or more items.  The question marks can be dealt with as the sale is being rung up, perhaps with further explanation or demonstration  later – but the sale is handled first.

Help them buy:

When presenting a course of action to achieve a result, guiding your audience with a question of “what are our next steps?” will lead to participation.  Combined with your presentation, this question indicates all possibilities have been considered and now the audience must figure out how to put that course of action into place.

A different question of “which of these courses do you like?” without guiding to a specific course runs the danger of the answer, “None.”

The bottom line is that you are helping your audience choose the best course of action for them.  Don’t sell them.  Help them buy.  Put yourself in their perspective.

Closes that rarely work:

Questions?  What are your thoughts?  These closing questions initiate confusion.  Many people attending a presentation want to take in benefits and be assured that the presenter’s course is the right one.  Asking for questions will force issues to clarify, many times confusing the audience, leading the discussion down other tracks and dampening sales action.

It is better to emphasize the next step in the sales process, offering to be available later for specific questions.  Don’t give up control of the close.

Which do you like better?  This closing question invokes choice and confusion.  People rarely like to be put on the spot, and will choose neither rather than make the wrong choice.

Finally, never sound hopeful that the presentation was clear and the audience understood the overall objective.  Maintain control, put yourself in their shoes, and help them buy with firm and knowledgeable guidance.