{"id":1608,"date":"2008-06-09T15:30:53","date_gmt":"2008-06-09T20:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/06\/presentations-are-security-blankets\/"},"modified":"2008-06-09T15:25:15","modified_gmt":"2008-06-09T20:25:15","slug":"presentations-are-security-blankets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/06\/presentations-are-security-blankets\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentations Are Security Blankets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.salesopedia.com\/content\/view\/1476\/10479\/\">Salesopedia.com offers an article<\/a> from Jeff Thull discussing sales presentations.\u00a0 This topic is a tricky one for salespeople and managers &#8211; most view presentations as a good thing&#8230;a chance to discuss your offering with a prospective customer.\u00a0 But here is the &#8220;trap&#8221; that can occur in an ill-timed presentation:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Look at this from the customer\u2019s perspective. Based on what we said about the customer\u2019s area of comprehension, it is highly likely that two-thirds or more of the information that customers hear falls outside their area of comprehension. Further, what they do hear sounds very much the same. What does the customer understand? Price. As you may already expect, everyone is now starting their downward spiral to commoditization\u2026the natural outcome of presenting too much, too soon and too often.<\/p>\n<p>To help you avoid falling victim to the Presentation Trap, ask yourself these <strong>five critical questions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.<\/strong>\u00a0 What percentage of your sales presentation\/proposal is devoted to describing your company and your solution?<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. <\/strong>What percentage of your sales presentation\/proposal is devoted to describing your customer\u2019s business, their problems and objectives?<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. <\/strong>How well do your customers understand their own problems?<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.<\/strong>\u00a0 How much of your presentation is focused on persuading and convincing?<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. <\/strong>How well can your customers connect your solutions to their business situation?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Presentations have to occur at the proper time in a sales process.\u00a0 Unfortunately, our experience has shown that most errors occur because salespeople present too early, before they have fully qualified the opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>The need to educate prospects is a hot trend in the information age.\u00a0 However, if you read the article, you will see there is a right way to do this without forcing the prospect&#8217;s decision process down to the lowest common denominator&#8230;price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Salesopedia.com offers an article from Jeff Thull discussing sales presentations.\u00a0 This topic is a tricky one for salespeople and managers &#8211; most view presentations as a good thing&#8230;a chance to discuss your offering with a prospective customer.\u00a0 But here is the &#8220;trap&#8221; that can occur in an ill-timed presentation: Look at this from the customer\u2019s perspective. Based on what we said about the customer\u2019s area of comprehension, it is highly likely that two-thirds or more of the information that customers hear falls outside their area of comprehension. Further, what they do hear sounds very much the same. What does the customer understand? Price. As you may already expect, everyone is&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/06\/presentations-are-security-blankets\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[751,748,749,753,750,752],"class_list":["post-1608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-techniques","tag-how-to-present","tag-presentations","tag-presenting","tag-running-a-sales-presentation","tag-sales-presentations","tag-when-to-present"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-pW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":442,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/11\/powerpoint-muggings\/","url_meta":{"origin":1608,"position":0},"title":"PowerPoint Muggings","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I must fall in the masochistic side of PowerPoint - I actually enjoy PowerPoint presentations. CareerJournal offers this article - Tips for PowerPoint -- Please Spare Us - which comments on many pet peeves regarding Microsoft's presentation software. Despite the barbs: ...there are an estimated 30 million PowerPoint presentations given\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1661,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/07\/fictitious-selling\/","url_meta":{"origin":1608,"position":1},"title":"Fictitious Selling","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, the title is a bit of a minomer.\u00a0 The reference is to a Kelley Robertson post on the S&MM SoundOff blog.\u00a0 He provides 3 sales tips based on a fiction writer's boot camp he recently attended. Here is an abridged version of those tips (my bold): Start with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":700,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/02\/overwritten-sales-ads\/","url_meta":{"origin":1608,"position":2},"title":"Overwritten Sales Ads","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"You don't have to read this, just look at it's sheer girth: Qualifications\/Necessary Skills: Attention to Detail. Able to be alert in a high-risk environment; follow detailed procedures and ensure accuracy in documentation and data; concentrate on routine work details and organize and maintain a system of records. Able to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Employment Ads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Employment Ads","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/employment-ads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1069,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/07\/death-by-powerpoint\/","url_meta":{"origin":1608,"position":3},"title":"Death By PowerPoint","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I have read many posts about the scourge of PowerPoint and how it derails presentations. Being a PowerPoint fan, I have resisted these barbs. That is, until this morning. I sat through a presentation in which the speaker used PowerPoint during his 60 minute talk. Here's what I experienced in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/windowslivewriterdeathbypowerpoint-876etombstone.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":444,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/11\/sales-aptitudes-series-handling-stress\/","url_meta":{"origin":1608,"position":4},"title":"Sales Traits Series &#8211; Handling Stress","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"You could argue that this week's aptitude - Handling Stress - is a key component in almost every job. In sales, it is critical because the typical sales position involves multiple levels of stress. Whether it be presentations in front of many Directors and VP's or dealing with an irate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aptitudes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1146,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/brevity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1608,"position":5},"title":"Brevity","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an excellent reminder from the JustSell.com newsletter: How long was your last presentation? What could be trimmed? Over the next couple weeks (outside the money hours, of course), invest some time examining the brevity of your sales presentations (both your formal and informal versions). For every point ask,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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