How to Do Your Best Selling Skills in an Oral Presentation

Sales presentations let you show customers the benefits of your product.

Sales calls are common in the business world, especially if you rely on business-to-business sales. Unfortunately, you can ruin your chances of adding a new customer to your roster by fidgeting and frowning during a presentation. Rather than avoiding sales visits altogether, increase your selling skills to improve your chances of success. The next time you give an oral presentation, your customers will scramble to purchases your service or product.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pen

Instructions

1. Familiarize yourself with what you're trying to sell. Write down a short list of the benefits of the product or service. Benefits for the customers could be saving them money, making a task easier or enlarging their profit. Bring this list with you and take up each point during your oral sales presentation.

2. Start the presentation by introducing yourself. Say your full name and the company you work for, even if you have already introduced yourself to some of the people in the room. Say briefly why you're there. If you're selling your accounting service, you could say, "Hello, everyone. My name is Sam Wellsley of Wellsley Accounting. I'm here to tell you how you can save money by having my company take care of your accounting needs instead of doing that work in house."

3. Smile throughout your presentation. Act personable, as though you were talking to friends. Exhibit good body language. Stand up straight. Use hand gestures to underscore your points. The more relaxed and confident you are, the greater your chances of clinching the sale.

4. Demonstrate that you've researched the prospective customer's company. If the company has just announced higher profits for the year, mention this near the beginning of your presentation. "As you know, your company achieved an amazing 14 percent increase in profits. My product can increase your profits by as much as 6 percent."

5. Pause often to allow breaks in your presentation. Too many presenters talk so fast that customers get confused. After you talk about a subject, pause for five seconds before moving on to your next topic. If you need a second to formulate what to say next, avoid trying to fill the silence with words such as "like" and "um."

6. Thank your prospective customers at the end of the presentation and shake their hands, the website Entrepreneur advises. Once you get back to the office, hand write a thank-you card and get it in the mail.

Tips & Warnings

• Invite questions at the end of your presentation to address any concerns.

References

• A Research Guide for Students: Presentation Tips for Public Speaking
• Entrepreneur: 5 Tips for Nailing the Sales Visit