Should You Give Sales Presentations or Have Sales Conversations (Part 5)

I only have a few more posts on this topic. If you have been following this ongoing conversation – I hope you have learned something. I have received tremendous feedback and appreciate all your thoughts.

To view earlier parts – click on the earlier blog posts below.

Last post we talked about the importance of asking questions to turn your sales presentation into a sales conversation. With that in mind I want to talk about the role & importance of both competence & confidence.

If you are going to make it a sales conversation than you need to know that even though you give the same presentation every time (generally)
you really never give the same presentation.

What does that mean? It means that you will probably cover the same points and arrive at the end goal – but the conversation will be organic and will be different with every prospect. If the focus is on them – then they direct the flow of the conversation because we make it about them.

If they are a detail person – you give more details (as an example)

To let your conversation be organic and still feel in control – you need to have a great deal of competence and confidence. Competence means that you know your stuff. But it’s not enough just to know it – you need to be confident in that knowledge so that you can trust the organic flow of a conversation and still arrive at the desired destination.

How do you develop competence – study.
How do you develop confidence – practice.

I know a lot of people in sales who if they were quizzed know their stuff. But they choke with prospects. Why? They need more confidence which comes through practice.

Obviously the more you do it the better you get – so every sales conversation will be a learning experience. But I also believe that we have lost the art of role playing.

Let me tell you why I believe in this so much.
When I was 19 I moved to Portugal to serve a mission for my church. I was there for two years and while there I was teaching people everyday about my beliefs. The whole time I was there I had a companion who I lived and worked with day in and day out. And every morning for two years we had a one hour companionship study where we would role play different techniques or sections of what we were teaching.

Yes it felt awkward at first (and many times later) but the more we did it the better we got and the more natural it felt. (like any other skill)

Those two years of role playing every morning taught me how to teach – but it also taught me a skill set that I have used since to succeed in sales, speaking, and leadership.

Take the time to role play – it will help you to become confident in your competence.