I have now been working in Sales for 10 months and one thing that has surprised me the most is the similarity between sales and carp fishing, this may sound stupid but let me explain…

I believe that in carp fishing the most important thing is to never stay in the same place for too long. If the fishing is good carry on and stay put, however, it won’t stay like this forever and once you have either caught all the fish in the area or disturbed the area too much that nothing comes close then it’s time to move on.  The same thing can be said within sales, if you stay in the same area e.g. speak to the same clients or potential clients all the time you will eventually sell to everyone that wants your product or get told to never call back again because you are bothering them too much.  It is very important to move around and speak to as many different industries and potential clients as possible.

During one of my week long fishing sessions I make sure I always have 3 rods with me. These will all be fished at the same time.  The reason I do this is to ensure that I cover as much ground as possible, covering different depths and in different areas of the lake.  Again this is very similar to sales as it is very important to have as many existing and potential clients in the pipeline as possible and not just focus in on one area.  If the area isn’t producing or that rod isn’t in the right place you will leave with nothing. Make sure you have as many rods in the water as possible!!!

Another very important thing is to ensure that you have a variety of different baits in your tackle box, you would be surprised how fussy carp can be.  Something that worked one day could very easily not work the next. In sales make sure that your tackle box is full of different baits/products as this makes it much easier to relate the right features, advantages and benefits to the client’s needs.

Finally, patience! This is crucial – don’t pester people to try to make a sale as this will only lose you potential customers.  If you’re not patient in fishing you will end up scaring anything that comes close, or you’ll probably give up before the fish have even had a chance to find your bait.  There is also no harm in getting back in touch with people after a few months to see if they have any requirements – if it was a need once it will more than likely be a need again.   Just be patient!

Image by Klearchos Kapoutsis via Flickr

“I’d rather be a boat with a motor than a cork on the water”.  So says the Global HR Director of a FTSE 250 company that I have had the pleasure of meeting on a few occasions.  After the crash of 2008 his company took a battering as some of its core markets declined, and newly arriving into the business he was clear that sales skills and particularly sales proactivity needed sharpening up: they could bob about helplessly on the tide of the global manufacturing market; or they could fire up the engine, set a clear new course and at least drive the business in the right direction, even if market forces made it tough going in the short term.

I’ve been reminded of his maxim lately as I have observed with admiration the joined-up corporate thinking of one of Phoenix’s Sales Academy clients – a business that has engaged with us to help instil a consistent and up-to-date sales approach in its people.  We have worked with this company for several months in the past year, tailoring and delivering workshops in core sales skills, negotiation, objection handling, and other key areas.  Senior management has embraced the project, and directors have involved themselves with enthusiasm in the initial stages, attending the core training personally so that they can understand exactly what the new approach entails, and how it differs from what they had before.

What has really impressed, though, is how they have taken responsibility for their side of our partnership, and come up with a truly interconnected approach to implementation of the learning they have invested in. By implementation I mean what happens internally in an organisation after training.  It’s the process by which learning is embedded into the team or the company once the training delivery is over, and it’s absolutely critical to the success of any training initiative, for without it the learning will not take hold systematically and sustain its effects.

The key people when it comes to implementation of sales training are the line managers who have responsibility for the day-to-day supervision of the sales team.  They need to recognise their paramount role in supporting the learning and providing the environment in which it can take hold – if they do that then this month’s innovation will easily become next month’s habit.  It’s often cited that a new habit forms in roughly 21 days; so you can see how it’s essential to keep the team on-track and practising what they’ve learned daily within that initial period until new best-practice techniques are embedded.

In this company which is currently flying I have been particularly impressed by the Sales Director: as soon as he understood what our expert sales trainers were going to be delivering to his people, he put enormous energy and thought into designing processes that enshrine the new sales methodology at the heart of everything his team does.  For example, he and his Sales Manager take the time each month to listen to half a dozen sales calls made by every one of the team, and evidence is noted on the key elements of the sale (attitude, knowledge, structure, and questioning) and a ’score’ given for each accordingly.  He and his Sales Manager then give feedback and coaching off the back of these observations, in order to keep the sales people focusing on what will make the greatest difference to their results in the long term.  In addition, he has overseen the creation of Product Sheets that lay out information for the sales team to reference, all reflecting the language & structure of the training. Negotiation grids have been created which make clear which variables are preferable to use when striking a deal for each product.  And they are helped and incentivized on a daily basis to apply it, with a newly formulated commission structure that rewards 50% on the right behaviours and not just the results.  As a result he is seeing a powerful consistency of approach which is creating a virtuous circle, with each sales person constantly reminded of best practice by simply hearing their peers around them.

