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Close More Sales: Psychology of Sales – Tip #2

September 29th, 2010

In this second segment of our ongoing series on the psychology of sales, we’ll cover a core characteristic that most successful sales people share: authenticity. Learn what it is, how to use it, and why it works.

In a nutshell, authenticity can be defined as “undisputed credibility.” When we’re speaking of people and conversations, authenticity refers to that appealing characteristic that truly honest people of integrity possess. Authenticity allows you to speak the truth, not from a place of righteousness, rudeness or ego, but from a place of truly intending to improve the situation for everyone concerned.

Authenticity is even more powerful when combined with positivity (see our prior segment on this).

Take client testimonials, for example.

Real, authentic expressions of praise from an actual client are always more powerful than solicited, contrived testimonials. It’s almost as though the energy behind the words is more powerful than the words themselves.

Here’s an example from famed marketer Joe Sugarman:

“Have you ever wondered why companies such as Procter & Gamble and General Foods have been running those contests asking people to write down ‘Why I like (product)’ in 25-, 50-, 100 words or less?”

“Because, for the chance of winning valuable prizes, droves of people are willing to go on record as liking the product.  This, in and of itself, is extraordinary because it creates countless glowing testimonials. But what’s even more amazing is that the hundreds of thousands of people who testify in writing to the product’s benefits consequently believe what they have written – and this curious phenomenon fuels unprecedented sales of the product!”

“When you use psychological devices like the one used in the above example, you glide ever so smoothly over people’s natural predispositions that it’s practically effortless for you to generate sales. This spells the greatest difference between the ethical form of mind control used in marketing, versus its evil stepbrother – the kind involving covert behavior modification techniques.”

Getting testimonials for your product or service is easy – rather than directly asking your existing clients for a testimonial, just ask them what they like most about the product or service, or have them explain why they love using it. Once they’ve explained, ask if they would be willing to allow you to share their comments with other potential clients, and you can even offer to keep their names and businesses confidential (for example, list the statement as made by “Marcus P.” as opposed to “Marcus Peterson of Dynamix International”).

To take this authenticity even further, ask your existing clients if they would be willing to refer some friends or colleagues to you. It’s completely up to you (or perhaps, your company) whether you offer any kind of incentive or reward for such referrals.

Besides gathering powerful testimonials, you can harness authenticity by practicing honesty and integrity in your everyday communication.

Stay tuned to this blog for more psychology of sales tips, designed to help you close more sales.

In the meantime, be sure to rent a projector from Projector123.com for your next sales presentation, sales meeting, or sales training event. A professional grade rental projector from Projector123.com will help ensure that you make the most polished presentation possible, and that you take advantage of using pictures worth 1,000 words each! Click here to learn more or reserve your projector today.

Visual vs. Verbal Presentations: Why Projectors Are Necessary

September 24th, 2010

The difference between visual and verbal presentations may seem obvious, but there’s a lot more going on “under the surface.” Read on to learn more.

As a speaker, your natural tendency is probably to choose the delivery method you’re most comfortable with. If you prefer to explain things verbally (and likewise, prefer to learn in auditory fashion), then you may tend to overlook the need for visual stimulation in the presentations you deliver.

Similarly, if you prefer to learn with visuals, you may tend to rely more heavily on visuals in your own presentations, with less emphasis on verbal delivery.

However, the important thing to remember is that people tend to learn in different ways, and the more ways you can incorporate into your presentation, the more likely your audience will be to remain engaged, understand and retain the information you present, and ultimately, appreciate you and your presentation.

With a primarily verbal presentation, the visual learners in your audience have no visual reference with which to anchor your words. Therefore, they can easily become distracted with whatever visuals are available: your clothing, your mannerisms, or what the person sitting in front of them is doing. From your perspective, this is certainly not ideal, as you want them to focus primarily on your message itself.

/>Tactile learners in the audience are often looking for something to do with their hands. Supplying handouts (or passing out product samples or other related items) is an easy way to engage the tactile learner. On your handouts, be sure to provide plenty of white space, so the tactile learners in the room can doodle, draw, make notes, and otherwise find ways to anchor your message into their minds. Without related materials to support their tactile nature, these folks are likely to be distracted by a thread hanging from their garment, emails or texts on their cell phone, or other ways to keep their hands busy.

