Introduction

A sales presentation isn’t a motivational speech. You want your prospect to do more than feel good after your presentation. You want him to take action. Building and delivering a persuasive presentation requires a different strategy and approach than other types of presentations. You need more helpful advice than “Make good eye contact and don’t read from your slides.”

A sales presentation isn’t a dull data dump either. Today’s buyers are more informed than ever. Engaging today’s busy decision makers — and keeping them engaged — is mission critical. Attention spans are low and distractions are high. Buying cycles have increased in length and complexity. Competition is fierce. Cookie-cutter presentations and long corporate overviews have gone the way of the fax machine. Yes, you can still use them, but your audience members will roll their eyes.

I wrote Sales Presentations For Dummies after training sales teams all over the world and recognizing that most are operating off beliefs and techniques from the 1970s, ’80s, or ’90s — well before prospects were able to escape to their smartphones or tablets the second they weren’t engaged. With this book I hope to help you rise to the challenges of presenting in today’s selling environment. Whether your presentation or demonstration is formal or informal, virtual or live, this book gives you the strategies and tactics you need to win more deals, more consistently.

About This Book

Regardless of industry, location, or company ...

Get Sales Presentations For Dummies now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.