SET IT UP FIRST… every sales appointment relies on strong Presentation Skills to ensure its success. The premise of course is that when you make a great presentation to a motivated buyer, they will order your products/services. Sometimes you make a strong presentation and they don't buy! You drive away thinking to yourself, "What went wrong there? I said all the right things and I certainly have a solution for their needs… it doesn't make sense!". One of the secrets to making a successful presentation is to make sure that your prospect is already "prepared for success" before you get there.
Here is your plan… think of your prospect's "buying mentality" on a scale of 1 to 10:
a) as a 1 they are totally resistant to buying from you
b) as a 10 they are ready to buy from you immediately
Before you get there, you want their "buying mentality" to be somewhere in the vicinity of a 7+. They should be predisposed to doing business with you before you arrive.
Here is your ACTION STEP… how do you get them to the stage of being a 7+ before you arrive? How do you get them to be predisposed in your favor? It all starts with sending them a… "Pre-Appointment Introduction Package". You need to set it up so that when you arrive they are already comfortable that you have the right answers for them…
GUIDELINES for your PACKAGE
1. Keep it simple, too much "stuff" and they won't read it. Decide on 4 – 6 main messages
2. Each of the messages you want to convey should not occupy more than one page
3. Include things like… who you are, what you offer, the value in your products/services, how you operate, short testimonials
4. *** What's your "Secret Sauce"… what's different about you from your competition?
5. Deliver the package in a timely fashion. Make sure it gets there well in advance of your appointment
Remember this very important point… Make sure that you present yourself as being unique (the fact that you delivered a Pre-Appointment Introduction Package is a good start). Your "Secret Sauce" is the most important part of your package. It is also the most important part of your presentation. Be different. If you do not present yourself as being unique, your prospect will automatically default to price! That becomes a downward spiral. Now you are nothing more than an order taker. As sales guru Dan Kennedy says, "There is no long line waiting to see the wise man at the bottom of the mountain". Put a strong package together and get it out to your prospects before you arrive. Have them predisposed to buy from you (7+) when you walk in the door.
NO Excuses.