The Pitfalls of Linear Presentations –
Have you ever gone into a customer meeting feeling confident about your sales process, only to be thrown a curveball of a question? Maybe a technical expert unexpectedly attended the meeting and started to probe you with in-depth questions about your technology while you are presenting your business-oriented slide deck. Then, you have to shuffle through your slides or, worse, through your computer files to find the answers to his questions. You have to exit the presentation and bring up new information, interrupting your flow, shaking your confidence, and making you appear unorganized. Maybe you are out at the customer’s site and discover their internet connection has gone down. How are you going to show those videos and websites you had planned? Perhaps you have perfectly executed a 15-minute sales pitch only to find out from the questions afterward that your customer didn’t care about most of the information you gave; it was a snooze fest for them!
These are all problems caused by a linear presentation style. No matter how many times you have practiced your presentation, something unexpected is likely to come up. Whether this unexpected event is a small hiccup or derails your presentation has a lot to do with how your pitch is structured. A linear PowerPoint presentation will convey some of what you want to say, but it is inflexible. If an unexpected question arises or an unexpected audience member joins, you cannot pivot your presentation accordingly. In addition, if you want to customize your presentation to fit your audience—say a CFO or a technical expert—you have to manually switch out slides before you arrive on site. Good luck locating the older versions of the presentation to gather the information you need, as well! Because customizing linear presentations is such a pain, you often end up giving a more generic pitch that may not effectively address a particular customer’s pain points.
Enter the Situational Selling Method
Use situational sales to avoid looking disorganized, boring your customer, or having a general pitch. Instead of a linear, unidirectional presentation, situational sales opens a dialog with your customer, engaging them throughout the presentation (no more snooze fests). Rather than relying on a formulaic pitch, situational sales creates a “choose-your-own-adventure” environment. This sort of flexibility allows you to address unexpected customer pain points, dive into spec sheets with a technical expert, and roll with the punches! Engaging your customer in a conversation is the best way to sell your product or service; studies have revealed that the salesperson speaks 35% of the time and listens 65% of the time in the most successful business meetings. Human connection makes your customer feel heard, bringing them a higher level of service. Believe it or not, only 13% of customers believe a sales person can understand their needs. It’s a difficult realization but there actually is a boatload of time wasted when presenting solutions or features of what you’re selling. Be concise, all you need to do is ask questions and bring up information they’re specifically interested in within the flow of the interaction. With situational sales, and the right presentation tools, you can do just that.
Additionally, keeping the focus on your customer presents an opportunity for you to pick up on additional needs that your product or service can meet. By keeping the presentation open-ended, you learn things about your customer that you never would have with a linear pitch. You can suggest customized solutions, packages, and cross-sales that address your customer’s pain points.
Comparing Situational Sales and Other Methods
Sandler Sales Method
David Sandler invented the Sandler sales method as a way to reduce the sales time he wasted on cold customers who had no interest, customers who said no prematurely or yes slowly, and customers who just wanted free advice. To do this, Sandler aimed to remove the adversarial atmosphere that is common in direct sales. It consists of several steps: build rapport, set expectations, identify pain, establish a budget, establish a clear decision path, fulfill your promises, and communicate post-sales.
While situational sales and the Sandler method share an interest in developing a relationship with the client and discovering their pain points, they differ greatly. The Sandler method is still a scripted, linear presentation method. It has clear steps that the salesperson is trying to herd the customer through during their interactions. The salesperson also has a script for each step of the process; it is salesperson-led. On the other hand, situational sales adapts to the customer’s questions and needs. Rather than dragging the customer along a linear path, situational sales walks at the customer’s pace and keeps the focus on them. The salesperson is prepared to answer a variety of questions in an unforced, genuine way.
Challenger Sales Method
In stark contrast to the Sandler method, the Challenger sales model claims that building a relationship with the customer is the most ineffective way to make sales. This method is tailored to an environment in which the customer has preconceived notions about the salesperson’s product or service. Instead of building customer relationships or meekly servicing customer needs, the Challenger sales rep offers insights that the customer doesn’t have and pushes the customer out of their comfort zone. They teach the customer something new, potentially changing their view of the product or service, which causes them to buy.
This method is fairly dissimilar to situational sales. The Challenger salesperson will not adapt to customer questions or needs like situational salespeople do. Where situational sales focuses on the customer choosing their own adventure, the Challenger method “educates” the customer into sharing the salesperson’s view. The Challenger method is highly salesperson-focused while situational sales is customer-centric.
Summary
In conclusion, there are several types of sales methods out there, including the Sandler method, the Challenger sales model, and situational sales. Each has its particular focus and applications. However, situational sales offers a flexible, customer-focused, relationship-building approach to sales. Being a storyteller of your company and champion of your brand requires confidence and preparedness. But it doesn’t stop there. When the presentation begins, it’s your job to continue to qualify and validate your story and its relevance to the buyer. Asking questions not only gives a back-channeling cue that they are paying attention, but they have a role to play in this story too. By keeping the focus on your customer, you will keep them engaged every step of the way. Remember, the most effective salespeople mostly listen during meetings!