Clark Kent by Nanagyei | CC BY 2.0
Recently, we discussed common sales meeting mishaps and how to handle pre-presentation disasters. In this blog, we’ll focus on the first impression and how you can prevent those disasters from happening.
Ever wish you could go back and completely re-do a sales presentation? Like most sales professionals, you’ve probably experienced a bumpy sales meeting or two. Maybe you fumbled over questions a prospect threw your way, or you forgot to bring that key piece of information that could have saved you the embarrassment of having to say, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” Regardless of what goes wrong, it’s never easy bouncing back from a bad sales meeting.
Today’s buyers are changing. The days when they had to meet face-to-face with a salesperson to get the information they need are long gone. Much of what buyers need to begin evaluating potential solutions is available on the Internet. By the time they’re finally ready to engage with a sales rep, they’ve already educated themselves through much of their buying journey. CEB has a great deal of research on this phenomenon, finding that today’s customers engage 8-10 stakeholders to influence a purchase.
Sales reps need to be fully prepared to bring a level of expertise that the buyer and those other stakeholders doesn’t possess, and they need to wow buyers right off the bat with a great first impression. After all, the way our buyers perceive us factors into the amount of influence we have over them throughout the sales cycle.
No Do-Overs in Sales
As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Even if they’re not terribly accurate, people trust their first impressions, which is why there are no do-overs in sales. Everything you do or don’t do either adds to or takes away from your capability to influence your buyer. If you don’t effectively demonstrate that your solution is the right one to improve your prospect’s business, you lose credibility.
Preparation is Key
Being ready for that first impression and focusing on each sales interaction that follows can mean the difference between a progressing sales cycle and a derailed one. As we’ve said before, sales meeting mishaps happen; things can go wrong at any point in time. And some things, like a broken projector or spotty WiFi connection, are beyond our control.
Fortunately, much of the first impression with a buyer is within our control and comes down to how prepared we are for the situation at hand. Making a great first impression can propel the sales cycle forward to that pivotal point when the conversation shifts to focus on building a mutually beneficial plan. It’s the point in time when you’re no longer seen just as salesperson, but as a trusted partner who can help your prospect achieve his or her business goals. However, it’s nearly impossible to get to this point if you don’t make a great first impression.
Wowing Your Audience Every Time
Setting yourself up for success right from the start means you have to be flexible and prepared to deliver a compelling sales pitch in any environment. But you shouldn’t be left in the lurch to do it all on your own.
Having the right resources in place can help you adjust to any unforeseen scenarios and deliver seamless presentations every time you are in front of buyers. Here are some of the keys to guaranteeing a positive first impression:
Confidence in Accurate Content: Knowing that you have the most up to date assets from the marketing and product team allows the salesperson to focus on making a positive experience for the prospect rather than spending hours sifting through content ensuring (and hoping) that it’s on point.
Dynamic Conversation: The ability for the sales rep to navigate through thousands of documents, videos, or reports and view the relevant ones seamlessly is key to a successful meeting.
Presentation Tools: Having a multitude of features at your disposal that focus on the sales user is key to differentiating yourself from the competition. Whether it’s with the ability to immediately email your presentation or annotate as you go, if you can guide the prospect through the sales journey by attaching to their specific needs, you can close the deal faster and more efficiently.
Be more confident that you’ll make a strong first impression by having the right supporting tools to do so, and you’ll be well on your way.
Watch the brief video below and find out how SalesKit’s Interactive Content can make for dynamic conversations from the first meeting through the deal’s closing like never before.
John Burns is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Mediafly, Inc and the author of Mediafly’s Sales Insight blog. Please have a look at some of the products and solutions John has had a hand in selling: SalesKit and ProReview.
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