The majority of the population is comprised of visual learners, so it pays to have a rental projector in use during your presentation. Using pertinent images to support your verbal presentation is the ideal way to support the visual and auditory learners in your audience.

The combination of verbal presentation, still or moving images in a slide show or video display format, and relevant handouts will help to ensure that you are maximizing your time in front of the audience.

To rent an LCD projector from Projector123.com, click here to get started now.

Close More Sales: Psychology of Sales – Tip #1

September 22nd, 2010

For decades, the psychology of sales have been studied and scrutinized to decipher what makes people buy. By incorporating these simple tips into your sales meetings, telephone calls, and presentations, you can see for yourself and test some simple methods that have been proven to increase the number of closed sales.

From time to time, you’ll see a new “psychology of sales” tip posted on this blog. You can always share your own tips by leaving a comment here. We love hearing from you!

But first, a disclaimer.

These techniques are very powerful and have been proven to work. These are not manipulative strategies designed to coerce a person into buying something they don’t want or need – these methods work best when the sales person truly has the customer’s best interests at heart, and feels a genuine desire to solve the client’s problems with viable solutions in the form of quality products and services.

In other words, if you continue reading this post and begin using these techniques, please use them for good and not for evil!

Tip #1 – Always Keep It Positive

No, we’re not talking about “positive thinking” here, we’re talking about getting the prospect speaking about what they like about a particular product or service, and why they like it. This helps you to frame your pitch in such a way that it hits the key points and features that the customer is most interested in. While it may seem obvious not to belabor any negative aspects of what you’re selling, it’s worth mentioned here that it’s never appropriate to badmouth another company or their product or service. If one of your competitors should arise in conversation, it’s best to merely draw a contrast between what they’re offering and what you’re offering. Notice the difference:

Negative slant:

Customer: “I’ve used Company X’s widgets in the past, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with them.”

Salesperson: “Their quality is very poor, I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had switch over to us because they were so dissatisfied with the complete lack of organization at that company.”

Positive slant:

Customer: “I’ve used Company X’s widgets in the past, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with them.”

Salesperson: “I see. The thing that really sets our company apart from others is our commitment to quality. We actually triple check each widget for quality control before it ever leaves the factory, plus we offer a 100% money-back guarantee or hassle-free replacement for any part that might sneak past our tight quality standards.”

Can you see the difference? By keeping things positive, the sales rep in the second example stays focused on the main point: why his/her product is the best choice. In the first example, the sales rep takes a negative approach, making the other company look bad in the hopes that it will in turn make his company look better.

The bottom line is this: people almost always buy from someone they like. Staying focused on the positive rather than delving into negativity always creates a more attractive, likeable impression.

Likewise, if the prospect should mention something negative about your company, product or service, it is imperative that you keep things as positive as possible, without making excuses, and with complete integrity. For example:

Negative:

Customer: “I called to ask a technical question recently, and the person I spoke with wasn’t able to help me at all.”

Salesperson: “Oh, that was probably Suzy. She was horrible, and she’s been let go. Rebecca is our new technical expert, you’ll love her.”

(Notice how that doesn’t address the real concern the customer has – whether or not they will be able to get their questions answered when they call for assistance.)

Positive:

Customer: “I called to ask a technical question recently, and the person I spoke with wasn’t able to help me at all.”

Salesperson: “Really? What was your question? Perhaps I can answer it.”

Now the sales person can engage in a productive conversation, possibly answer the client’s question, or call someone who can answer it.

In the positive scenario, the sales rep might mention new initiatives that have been put in place (or will soon be put in place) to address any chronic issues. For example:

“We’ve just implemented a new training program for our technical staff. In fact, every technical rep we have must spend two weeks on the factory floor, training on every aspect of production, to help them better understand the process used to create our finished product. I think that the next time you call for assistance, you’ll find that the knowledgeability of our technical staff has improved dramatically. And, you can always call me, and if I don’t know the answer, I will find out from someone who does.”

See how the positive scenario actually addresses the customer’s true concern?

Look for more ways you can use positive language and the positive angle to win more sales (and get more repeat business from your existing clientele). Positivity can go a long way in closing more sales.

Know what else can help you close more sales? A sleek, professional grade rental projector from Projector123.com. To begin a hassle-free projector rental experience, click here to get started now.

