When would you use a sales presentation?

[Frimley111R]

As above. SWMBO is going to meet potential prospects (Financial Directors/Controllers/Etc.) to talk about outsourced credit management. Should she use a presentation (powerpoint slides etc.) when she meets people or not? What are the pros and cons/why do people use them?

 

[Phil Richardson]

Hi, it depends entirely on the sales process and the reason for the meeting. At a first meeting I would never use a presentation of any kind it is a fact finding meeting to understand if and how we can do business together. It is more about you finding out about the prospect and their requirements and whether you can meet them. It is very difficult to have a preprepared prsentation when you don't know the requirements in detail.

If a second meeting is arranged and there are going to be multiple people attending I may do a presentation at that point depending on what was said at the first meeting. Also at this point I may demonstrate our email marketing software in a presenation format.

I had to give a presentation to a board of a blue chip as a first meeting, but even with this I organised a fact finding meeting with the project lead so that the presentation was tailored towards the actual requirements of the company.

I have had a number of salesmen come to see me and immediately get out their laptop and give me a presentation on how great their products are and their pricing model. 90% of the time it puts me off buying from them as I group them as the "white sock salespeople" who aren't interested in meeting my needs, high churn and a very controlled sales process from their HO.

To me sales is all about understanding the needs of a prospect and building a relationship. How can you build a relationship if early on in the process you have a scripted conversation/presentation that doesn't let personality come through.

Just so you know i'm a marketer by trade that became involved in sales as a business owner over the last 7 years, I have no formal sales training so you may get more experienced sales people offering more expert advice.

Cheers
Phil