A third-party endorsement is alchemy of sorts, taking hours of conversation and interaction and condensing it into a couple of sentences. You cannot and must not lie when sharing third-party endorsement client stories, but you can condense a conversation. You can even dramatize an endorsement story as long as it is authentic and emotionally true. […]

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Successful sales conversations are always focused on your potential client’s problem, goal, or challenge – NOT on your product or the service you provide.  Never presume you can meet a prospect’s needs before you have invited them to tell you what their needs actually are. My friend, sales expert and sales coach, Scott Plum shares […]

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Successful sales presentations are always you-focused. For example, let’s take this sample opening – a sales manager pitching an association to host their annual conference at his hotel – and break it down. “In the next eight minutes, you will decide the best choice you can make for your association and your members is to […]

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Even highly experienced speakers must rehearse for a presentation. Do not confuse rehearsal with memorization.  You should not memorize your entire presentation, but rather your opening, key points, and conclusion. Then, rehearse enough so you can “forget it.” This allows you to retain your spontaneity and deliver your presentation with the authenticity that makes a […]

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Our goal in sales presentations is to have our key ideas remembered and repeated. Say, for example, you are pitching a large project, and you represent just one of several bidding companies. Realistically, the prospect is not going to give you a yes or no answer when you are in the meeting, whether you are […]

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If you want to deliver a successful presentation, you will spend a lot more time preparing for your presentation than you will speaking. Even highly experienced speakers must devote time to preparation, including rehearsal. My friend and colleague, Rob Biesenbach names inadequate rehearsal as one of the “11 Deadly Presentation Sins.” In his recent book […]

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Life is a series of sales situations, and the answer is always “no” if you don’t ask.  Even Wayne Gretzky, the legendary hockey player agrees – “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” There are, however, two additional parts of the equation. The first is this: The real sale comes after the sale, […]

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Misuse of technology can turn speakers into mere caption readers for slides and personal communication is lost. If your listeners could experience your presentation without you, why are you there? My colleague, Sims Wyeth author of of The Essentials of Persuasive Public Speaking, offers this excellent suggestion for speakers: Turn Off The Projector by Sims Wyeth

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In the first part of this series of story strategies for sales presentations, we walked through the first formula for a good story well told:  Situation, Solution, Success. This second formula will help you learn how to create a story your potential buyers can relate to. Whenever you are telling a story to a prospect, […]

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