How to Keep Your Audience on Its Toes

September 20th, 2010

If you do a lot of public speaking, you know that you’ve got to keep your audience engaged in order to win them over and hold their attention. One of the ways you can do that is by shaking things up a little bit and keeping your audience on their toes. Here are some easy, fast tips for doing just that.

1. Be unpredictable

For example, instead of opening with, “How’s everybody doing today?” open with a funny line that doesn’t start off sounding like a joke. For example, one of the funniest opening lines I ever heard from a speaker went like this:

“Hey did everyone see my jacket?”

(Audience answers “yes.”)

“Good, now I can take it off.” (And he removed his jacket.)

/>2. Alter your voice and intonation

Avoid a monotone voice – use a variety of inflection, emphasis and intonation to keep the audience engaged. A trick used by many grade school teachers is easy to adopt: when you suddenly lower your voice to a hushed tone, you immediately grab attention, and people listen more closely.

3. Inject humor

If you’re not a joke teller, don’t worry – you can relate a funny story, insert a cartoon into your slide show, or ask for volunteers from the audience to tell their best clean, funny joke.

4. Add surprises

If you’ve got a wild or outgoing personality, don’t be afraid to use props, funny hats, or whatever other surprises you can add to your presentation. Alternatively, you can bring some advertising specialties (note pads, pens, gadgets, toys, etc.) and give them to folks who participate, ask questions, jump out to share, volunteer, etc.

5. Audience participation

If you want your audience to participate, just ask them. Ask for volunteers, for assistants, for jokes, for feedback, for brainstorming, for questions, etc. The more you ask them to participate, the more participation you’ll get, and the more engaged your audience overall will be.

Keep your audience on its toes with a powerful visual presentation and a rental projector from Projector123.com. Click here to get started.

PowerPoint Tips: How Much Is too Much to Put on 1 Slide?

September 10th, 2010

Whether you’re a PowerPoint newbie or a seasoned pro, you’ve probably asked yourself this question at one point or another: how much is too much for one slide? Here’s the definitive answer.

It depends.

Oh, sorry, did you think there would be a clear, cut-and-dried answer, like “400 characters” or “800 pixels”? Unfortunately, there’s not one definitive answer.

Consider the following factors:

1 – how big is your audience?

2 – how big is the screen or viewing surface you’re projecting images on to?

3 – how detailed is the material you’re presenting?

4 – how is the room designed? How close are people sitting and does everyone have an equally good view of what’s being projected?

Generally speaking, a slide featuring a block of text should include no more than 1-2 sentences. A slide that uses bullet points should include no more than 5 or 6 bullet points, with no more than 2-3 words following each bullet.

Remember, your slides are designed to support your verbal presentation, not replace it.

Now, if images are the compelling factor in your presentation, then you would want to include less words on your slides and more images.

One image per slide is generally plenty, unless you are making a side-by-side comparison, in which two images would work. If this is the case, it’s best to make the images the same size (dimensions) as it provides the easiest comparison viewing.

/>Larger audiences will rely on your slides more, because they can’t all see you as easily. More detailed material requires more slides with small amounts of information on each slide. Highly detailed slides are not ideal for larger groups, smaller screens, or odd room layouts.

If you must provide detailed information in a less than ideal setting, consider creating handouts for participants to follow along and take with them. Post a recycle box or bin for folks to recycle papers they don’t intend to keep for future reference.

No matter how much you ultimately put on each slide, only a rental projector from Projector123.com can ensure that your images are as crisp, clean and visible as possible. Whether your event takes place in bright sunlight or in simply low, ambient lighting, rent a projector from Projector123.com and you’ll know that you’re making the best possible impression. Click here to get started now.

How Many PowerPoint Slides Is Too Many?

August 18th, 2010

We recently stumbled upon this article from Dave Paradi, co-author of “Guide to PowerPoint” and couldn’t resist sharing it with you — this is a question we get asked a lot, and here’s a fine explanation. This is the link to the full article.

No matter how many slides you choose, be sure to count on Projector123.com for all your rental projector needs. Click here now to rent a projector.

How many slides is too many?
By Dave Paradi, MBA, co-author of “Guide to PowerPoint”

If you delivered 155 slides in 35 minutes, would that be too many slides? Most presenters would immediate say “Yes! Way too many!” And up until recently, I would have agreed. But a recent experience made me reconsider my initial response.

