Lots of salespeople – even really successful ones – will freely admit they prefer to present to customers and clients in person. However, with the current pandemic keeping most of the business world following social distancing guidelines, these face-to-face closers are having to take their act online.
What many are learning is that giving an online sales presentation is something of an art form. The basic elements of a client interaction or demonstration don’t change, but the execution is slightly different.
We happen to have some talented and committed sales professionals on our team, and we certainly know more about video conferencing than the average producer. With that in mind, we wanted to share what we consider to be three crucial elements of a winning online sales presentation…
Good Sales Presentation Planning
You could easily argue that planning is important for any sales demo, but it takes on a different (and bigger) dimension when you’ll be showing off your solution through a webcam.
In addition to thinking through the content of your presentation, you’ll want to frame your shots carefully. You might consider incorporating slides, charts, or even animations you wouldn’t normally use, along with interactive features. These can make the process feel more engaging, rather than giving your buyer the feeling that they are watching a pitch via YouTube.
The Right Lighting and Audio
Good production is so important to a successful online meeting, and so easy to miss. If you just turn on a camera and some overhead lights, your meeting is going to seem like a low-budget affair no matter how much time you spent preparing.
You don’t have to spend a great deal of money on an expensive camera or fancy key lights. You just need to be sure that all presenters are being illuminated at the right angles, and that audio is coming through clearly. In fact, strange as that might sound, it’s usually more crucial to have good sound in an online presentation than it is to get the aesthetics right. That’s hard for salespeople to understand, but we’ve seen it hold true through hundreds of virtual sessions.
Energy from Your Presenter
The one X factor that can never be overlooked in online sales presentation is the energy of the salesperson or team who are offering their solutions. In this sense, it’s better to overdo things (within reason) than it is to be conservative.
There are a couple of reasons for this. The first has to do with the fact that the person on the other end of the line might have another phone or screen nearby. So, you may be competing for attention in a way that you wouldn’t be if your customer were sitting next to you. The second comes down to framing. Because they can’t necessarily see your body language or hear your inflection as clearly as they could if you were in the same room, you have to exaggerate your energy and motion a bit to create a feeling of enthusiasm.
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