And as expected, this has all had an immediate positive effect on the figures: June 2011 was their best ever month, and the retention team hit over 125% of their target.

But there’s another element to this too, and it is that the organisation as a whole has embraced the new approach, and decided to weave it into the DNA of the company: from marketing materials to product discussions to customer service, the language and structure of their new sales method is constantly reflected and reinforced.  Thus, everything is pointed in the same direction, and there is very little friction or dissonance.

The motor’s running, they’ve set a clear direction, and they’re leaving bobbing corks for dead.  Exciting times indeed.

I thought I would share some tips with you I have received from our negotiation specialist.

1. Using silence

Saying nothing can sometimes be as powerful as speaking, providing silence is used at the right time and in the right way.

2. Summarising frequently

By definition, negotiations can often be complex, so never be afraid to summarise.

3. Making notes

This too helps keep negotiations on track.

4. Leaving people feeling good at each step

Negotiation typically builds agreement progressively. Make sure you emphasise that each stage is good – preferably for both parties.

5. Reading between the lines

Remember that negotiation is essentially an adversarial process. Watch out particularly for danger phrases that often mean something other than they seem to, even the very opposite.

• “You’re a reasonable fellow.”  Meaning: “I am”.
• “That’s much fairer for both of us.” Meaning: “Especially for me”.

6. Remaining neutral

Maintain neutrality as much and as long as possible. Negotiation works best as a balancing exercise.

7. Concentrating – all the time

Concentrate. Build in time to think if necessary. Use delaying tactics to stop you getting into difficulty.

8. Keeping your powder dry

Beware of acting precipitately. Try not to make an offer, certainly not a final offer, until everything that needs negotiating is on the table.

9. Beware deadlines

It is said that there has not been a deadline in history that was not negotiable. Timing is a variable.

10. Remembering constraints and variables are interchangeable

Almost anything the other side presents as fixed may be made into a variable. The word fixed is as likely to mean we do not want to negotiate this, as it cannot be used as a variable.

are often targeted as the reason why they are not achieving great results.  This creates a knock on effect – the managers continue to put pressure on the sales team to “close, close, close”.  The result of this pressure means that the sales person focuses on what they believe to be a closing technique.  The famous sales mantra from the days of power selling springs to mind “always be closing”.  I wonder if there is any logic telling sales people to do this or is it simply an attempt effect their mentality and develop an aggressive manner when selling, only concerned with getting a result.

I suppose every sales person should be concerned with getting the result they set out to achieve.  However the problem with only worrying about closing is that the rest of your sales technique and structure will probably suffer.  Where I do agree with the “always be closing” mantra is in as much that you should always be doing something to help you close the sale.  One analogy that we discussed during the workshops was that closing should be like the closing of the barn door once you have the cow in the barn.  The point being that closing the door should be a simple task once the cow has wondered happily into the barn, because they have wanted to.  The sales person must get the client to want the product/service that they are selling and then close behind them.  If you try to close when the cow is halfway through the door it can be a tricky process!!

So what will help you close the sale comfortably?  Firstly, have an objective.  Never go into a call or meeting with a see how it goes attitude, it makes it incredibly difficult to gain an advance or a close.  Secondly, use questions to develop a need to sell against.  Questions, when used effectively will help change the clients view of the issues and problems they are facing, heightening needs means that the client is more likely to look for a solution.  (the cow starts to move).  Thirdly, gain agreement from the client that they do have needs and recognise them.  Fourthly, when demonstrating how the product or service will help the client, make sure you gain agreement from the client that they do recognise this and are not simply nodding politely.  Finally make a clear suggestion as to what they should buy and ask for the business.  Do not ask “is that the sort of thing you’d be interested in?” or “how does that sound?” or any variation of the above.  You should have demonstrated exactly how it would help them and therefore it is question how much they should buy not whether they will buy or whether they like it!

So, always be doing something to help you close, listen for buying signals and respond quickly, using those opportunities to gain agreement and close.  Always seek to gain an advance from each call or meeting.  All of your closing should revolve around progress.  Good closing skills require all the key elements of sales structure to be used: good introduction, good questioning and need development, good use of the products features and therefore benefits and then an awareness of when to close and a confidence to do so.

