Sitting through a painful PowerPoint presentation with slide-after-slide-after-slide of sophomoric clip art and cumbersome sentences disguised as bullet points have become the norm in today’s business world. It’s a crutch at meetings, a security blanket for the sales and marketing professional and sometimes a sleeping pill for the audience, which usually is a perspective client. Yes, it may tell a story or outline a solution, but does a presentation really close a deal? The answer is, it sure could help.

Even though the basis for any presentation is to enhance the sales cycle, almost every salesperson will admit that a real sale can only be achieved through a two-sided dialogue. The client (buyer, prospect) participates, asks questions, raises objections and offers valuable information about a business need. The sales person then responds and explains how their product or service solves the prospect’s need. All the while, both sides know that a compelling presentation is a great ice breaker.

So the sale is relevant. The sale is interactive. The sale is dynamic. Yet, companies continue to rely on stale technology that is the opposite – it is static, flat and unsophisticated. If this is the case, shouldn’t presentation technology mimic the process and be used to not break the ice, but impact and enhance the overall sales cycle.

A look at the elements of a successful sale will demonstrate how presentation technology can be used to enhance the sales cycle.

The sell is relevant. It’s Sales Management 101. Talk to your buyer on their terms. Present information that is relevant to them. But even when properly researched, prepare and pre-qualify, it is nearly impossible to predict every question that may arise during the meeting. Having a complete library of slides with company and product information at ones fingertips will provide an immediate advantage. Thus permitting the marketer with the ability to answer questions at the most critical time – when the prospect asks. Not a day later. It means never having to say, “I’ll get back to you on that.”

Maintaining a library of slides, readily accessible at the presenter’s fingertips, also gives the presenter the ability to talk intelligently and accurately about any topic -even one that was not prepared for – that may arise during the course of a meeting. This now means a presenter will never getting caught off guard. It lends credibility to the presenter, makes best use of the prospect’s time and reduces the amount of follow-up required to close the sale.

The sell is interactive. What you deem a logical flow of information, is not necessarily the same as that of the prospect. Everyone’s thought process is different. Yet, a typical linear slide show forces one person’s logic onto everyone else. And if the prospect is not following, then they are not listening and ultimately, not buying. The sale is a conversation between people. To present in a rigid, linear sequence is counter-intuitive. Rather, the presentation slides should follow and enhance the conversation. Present slides that address the prospect’s concerns as they are raised. Using an interactive presentation technology that includes links to various topics (slides) will not only empower an interactive discussion; it will increase the productivity of the meeting.

The sell is educational. Tell them something they don’t already know.

The sell engages and even entertains. In this digital age, with such easy access to video and picture files, why not use them to sell a product or service. Rich media enhances presentation in two ways. First, it entertains, breaks up the monotony of the meeting and adds a little spice. Second, it evokes emotion. And, emotion is an incredibly powerful sales tool. Presentation technologies can accommodate a wealth of rich media, so use it to enhance the process and close the deal.

The medium is the message, and presentation technologies are just other form of media. Using antiquated presentation technology will merely serve to undermine a progressive product, service and or company. On the other hand, utilizing cutting-edge presentation technology will not only help deliver high-impact presentations, it will help sell you.

A number of years ago, I represented a shipping company which was negotiating to build new ships in a Chinese shipyard. The shipping company had done its due diligence and was satisfied that the shipyard in question could build the ships it wanted at an acceptable price and deliver them in a timely fashion. For its part, the Chinese shipyard was eager to land this contract, as it would represent an expansion of its business to commercial customers beyond China’s border. It was an attractive deal for both parties.

Preliminary discussions between the shipping company and the shipyard proceeded favorably, so well in fact that the shipyard sent a team of representatives to Portland in order to put the finishing touches on a shipbuilding agreement. The Chinese contingent consisted primarily of design engineers and vessel operation specialists and their efforts involved working out the technical specifications for the new vessels with the shipping company’s engineering department. The shipyard’s delegation was led by a business executive who also served as interpreter. She was plainly a person of some experience in the shipping business and had obvious status within her own delegation, as she was treated with particular deference and respect by the rest of her team and, of course, by the shipping company as well. We had previously provided the shipyard with our proposed shipbuilding agreement which included the standard terms and conditions customarily included in shipbuilding contracts throughout the world. We had heard no objections from the shipyard as to our proposed contract and when we inquired of the lead negotiator she politely deferred any discussion to a more opportune time. Or so we thought.

Our Chinese visitors worked diligently and enthusiastically with our engineering folks, and the technical specifications and other design features of the new vessels appeared to come together rather seamlessly. Such was the rapport between the shipping company’s engineering folks and their visitors that the shipping company hosted an elaborate lunch at a local Chinese restaurant for the two teams where our visitors delighted in challenging their American counterparts to sample some particularly hot and spicy Chinese dishes. Meanwhile, the shipyard’s lead negotiator kept her own counsel and remained somewhat in the background. If there were any business issues she wanted to discuss, she wasn’t mentioning them. Insofar as we knew, we were smoothly sailing towards an agreement.

