Have you ever given a presentation the first time you met a prospect or were asked by the prospect to just come in and present?

---

Have you ever given a presentation the first time you met a prospect or were asked by the prospect to just come in and present?

If you did, you probably left with a think-it-over such as, "We'll get back to you" and because you were doing you were doing most of the talking, falied to understand :

• The problems and issues they were trying to overcome.
• How much the problems and issues were costing them.
• How long they had been experiencing the problems.
• What impact the problems were having on productivity and efficiency.
• How much money they were willing to spend to solve their problems.

Premature presentations do nothing to help your sales effort, quite the contrary. All you end up doing is what we at Sandler call 'unpaid consulting'. This is where you educate the prospect, give away your ideas and knowledge,

but without getting anything in return.

Sandler trained salespeople don't use the presentation to open discussions they use it to close the sale. Prospects only get to see a presentation after the salesperson has fully qualified their pain, discussed budgets and

understands how the decision-making process will be made and who will be involved.

So remember, when it comes to presenting, no premature presentations.

Want to comment? Have you given sales presentations with no idea about the client? What are your views?