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At Phoenix we always place a great emphasis on understanding exactly what it is our clients are trying to achieve.  This part of the training process is so valuable and yet it is so rarely done as effectively as it might.  At best, it involves a meeting with a selection of key stakeholders, whereupon broad objectives are agreed and content is designed around these.  In many cases it is simply based upon managerial observations and anecdotal feedback which does not always get to the root of the real development issues.  What’s more, the participants themselves are rarely involved in this process which is also not ideal.  By consulting with at least some of those who will actually be attending the training, you not only get a better chance of designing something relevant but also of establishing participant “buy-in”.

This is a particular concern when designing content for telephone sales workshops.  We are often told that the participants need help on a particular skill – for example, closing, negotiating or questioning.  No problem – we’ll design something around these and in many cases, what we design will work pretty effectively and provide the participants with some key tools and techniques that will improve their results.  But how much better could it have been, had we been able to do some real analysis and actually listen to the quality of calls that the participants have been making to their potential or existing clients.

Call recording equipment has been around for many years, however, it is expensive to install and has usually only been utilised at larger call centre operations.  Improved technology has however now made it very easy for any type of organisation to benefit from call recording and here at Phoenix, we have really begun to see just how useful it can be.  Phonecoach provide a very straightforward system which enables call recording simply by adding a prefix to the number dialled – there’s no hardware involved and all the recorded calls are automatically saved as MP3 files.

By being able to listen to exactly what is being said, by both sales person and customer, we are in a much better position to identify what’s working and what skills need further developing.  From a design point of view this “reality check” enables us to focus only on those areas that really need it, ensuring that the training is lean and extremely relevant.  Where appropriate, we can even use the recorded calls to illustrate key learning points during the training itself – which can also be very powerful for the participants.

For just £24 + vat, we can record up to 500 minutes of calls, which is usually enough to get a good selection of a team’s telephone sales activity over a week or so.  After some thorough analysis, we report our findings back to the client and only then, will we design a course based on what’s actually happening.  This ensures that any sloppy techniques can be instantly identified & addressed, leading to a direct impact on an individual’s sales performance. Which is, after all, exactly what any high quality sales training should do.

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I’m often asked by potential customers, what exactly are the key differences between open and tailored training. This got me thinking that it might be useful to develop a quick reference guide that will help you make a more informed decision.

Open Courses

1. Open courses provide the participants with a brilliant overview of their chosen subject – whether it’s Introduction to Sales, Essential Management or Inspirational Leadership.
2. Open courses enable you to work alongside individuals from different industries but often with very similar concerns. They also provide you with great networking opportunities!
3. Open courses provide an off site learning environment to discuss openly challenges & concerns which in some cases individuals feel more open to talk about when not in the company of colleagues.
4. Open courses represent a highly cost effective solution where only one or two individuals require development in a particular area.
5. Open courses give individuals a new set of skills and the opportunity to practice them in a ‘safe’ environment and build their confidence to apply the newly learnt skills back in their own workplace.

Tailored Training

1. Tailored training provides you with a comprehensive training needs analysis conducted in advance of any events we deliver on your behalf.
2. Tailored training enables us to include a wide range of disciplines within a single given event.
3. Tailored training will meet a specific requirement through the unique design to match the objectives of the individual or group.
4. Tailored training offers the possibility to design a specific programme for the whole organisation where everyone will be involved, this enables lasting change which is encouraged and supported internally & externally.
5. Tailored training can be designed specifically to a given company and industry with a choice of ‘best fit’ Learning Consultant
6. Tailored Training allows more flexibility with training dates and location.

I hope this was useful and if you would like to discuss either option in more detail please get in touch and I will be delighted to help.

Our broad experience has taught us much, but today I’d like to focus on one key area – Buying Training.

Many organisations make the mistake of buying training as a reactive response to a perceived problem – i.e. arranging sales training if the figures have dropped off, or management training if staff morale is low. The problem with such reactive training is that it tends to be generic or (to coin an awful HR phrase), ‘sheep dip’ in nature, the kind of training that tackles the symptoms and not the cause. Typically this approach to training results in a short-term lift but changes nothing in the long term, effectively offering very little return on investment, and in the worst case, actually disengaging staff and hindering their development.

With that in mind here are four things to think about when arranging training:

1: What are you trying to achieve?

