Succeed at Live Trade Show Presentations
No one likes live presentations. One minute you're on, the next you're off, and countless hours are wasted in practice before it's even time to step up to the podium. What if there were a better way? There is! The New York Times recently published an article in their section on small businesses looking for new ideas called "How To Succeed At Live Trade Show Presentations," which contains 37 smart tips that will help your presentations succeed.
For example: don't be a talker -- be a doer! "If you have the opportunity to show people how your product works or what it does rather than telling them, do so," advises the article. "People trust when they see hands-on demonstrations. Tell them how your idea will make a difference in their lives after they see it."
Get up there and get going. "Anyone who has ever given a presentation knows there's a certain awkwardness about sitting at a desk and talking to someone for 45 minutes," comments the article. "Even if you're not speaking, people are watching you to see how you do. Whether you realize it or not, the way that you move when you stand up from your seat will greatly influence your presentation's success. If people notice that you're fidgety or nervous, they'll be asking themselves what could have been gained by listening to anything else that is said."
Stick to an outline. "While research has shown that preparation leads to greater success, it's also true that people tend to be better at what they practise than what they do without rehearsal," says the article. "Graphics can help as well. If you have one, go through your presentation with a marker and highlight sections that are particularly important."
Originality is overrated. "It's all too easy to get distracted in the early stages of developing a presentation," warns the article, "and if you're not careful, you could end up just copying an existing presentation rather than creating something original." So forget about showing some new video footage or pictures -- whatever works for your industry is fine. "What matters at the end of the day is what you've said, not how innovative or creative you are about saying it."
Give them a gift. "Presenting new information in an interesting way can be a great way to grab listeners' attention," notes the article. "If you find something interesting or noteworthy in your field, share it with others; they might find it interesting as well and remember you because of it."
The bottom line? To have a successful presentation, blend hard work and smart preparation with what's been successful for other presenters: creativity and practicality, keeping them short and sweet, starting off on time and ending on time. For more tips, check out the full article.
Title: The Most Critical Factor in Generating Quality Sales Leads
In the world of sales, the most critical factor is access to quality leads. No amount of effort or training can overcome the reality that the quality of your leads influences the success you'll have in closing sales.
The research speaks for itself. More than half of B2B companies report that more than 50 percent of their sales reps use referrals as a way to access new business -- but only 38 percent say they do so effectively (source: "Creating a Culture of Referral Growth").
Of course, the quality of your leads originates from your sales team, but the good news is that once you've started building a relationship with potential buyers, getting them to refer others becomes both easy and beneficial for all parties. Here are some strategies for doing so.
1. Focus on value, not price. "A brand's reputation across its target market and its products' reputation with customers will play a large role in whether referrals come from the brand," states Brian Kitko, founder of MyFlipBoard (http://myflipboard.com) -- a tool that lets you create and share content on a variety of social media sites simultaneously (http://www.crnmagazine.com/blogs/2012/02/03/myflipboard-tools-for-social-media-marketing). So, when your sales team opens up the conversation with a potential client, you want to make it clear that although price is important, customer service also matters.
2. Offer something in return for a referral. "The most effective ways to get a client to refer you is by offering specialized products or services that are more valuable than what he's already getting from his existing network of suppliers," says Kitko. "This way, your client gets value upfront and doesn't need to worry about other suppliers coming in and stealing his business."
3. Set up mentorships between sales representatives and their clients. "When a sales representative asks a client to refer another client, it could be perceived as a threat," explains Kitko. "By giving the client more information about you, he's not only making a positive impression on your sales rep but also creating a connection for him with his own clients."
4. Connect through social networks on behalf of your brand -- and ask for referrals all along the way. "It's up to you to do all this work manually when it comes to building relationships with your leads," says Kitko. "But with social networking sites like Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn that give you the ability to automate some of these efforts for free, you can make them easy -- no strings attached. Just remember that referrals don't come from asking your followers to give them to you; they have to be earned."
Ultimately, you can expect the number of leads you generate to increase, but only if you're willing to do what it takes. For example, Kitko had one contact who referred him more than 20 clients -- and they were all companies with several hundred employees. But the contact was a college student who only spent an hour a day on social networks (and no more than 10 minutes per network) at most. He didn't need any specific marketing training; instead, he simply had a desire for success and was willing to put in the time and effort required for longer-term results.
Title: 5 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Today That Will Pay Off Tomorrow
Presentations are essential in any business, and the stakes are especially high if you're looking to make a sale. So, how do you improve your ability to deliver it? Here are five ways you can do so today.
1. Be prepared. "Every great presentation — like every great speech or conversation — begins with preparation," says Karl Iglesias, CEO of Karl I. Iglesias Consulting (http://karliglesiasconsulting.com), and author of How to Give a Damn Good Talk: Secrets of a Former CIA Officer (AMACOM). "In preparing to give a presentation, make sure you have everything you need in front of you: papers, slides and a plain surface to demonstrate on. If you've forgotten something, ask yourself what's most important. When in doubt, err on the side of having it."
2. Practice frequently if needed. "Don't wait until the night before your presentation," advises Iglesias. "It's likely that your mind will be filled with stress and other concerns that make it impossible for you to concentrate -- even if you know exactly what you want to say."
3. Master your timing. In other words, don't rush through your introduction — but neither should it drag on endlessly either (source: http://www.
Conclusion
So, which strategy did I use to get my sales team on board with the idea of creating social media content? I posted this article (http://blog.socialmediaexaminer.com/2012/04/01/re-thinking-your-social-media-management/) on a Saturday morning, and my sales reps have heard about it indirectly through one of the high school students in my district. On Monday morning at 8:45 AM, that student passed it along to his peers in a message we teach them to post on Facebook: "Instead of being stuck at work all day, check out this cool article regarding ways to help boost your business.