Things were going so well that the shipping company scheduled a contract signing ceremony for 5:00 p.m. on the day prior to our guests’ planned departure. The corporate boardroom was reserved for a catered meal for members of both teams. We planned on presenting gifts to each member of the shipyard’s delegation, as tokens of our expectation of a long and harmonious business relationship.

A few hours prior to the appointed 5:00 ceremony, the shipping company’s chief executive officer summoned me to his office. There he sat looking a bit flummoxed along with the shipyard’s lead negotiator who appeared, well, something less than cordial. I was then told that the shipyard had “serious concerns” with our proposed form of contract. Interestingly, the issues in question had nothing to do with the price to be paid for the ships or their scheduled delivery dates or their technical specifications. Those major deal points were of no moment. Instead, the shipyard had objections to many of the standard boilerplate terms found in the contract and the shipyard’s negotiator proceeded to walk us through the draft agreement one item at a time. Thus ensued a marathon all-night negotiating session. Needless to say, the 5:00 signing celebration was postponed and rescheduled many times that evening. The special celebratory meal became a buffet night lunch for those who remained to work.

In retrospect, the Chinese negotiator’s last-minute objections were part of a well-considered strategy made well in advance of her journey to Portland. Her plan, I now believe, was to wear down her hosts by a long night of bargaining in order to achieve her negotiation goals by simply exhausting the other side.

In any event, we bargained for hours. Midnight came and went and still we discussed, explained, bargained and compromised where we could. We made the concessions we could live with and held the line on others. Finally by 2:30 a.m. we had come down to the final sticking points which, I suspect now, were the main issues for the shipyard all along. As in most shipbuilding contracts we had inserted a provision which required any disputes between the parties to be resolved by arbitration in London, England. Although this is a standard provision in such contracts and, in fact, was insisted upon by the shipping company’s underwriters, it seemed like kryptonite to our visitor. We explained to her that we could not change this provision without compromising our insurance coverage on the new vessels’ construction process and we simply weren’t going to go there. Either she did not believe us or thought, wrongly, that we wanted the deal enough that we would yield on this point. As it was, the entire deal seemed on the verge of tanking. Just then, however, a rather happy fortuity and a shrewd play by the shipping company changed everything.

At about this time, our vice president of engineering walked into the room holding a two inch thick binder which he said contained all of the agreed upon technical specifications for the new vessels. He sat down at the negotiating table and he listened patiently for a few minutes as we explained to the shipyard negotiator again why we could not budge on the last sticking point. Perhaps from sleep deprivation, or inattention, our engineering guy opened the binder of specifications and he began to initial each page in the lower right-hand corner. Engineers like to do such things. At least, they do that in the shipping business. He was well into this exercise in penmanship when our CEO, exasperated, told him to stop what he was doing and to put the book down. The engineer seemed a bit stunned and the Chinese negotiator immediately recognized what was happening. Our CEO politely explained to her that we were at the point where we would or would not have a deal, but we were not making any further changes to the contract. Whether a deal would happen was now in her hands. She left the room for a few minutes and when she returned she accepted our dispute resolution clause. We finally were able to close the deal.

The signing celebration took place at about 3:00 a.m., and it was as well attended as any gathering I have made at such an hour. We presented each of our Chinese visitors with tee shirts bearing our company logo, with large Chinese characters emblazoned on the front of the shirt which spelled, I am told, “teamwork”. For my participation, the Chinese negotiator presented me with a pair of porcelain harmony balls, which chime when being handled. I still have them. Every now and then when I see them in my office bookcase, I remember one tough negotiator. I also remember how the shipping company’s willingness to walk away from a deal it wanted was crucial to accomplishing its objectives. It eventually turned out that we purchased one or two ships from that shipyard. All in all, it worked out well for the shipping company.

Sometimes you have to be willing to walk away in order to get what you wanted from the beginning.

© 9/16/2015 Hunt & Associates, P.C. All rights reserved.

What does it mean to “win” a sales negotiation? This sure looks like a simple question doesn’t it? I think that in our minds, we all know what we think winning looks like – after all, we see it in sports all the time. However, things are just a bit different when it comes to sales negotiations…

In sports, winning sometimes is achieved by a blowout – the football game that ends up 60 – 0, the no-hitter in baseball, etc. What’s interesting is that although these are clear victories for one team, the viewers get bored quickly and turn off the game – why bother if you already know who’s going to win. A lot of Superbowl games have been like this.

It turns out that sales good negotiations are a lot more like sports games that are too close to call right up until the last moment.

Dr. Chester Karrass goes about defining a sales negotiation winner as being someone who “.. understands what his or her objectives are and takes the time to achieve what is possible through the bargaining process.”

The interesting thing here is that “getting the lowest / highest price” is nowhere to be found in this definition – I think that that speaks volumes. During a sports competition, nobody spends any time worrying about what they can do to make a better deal for the other side. However, during a sales negotiation, this can be critical because you’re going to be dealing with the other side in the future and this negotiation is just the start.

Finally, one of the keys to being a successful sales negotiator is to make sure that the other side ends up being satisfied with the final deal that you reach. Unlike sports, it’s not over once the deal has been inked. The other side still needs to deliver on their promises and you want them to be happy to do so – not unhappy and looking for ways to cut corners in order to make back some of what they feel that they’ve lost!