Every Presentation Should Tell a Story
According to the latest neuroscience, the normal, non-autistic, human brain organizes EVERYTHING into stories, because that's how we understand the meaning and context of everything around us. Because of this, the best sales presentations ALWAYS tell a story.
But how do you do that? One way is to borrow some story telling from Hollywood and start each story with something interesting, introduce characters with whom the audience can relate, and then make sure you have a satisfying ending.
For sales presentations, that means following these three rules:
- RULE #1: Starts with an "heart-stopper." Every movie, TV show, or novel starts with something that captures your attention (i.e. captures your emotions) and holds your interest while you "get into" the story. Without a "heart stopper," the audience's mind will wander. Trust me.
- RULE #2: Talk about the audience... not about you. The story connects emotions to the audience's current situation so that that a decision becomes inevitable. You (or your firm) can play a "best supporting actor" role, but the main role is always the audience and what happens (or might happen) to them.
- RULE #3: Ends with a "risk-remover" and a "close." The risk-remover eliminates any remaining reluctance to make a decision. The "close" pushes the audience over the edge and essentially forces them to make the decision, right now.
- SLIDE: "$100 million"
- SCRIPT: (Pause for five seconds.) Yes, $100 million dollars. That's what you lost last year. [This is the "heart stopper"]
- SLIDE: "Inventory Problems" [This introduces the characters and the plot.]
- SCRIPT: According to the research that I've conducted with your team, your companies inability to track inventory has resulted in the defection of three large customers and several smaller ones. The total amount of revenue from those accounts was on $20 million, but the reputation that you've gotten in the industry has lost you additional sales. In fact, $100 million is probably a conservative estimate.
- SLIDE: "Lost Market Share"
- SCRIPT: If the current trend continues, there's no doubt that you will be losing marketing share to your competitors. This will allow them to apply economies of scale that your company will eventually be unable to match. Worst case, you could go into a downward spiral where you become successively less competitive.
- SLIDE: "Controlling Inventory"
- SCRIPT: The challenge with inventory control isn't just getting costs under control; it's turning your inventory into a competitive advantage. Here are some examples of companies that have not just managed to reduce their inventory costs, but used a shortened supply chain and just-in-time inventory to gain new customers....
- SLIDE: [Simple Table]
- SCRIPT: "Here is the topline of a spreadsheet that I've worked up with the help of Joe in accounting that shows how an inventory control solution can gradually get expenses in line and increase sales revenue. You'll note that the bulk of the cost savings comes within three months of installation, but then there's a follow-on effect of increased revenue."
- SLIDE: "ROI" [this is the "risk remover"]
- SCRIPT: The most attractive element of this solution is that it virtually pays for itself within the first three months. Note that this ROI does not include the incremental revenue that you'll be making in years 2 and 3.
- SLIDE: "Next Steps" [The close, of course]
- SCRIPT: As soon as we get the go-ahead, we can have this system installed within three weeks. I've already met with your technical guru to ensure that it's fully compatible with your existing infrastructure and our engineers have pre-qualified your system for an easy install.
- SLIDE: Questions
- SCRIPT: I'm happy to answer any questions that you've got.
Even so, this is the kind of presentation that's going to create emotion and persuade the audience to make a decision. And it's certainly going to work better than the dull stuff that most people throw up on the screen.
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