Most rules of thumb in the past have been that there should be one slide for every two to three minutes. And I have agreed with this. But I reviewed a presentation on video tape for a client from one of their top sales professionals in front of clients and he used 155 slides in a 35 minute presentation (yes, I counted). And it looked great. How could this be?

It stems from what is on the slide. Most of his slides were product photos that he showed in fairly quick succession showing off the different features. His use made it almost like a movie of sorts, with the flow working quite well. He spent more time on the text slides, such as when he was explaining how to place the order for the product. He spent time on the most important part of his presentation, the call to action, and did not stick to a particular formula.

So based on this experience, here is what I am now thinking. If it is a primarily text slide, I think the traditional rule of two to three minutes per slide would still be a good guideline. But when the slide is primarily a graphic, a much wider range of timing can apply. A sequence of photos may be run through quite quickly, with maybe five slides in one minute. Some graphics, such as a process flow diagram, require a two or three minute explanation. So my new thought is that a graphic slide could range from 10 seconds to three minutes, depending on what the graphic is and how it is used in the presentation.

I am starting to use more graphics, primarily photographs, in my presentations, and sometimes it is on the screen for a short period of time since the point is clear. Other times, I show the photo, tell a store about the photo, and then make a point. In this case, the photo slide is on the screen for multiple minutes.

If you have been basing the number of slides in your presentation on the traditional formula, consider these ideas in determining whether you want to modify the rule you have used in the past.

©MMIV Dave Paradi

Dave Paradi’s Think Outside the Slide™ approach helps presenters get results by showing them how to quickly create effective PowerPoint presentations. He is the co-author of “Guide to PowerPoint”, part of the Prentice Hall Series in Advanced Business Communication. He offers a free PowerPoint e-course, newsletter and articles on his web site at www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com.

 

How Many Slides Should Be in a PowerPoint Presentation?

August 2nd, 2010

Whether you’re a newbie at PowerPoint or a presentation professional, here’s one question that seems to surface a lot. How many slides should you include in your presentation?

Many PowerPoint experts will use “1 slide per 2-3 minutes” as a general rule, but truthfully, it isn’t quite that cut and dried.

How many slides you need depends a lot on what kind of material you’re presenting, and to what sort of audience.

For example, if your presentation is of a particular sales product, then more slides containing photographs may be more effective than less slides featuring text. Likewise, if you’re presenting highly detailed or technical information to a group of people who are very familiar with industry terms and metrics that you’re presenting, you may use more slides that you pass through rather quickly, but which are necessary to provide supporting documentation.

Consider the purpose of your audiovisual support. Is it your intention to reinforce the verbal points with visual images? Do you need the graphics as a starting point from which you will explain results, trends, predictions or specific outcomes? Are you using visuals merely to keep your audience engaged, to provide humor, and/or to incorporate more types of learning styles?

How large is your audience, and do you intend to field questions throughout your presentation, or only at the end?

/>Let’s look at some specific examples.

Suppose your audience consists of colleagues in your field, and you are presenting new evidence that will be explained and supported by graphics and charts. A very brief presentation (say, two to three minutes in length) might consist of 5 or 6 slides, depending on how much detail you will verbalize for each graphic. A ten-minute presentation may include 5-12 slides (again, depending on how long the slide needs to remain visible while you are explaining the specific metrics or results).

Now suppose you are delivering a new product presentation of 15 minutes in length to decision-makers who are potential clients. You could use as few as 5 slides (speaking in detail on each slide), or as many as 20-25 (if you were zipping through product images and pointing out specific features or selling points). However, if the nature of your product was so new and revolutionary that it required extensive education and explanation, you might have as few as 5-10 slides for the same 15-minute presentation.

When you take all of these factors (detail, technicality, audience size and awareness, etc.) into consideration, you can see that the only short answer to “how many slides should I use” is this:

“It depends.”

But hopefully this article provided you with the information you need to make an informed decision about how many slides will work best for your presentation. Good luck!

No matter how many slides you ultimately choose, remember this — when you’re ready to order your rental projector, click here to visit Projector123.com and see just how easy it is to reserve a fast, professional LCD projector.

  
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