Creating a sales presentation is simple. However, as many of us know, creating a successful sales presentation isn’t always so easy! There are, of course, many different factors that contribute towards an effective pitch, but one of the most important – and one of the most overlooked – tends to be value.
After all, there is one thing that practically all successful sales pitches have in common: they all make the perceived value of the product they’re selling surpass the value of the money a business will spend. At a time when many businesses want to reduce spending, product value has never been more important.
Real Value vs. Perceived Value
Of course, in most cases there will be a notable gap between the real value of the product and the perceived value. The ‘real’ value is what the product means to you. As the supplier, you know how much a product has cost you in terms of money, time, effort, sourcing, manufacturing, and so on. But these don’t mean much to a business customer. ‘Perceived’ value is what the customer sees, so as a sales representative it’s essential to spend some time considering what aspects your customers will value.
It is often believed that businesses will look for the lowest price by default. However, research suggests that roughly the same percent of businesses look for quantity or quality, which suggests that perceived value is based upon a combination of the cost of the product, the amount of product, and the quality.
Creating a Successful Sales Presentation
Some aspects to focus upon in a sales presentation to boost the value of your product include:
- Sharing brand information
- Showing the story behind the product
- Highlighting the quality of the product
- Focusing on unique selling points, e.g. product sustainability
- Demonstrating use of the product
- Explaining the impact of an absence of your product to your customer
- Comparing the impact of your product to solutions offered by competitors
- Discussing ongoing support and after sales care
By understanding and marketing valuable product aspects, you can boost the impact of your presentation, and increase success by encouraging businesses to consider more than just acquisition cost.
Consider that, while many businesses will be able to easily identify gaps in their working for which your product could form a suitable solution, relatively few will fully understand how they will benefit from fulfilling these requirements. A sales pitch should outline the value of the product to the customer, going beyond the surface product features and looking at how the product fits into the ‘bigger picture’. This is one of the most effective ways to add value to your sales presentations, and boost your customer base.