Before arranging any training, it is vital to have an understanding of what you want to achieve, and why. Put simply, the training must be designed to address the requirements of the participants. Sending sales people who struggle to close deals on a ‘closing skills’ course, may appear to be logical at first sight, but what if the underlying reason for their difficulty lies elsewhere – for example in poor questioning skills, or in the way they are managed? So talk to your staff, and talk to training providers, be open to new ideas and be ready to have your assumption challenged.

2: Train the right people!

You’d be amazed how often our trainers hear the phrase ‘my manager needs to go on this course.’ When thinking about training, you need to make sure that you are focusing on the right people. For example, if a sales team are underperforming, then it may mean that they need some help, but what about the sales manager? Is the team’s performance down to them? Perhaps the manager lacks the skills to motivate and support their staff effectively. If this is the case, then all the sales training in the world will not address the root cause. The same goes for middle managers, ask yourself, can any of their issues be traced upwards? What behaviours do the senior management team display, and are any of the negatives trickling down. Senior people can find it hard to admit that they’d like some support, but there’s nothing remedial about good training, personal development can only be positive.

3: Make the training relevant!

Sadly we often meet clients who have previously suffered poor training. Sometimes this is down to weak delivery, but often the cause is simpler – the training was not participant relevant. If participants cannot see how to link what they are learning back to their own roles, then at best they may find the training interesting, but not particularly useful, and at worst they may be bored and irritated. In order to be effective, training must be made relevant on a personal level. In practice this means effective pre-course consultancy – ensuring the provider understand participant requirements as well as organisational ones. By keeping group sizes small you can ensure that participants are able to fully engage with the trainer, and understand how to apply what they are learning to their workplace.

4: The importance of support.

Before embarking on any training, whether it be a one day course or a full blown programme, we’d recommend that you think very carefully about how you plan to support the training. Effective support is absolutely key to the success of any training event; without support it is almost impossible to embed learning and sustain any long term improvement in performance. Staff should come back from any training event feeling excited, motivated and eager to put new ideas and skills to the test. Invariably not everything new they try will work first time, they may meet resistance from colleagues, lack the confidence to make changes, or just struggle to transfer classroom learnt skills to the reality of the workplace. If there are no systems in place to support newly trained staff, then the vast majority of them will lapse back in to old habits, effectively rendering the training worthless. On the other hand, well supported staff will maintain momentum and continue to improve and develop. There are many ways of providing support, but in our experience there are two broad methods which prove particularly effective when combined:

Firstly, ensure that management are fully aware of what the training entailed. This may mean just reading the course agenda, arranging a debrief with the provider, with the stakeholders, or just pending time speaking with their staff about the training. Only by understanding what the training entailed can managers hope to provide valuable support. There’s nothing more damaging to training effectiveness than a manager who appears disinterested, or simply expects their staff to improve post-training, without offering to support them!

Secondly, ensure that staff take responsibility for their own development. At Phoenix we ask participants to complete a personal action plan. This doesn’t have to be anything major, just a commitment to trying out some new ideas or making a few changes on the back of the training. Ideally these plans should be shared with line managers and followed up on – if the participant has met their goals then this is an opportunity for praise (and a great indicator of success), if they are struggling then it’s an opportunity to provide further support and encourage development.

James Ashburnham, Client Manager, Phoenix Training

With the ever increasing reliance on email, there is a feeling that sales people are forgetting the basics of actually getting on the phone and selling.  Not too many years ago, sales departments were alive with the general hubbub of chatter and “sales noise”.  Nowadays I find myself walking through sales departments and being struck by a wall of silence, only broken by the click of the keyboard.  The big problem is that email although hugely convenient, does not sell!  The telephone conversation should always make more progress.

What is stopping sales people from using the phone? Firstly, as I mentioned, convenience; it is easier to send an email to a client than phone them and still feel like you are working hard.  First tip:  if you are about to write an email to a client, ask yourself the question “could I phone instead?”  Inevitably the answer will be yes.

Sales people get themselves into to what could be referred to as “avoidance focus” behaviour.  This is where they have got themselves into what is effectively a rut.  Their expectation is low and so their phone calls lack impact and that leads to failure so they start to talk themselves out of making calls because they don’t like the result.  To get out of this rut, the sales person has to start developing “approach focus behaviours”.

To do this, try these ideas:

1)    Start making calls early in the day and in doing so get some momentum going.  You will feel much more positive about your day generally if you have made twenty five calls by ten o’clock.

