Follow these presentation tips to help you present like a pro salesperson, every time you’re trying to make a sale. Check them out now.

Data shows that 75% of sales presentations leave prospects feeling like the salesperson just didn’t get it. How many times have you presented in a prospect meeting and think it’s gone well, but afterwards you don’t even hear back from them? This unfortunately is a very common problem. Most of the time, this is because of the sales presentation you have given just miss the mark.

Thankfully, this problem can be avoided in future by implementing a few quick sales presentation tips that can transform your selling technique and improve your sales.

Think of your clients’ needs

Before you even think of putting a presentation together, you firstly need to find out what it is the client wants and needs. Most prospects complain that salespeople’s presentations are missing the mark by not actually offering things they want or care about. This is because they haven’t done enough research. You need to ask the right questions to find out whether you can offer what the potential client wants; whether you can solve any issues they are having, and whether the person you are delivering your presentation to is the person who can actually decide whether or not to invest in your services. Every client will be different and so there is no point just going in and delivering the same presentation every time because 9 times out of 10 it won’t apply to that person. Tailor your presentation to your client.

Give solutions to your client’s problems

Most salespeople give presentations that end up talking on and on about things the potential client doesn’t care about. What they do care about is solving the issues they are actually having. When you present features or benefits of your product or service that have no relation to your clients’ problems, you’re just shooting yourself in the foot. They don’t care and will end up not listening to what you have to say anymore.

Think about the last time you bought a computer and the salesperson is telling you it comes with a built-in CD player and webcam and wants to show you all the cool features of these things. You were probably thinking to yourself, I don’t care about these things, why is this guy wasting my time showing me all this when I, like most people, use my iPhone to stream music and facetime people. This is a great example of a salesperson presenting solutions that have nothing to do with what a prospect cares about. Only present solutions to your client’s problems.

Keep your presentation as short and succinct as possible

This one is really important, make sure your presentation is as short and direct as possible. Get to the point and then stop. So many salespeople just want to add “one last thing.” This can kill a sale. If your selling in a situation where the client is ready to buy, but then you go “Oh and I’ll just show you another thing we can do…” and then the client says “Well we don’t really need that. That’s not what we are focused on,” then you’ve lost them a bit. TED talks curator Chris Anderson states that sales talks should be no longer than 18 minutes, as it’s short enough to hold people’s attention and precise enough to be taken seriously. After this length of time, people zone out and no longer retain the information being presented.

As salespeople, we get excited about all the different features and benefits we can offer, and we think they are great – but the reality is that not everyone will think this way. Your clients don’t care about the million-and-one different things you can do, they simply care about what relates to them. Don’t get caught up in presenting just one more thing.

Use case studies

Showing real-life examples of what you can and have done for other people provide clients with evidence that what you say you can actually deliver. Show them how you have solved a similar client’s problem in the past. A case study is just an example of how you’ve helped another client do what this client is looking to do. This provides proven results and is more likely to help convince a client if they know you are capable of helping them, and your solutions actually work. Case study presentations are so much more engaging than a standard presentation. Make sure you provide case studies as standard from now on.

The one-minute rule

This is simple: You should never speak without interruption for more than one minute during a sales presentation. Gong.io, a top intelligence conversion platform for sales recently discovered that top-performing salespeople have a lot more back-and-forth engagement with prospects during a presentation. They also found that no presentation where the salesperson spoke for more than a minute and a half straight ever turned into an actual sale.

An image of a stopwatch resting on a table.

Make sure you never talk for more than one minute without engaging the clients back into the conversation. This ensures that the client is still interested, paying attention and actually following what you are saying. It engages the client more and allows you to be able to answer any questions or queries they may have. Remember every 60 seconds to re-engage your client back into the conversation.

Use feedback loops

This ties in with the one-minute rule. A feedback loop is just a simple question like “Does that make sense?” or “Are you still following?” or “Are we on the same page here?” that you ask the client to bring them back into the conversation. This prompts the client to engage and say whether they do understand and if everything makes sense, or whether they don’t understand and need something explaining.

When used in the right way you can use them regularly and clients won’t even notice you are doing it. They suck people back in and keep them focused and paying attention. They are also great because they can alert you to when you are going off track or not going in the right direction. After all, the client will tell you they don’t understand.

If you lose the client, just stop

When salespeople feel like they’re losing a sale they tend to push more. They keep on barging through their presentation, trying to get it out and include everything before it all falls apart. This just makes them pushier and more persuasive and loses the client even more. The more you apply pressure to a client, the more they will want to push back.

If you get the feeling you are about to lose a client, just stop. You can say something like “I’m starting to feel like we are not on the same page here. Is there something I’ve missed?” Either the client will tell you that you are off track and explain how to get back on track, or they’ll say no and explain maybe they were just distracted by something and you can carry on. Either way, this will allow you to get the conversation back on track and re-engage your client.

Present your client with clear and scheduled steps forward

A man conducting a sales presentation.

Your presentation absolutely should be ending with clear, informative and scheduled next steps otherwise you’re in trouble. Nowadays we are selling far more complex, high-end products or services and they require multiple steps. As a result, sales get lost because clients aren’t sure what to do next. After your presentation, there will probably be the next step before closing the deal. This could be a follow-up call or meeting with decision-makers, it could even just be sending over a contract for them to sign.

Whatever the next step is, you need to schedule when the next step will take place. Ask them if they have a calendar and say let’s schedule to meet up again when you’ve had a chance to talk it over. That way you’ll be scheduled in, and you won’t be simply forgotten about. You want something to put in the diary so you and they know for definite you are moving forward.

There we have it, 8 simple tips that all salespeople should know. Implement these into your next presentation and you are bound to see better results. Your presentation will be better, your clients will be more engaged and you will be far more likely to make that all-important sale. If you’re interested in learning more about becoming an expert salesperson, generating more leads for your business and increasing conversion rates.