MoneyWatch

Help! The CEO Found a Huge Error in my Sales Presentation!

By Geoffrey James

Updated on: February 17, 2011 / 12:23 PM EST / MoneyWatch

SCENARIO: You've prepared the perfect presentation. You're in front of a group of decision-makers, including the CEO. You put up a key slide, showing a primary reason they should buy. The slide reads:

Average Inventory Now: 60 days
Average With Our Solution: 10 days

The CEO stares at the slide for a moment and says: "I don't know who told you our average inventory was 60 days, because that's dead wrong." In fact, that piece of information came from Fred, your initial contact, the guy who sponsored you to give the presentation. What's your best move?

Tactic #1: Pass the Potato. "I got that number from Fred. Fred?..."
Tactic #2: Play Dumb. "Gosh, I must be wrong. Out of curiosity, what is the average?"
Tactic #3: Blame Production. "My secretary must have changed my slides. Sorry."
Tactic #4: Dig in Your Heels. "Actually, I believe that to be the real number."

Click for the the best answer Â»
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Your best answer is "#2: Play Dumb."
This approach assumes that you're giving your presentation with humility and curiosity, rather than trying to position yourself as a superhero or a know-it-all.

According to sales uber-guru Mike Bosworth, one of the biggest mistakes that sales professionals make is pretending that they know everything and that they can swoop down into a customer account, show everyone how stupid they are and then "save the day" with a powerful solution.

No wonder so many decision-makers dislike sales professionals!

When you start your presentation, explain that you've done some research but admit that it's not perfect. Make it clear that you're not there to tell the decision-makers how to run the business, but merely because you're an expert in a certain operational area (i.e. the area your product addresses.)

Then, if what you've learned proves inaccurate, you can simply ask the decision-maker to provide better and more accurate information. Then, using what you've learned, adapt your presentation accordingly. Here's how that conversation would probably go:

You: "It's my best understanding that your inventory averages 60 days."
CEO: "Who told you we had a 60 day average?"
You: "My research must be wrong. Can you share the real average?"
CEO: "It's about 45 days."
You: "That's higher than the industry average. I can show you how reduce it."
CEO: "That's why I'm here. Continue."

Another important idea is to keep your slides free of hard data that you can't independent verify. Some sales professionals wrongly believe that they can make themselves seem more credible by putting lots of data on the their slides.

But that's not true. In most cases, it's better to have a generic slide that says "INVENTORY PROBLEM" than a slide that's full of facts and figures, anyway.

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