2)    Set yourself targets.  Can you call ten potential clients by the end of the day?  Can you find out a new need from your existing client base?  Sales people tend to respond better under pressure.  When the deadline is not upon you, you need to create your own pressure.

3)    If you have a successful call, don’t rest on your laurels and have a celebratory cup of tea, make five more off the back of that success and momentum.

4)    Equally if you make a call that does not get the desired result, do not sit and mull it over and become depressed by you lack of progress.  Analyse the call, try to identify areas or techniques that you could improve and call someone else.

5)    Don’t be put off by an abrupt or rude response.  People react in all sorts of ways for all sorts of reasons.  It is almost always not personal and should not be taken as such.

6)    Turn your email off for a day and concentrate solely on telephone sales.  Email by its nature is not an “urgent” tool.  If people need to get in contact they can call you.  Likewise if people don’t want to respond to you they don’t have to if you send an email.  Admittedly they don’t have to take your call but it is harder to turn down.

7)    Make sure you have an objective for your call.  Think about how you can gain attention quickly.  Do not sound like you have made fifty calls that day (even though you might have)

8)    Variety can help to maintain momentum.  Call different types of clients, present different products (if relevant), mix up your calling pattern to maintain impact.

9)    Back yourself!  Have belief in your ability to make the call and get the result.  Use techniques and objectives to create interest and engagement.

10)   Positive, imaginative and creative telephone sales can be extremely effective, certainly more effective than a stream of emails.  Think about what sort of impression you are making on your client if you phone them and ask them not if they got your proposal but whether they could see how it would benefit them and if they had any questions.  Sales is all about impact, the telephone call does that far more effectively than the email.

Bill Osmond – MD of Phoenix Training

As Phoenix continue to grow steadily, having recently taken on another full time trainer, we decided that now would be a good time to review our existing office and training space and explore the possibility of moving into somewhere larger.

The recession has led to a surplus of office space in central London and we thought that there would be a good chance of securing a long term lease at a bargain price.  What’s more, we were sure that London’s lettings agents would be falling over themselves to convince us of the value of their properties and how they would be just ideal for a training company with our particular needs.  Sadly, our experience of the latter could not have been more different.

Now, I know estate agents are an easy target but I can assure you that this isn’t yet another dig at the profession as a whole.  It is however designed to expose the lack of basic sales skills that those we met displayed, and to reinforce how critical it is to have the core skills in place before you can even hope to sell in today’s tough markets.

On arriving at the first potential office, we were left hanging around for 15 minutes before the agent finally arrived.  We’re all late on occasions and there may well have been a good reason, but the very least we could have expected was a call to manage our expectations.  Every week, I’m amazed by sales people who think that it is acceptable to turn up ten, fifteen or even thirty minutes late without so much as a phone call.  It’s not, and in most cases you’ve lost the sale before you’ve even begun.

Nevertheless, we’re still keen buyers so, on this occasion, the agent’s transgression will be forgotten if he can really convince us of how this office space will work for us.  On first inspection, it all looks pretty good – modern, stylish and in a great location – but we just couldn’t visualise where the training room would go, mainly because the whole space was still a shell.  We turn to the expert for inspiration, but he’s actually walked away to the other side of the space to take a mobile phone call, and is merrily chatting away oblivious to us!  The moment is lost.  On finally regaining his attention, his answers lack conviction and we’re left totally unconvinced by the potential of the office.  On reflection, the phone incident, though scarcely believable, was hopefully a never to be repeated mistake; however, from a sales perspective, the lack of expertise was even more worrying and is actually very common indeed.  If you’re going to sell anything – property, software, pharmaceuticals, even training services – you must know all there is to know about your product or service and be able to relate this knowledge to your customer.

Despite our initial experience, we were still in the market for a new office, so headed off to view another couple of options with high hopes.  Both agents were on time which was a good start and both had properties with real potential and yet, once again, simple mistakes were made that resulted in the collapse of the sale.  At the first, we were left abandoned in the office whilst the agent enjoyed some banter with the builders over the road!  With no one to ask about the details, how could we be expected to commit?  Just like our mobile phone friend, they demonstrated an unbelievable lack of interest in us.

The next and final viewing was going well, until the agent admitted that the landlord was not interested in the property as a whole and that he doubted he’d be willing to modernize the 1970’s décor in the common areas.  Now honesty is a real virtue, but by creating a picture of uncertainty and possible conflict with the landlord, he immediately lost us.  Potential customers want assurances and certainty before they commit, not vagueness and ambiguity.

