Winning Team Presentations

Marketing

Winning Team Presentations
by Diane DiResta



Team Selling: the Wave of the Future

The World is changing at warp speed. According to Richard Saul Wurman of  Information Anxiety, ‘”The information supply available to us doubles every five years.”  

 What does that mean? It means the account executive can no longer act as a lone ranger.

In order to sell, promote, or position your company, an idea, or product, it takes a team. The relationship manager can’t sell client investment strategies without the portfolio manager. The advertising account executive needs the media planner and the creative team.  And when customers start asking questions about networks and routers, the sales professional must rely on the “techie.”

In today’s competitive marketplace, products and services have become commodity-like. You can easily go from “first on the block” to the chopping block once your competitors develop a similar product. What distinguishes one company from another these days is the presentation and relationship. 

What Goes Wrong

Too many times a sale is sabotaged because of a lack of coordination and preparation. The members meet the day of the presentation instead of preparing and rehearsing in advance. The result is a disorganized presentation. Customers can sense a lack of leadership. Another failing of teams is the lack of knowledge.  The sales person doesn’t have to be the “expert,” but does have to demonstrate a command of the product or service. The subject matter expert must learn some basic selling/consulting skills in order to ask the right questions and to understand the customer’s needs. 

Finally, teams may lack clear roles and expectations.

Too often, team members trip over each other and lose the sale. The common complaint is that the technical expert spends too much time on detail and may dominate the presentation. The techiethinks the sales person overpromises. Teams must decide in advance who is responsible for each part of the presentation and how objections will be handled.

Make it a Winning Team

Whether you are selling, presenting on a panel, or discussing your job at an employee orientation, here are some guidelines when giving team presentations:

Act like a team. Your presentation should flow smoothly, with everyone working together. This isn’t the time to upstage others and compete for the spotlight. Leave your ego at the door. The team’s success is your success.

Prepare. Meet beforehand to discuss roles, timing, and the general process. Agree on how you’ll handle difficult questions or situations that arise. (e.g., If it is a technical question, the subject matter expert will answer it. If it is a price concern, the account executive will handle it.)

Appoint a leader or moderator. In the case of a sales presentation, the leader is generally the account representative. In a panel discussion, the moderator acts as a facilitator and does not present. The objective is to keep things moving.

Decide on each person’s role. Who will speak on which topic, and for how long?

Provide an agenda. The leader generally opens the presentation by introducing the team members and their topics. He or she then explains how the presentation will proceed: “First we will discuss the background history, then the current state of affairs, and finally we will make some future projections.” The audience needs an agenda to understand what you’ll be presenting. The agenda serves as a road map.

Create transitions. To create a smooth flow, team members must segue from their material and turn the floor over to the next presenter: “That covers taxes. Now Ray will talk to you about estate planning.”

Time each segment and rehearse out loud. Good presenters finish on time. If you’re given ten minutes, stick to the agreement. The only way to stay on time is to practice out loud and time yourself.

Look at the audience, not your teammates. You need to watch the non-verbal behavior of your audience. You can’t do that if you’re watching the speaker or your teammates. It also looks more professional for the team to be looking in the same direction: toward the audience. Remember: all eyes are on you, and not just when it’s your turn to speak. If you look bored, chew gum, or tap your pencil, you will create a negative impression.

Don’t debate or interrupt when someone is speaking. If a speaker omits vital information, wait until he or she is finished and then say, “If I may add to what John just said” or “To piggyback on what Carol said earlier..”

Plan the closing. At the end, the leader announces the question-and-answer session and keeps things on track. Summarize and end with a positive message: “That concludes our presentation. We’ve discussed investments, taxes, and estate planning. We leave you with this thought: it’s never too early to start planning for retirement.”

Be available after the presentation. If this is a sales presentation, be sure that both the sales person and the technical expert are available to talk to the customers after the presentation. Some people may be reticent to ask questions during the presentation. A fast exit from the platform can result in missed opportunities. 

Clarify the next steps. Will there be a demo? An invitation for an onsite visit?

Determine who will be responsible for the next steps. (e.g., the sales person will phone qualified leads; the sales and technical experts will jointly participate in the demonstration.)

As competition heats up and information exponentially increases, it is absolutely essential that companies leverage the resources of their teams. Don’t wait. Get ready now to make winning team presentations.


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Diane DiResta is an international speaker, coach, and author of KNOCKOUT PRESENTATIONS. To read a free chapter or to subscribe to Impact Player, an online newsletter, visit http://www.diresta.com.