You may think that I’ve exaggerated things here, but I can assure you these experiences are very real indeed and I’m sure they are repeated in sales situations in many different markets.  One final thing that struck me with all three agents, was that not one of them even asked us what we actually did – maybe they already knew, but it is this lack of basic questioning and interest in our business that meant we were never going to commit.    Maybe we just got a bad bunch who have got lazy, simply used to taking orders rather than actually selling, but in the current climate a return to the basics would go a long way to winning more business.

We’ve now given up the search for a new office, instead looking for a larger space at our current Leathermarket site run by Workspace.  What’s more, we’ve recently run some training events for their site managers to make sure that they properly engage with the customers and create a fantastic picture of what the office will look like once they’ve moved in. After all, it’s this image that will create the real desire in the customer to move in.  Simple but effective.

Oliver Osmond – Sales Director, Phoenix Training

Image by NMC Second Life via Flickr

When most people are asked to do a presentation, their first reaction is to panic.  This is even the case for experienced sales people.  The culture these days is to move more and more towards using technology to help us sell or make an impact.  I still hold the view that to make a really strong powerful impact presenting in person is still the answer.

The most important tip that can be given to a would be presenter is to make sure you prepare well.  Lack of preparation is the single biggest reason why presentations do not work.  Having a quick “run through” on the train or in the back of the cab on the way to the venue simply does not do the job.  Sometimes people bemoan the lack of time they have and use that as an excuse to present without preparation.  Whatever time you have use it wisely.  In simple terms, if you only had one hour to prepare, use twenty minutes to research the subject, twenty minutes to develop the content and put it into useable format (i.e. slides) and twenty minutes to practice it.
Too often presenters spend hours thinking about what they are going to put into the presentation and then create incredibly complex and sometimes dramatic slides but fail to practice it at all.  If they do practice, it will be at the end of many hours putting the presentation together and will therefore be in no mood to make any changes!

The general rule is to work out roughly what you want to put in, knock that into to some basic slides and start practicing.  What you will find is that the practice (out loud, not mumbled under your breathe in the shower) will help to mould the presentation.  You will get used to the material, the flow, the slides and the whole thing will grow organically.

Simplicity is generally the key to success in presentations.  Too complicated a message will be difficult to deliver, the presentation will too long and it is very hard to maintain attention once an element of confusion sets in.  Think of simple themes and to accompany that, simple slides.  By working to a pre-determined objective, the presenter can apply a simple rule to what is included in the presentation.  “The only elements to include are those which help me achieve my objective”.   It is a bit like holiday packing; ask yourself the question ‘do I really need it?’  Far too many people take far too much with them on holiday, as presenters do, they put far too much in to their presentations, they over complicate, over elaborate and over fill slides.

Powerpoint in essence has a simple format.  It has a heading, followed by bullet points.  This format is often totally abused by presenters, generally trying to be clever.  Animation is fine – if appropriate.  Do not have spinning logos and chequer board titles unless you can safely say it is helping me meet my objectives.  Too much time is spent animating and generally filling slides, when it should be spent practicing.  The main mistake people make is that tend to use “bullet paragraphs” and not bullet points.

This means that they put everything that they are going to say on the slide and then proceed to read it.  This is very boring for the audience.  They will have probably read the slide before it has been presented.  If you only put up a few key words or an image on the slide, you are able to present around it.  This is far more interesting, remember you are the presenter, not the slide.  The reason people put lots on the board is because they think they will forget what to say if there is only a few bullet points to work from.  This is not true.  If you practice you will know exactly what to say.  The other thing to remember is that the audience do not know what you are going to say, so you have a degree of flexibility with bullet points that you don’t have when it is all up on the board.

To make the presentation “sit up and take notice” interesting, you must ensure that it is relevant.  The audience must be connected to the content.  The more you can link the audience to what you are presenting the better.  In sales we talk about creating the benefit, it is the same when presenting.  “What’s in it for me”, is a well used phrase in presentation.  This is particularly relevant when making a specifically sales presentation.  How will it help me, why do I need to know that, what will it do for me, are the types of questions an audience will be asking.  When practicing keep a check on how many times you can answer those sorts of questions.

Finally, think positive.  See the presentation as an opportunity and not something to simply get done, survive and move on, it will make a massive difference to your performance and impact.  People rush presentations because mentally they do not want to be there.  If you try to view it positively your pace will be better, your movement better and the overall impression far greater.
Written by Bill Osmond