THE BARD GROUP, LLC

OBJECTIVES

Make it as easy as possible for your client to follow along with you and understand how your solutions will solve their challenges.
Use your slides and words to hammer home your key messages.
Hold their attention, challenge their assumptions, and make them care enough to do something.

CHALLENGES

Your client’s listening will always drop in and out during the meeting.
They will only remember a fraction of what you tell them. The more information you share, the more you are competing for space in their memory.
Your time is limited, so you cannot afford to have them getting lost in your slides trying to decipher what they are looking at.
You believe that your slides are the presentation and all you need to do is walk through them with confidence.
Clients struggle to differentiate one vendor from the next because they rely on emotional factors like trust, confidence, and likability, which too often do not come through during a sales meeting.
60% of your clients will choose to do nothing because you have not engaged them in a way that compels them to make a change.

TECHNIQUES

A. Make it about them, not your deck

Your client is meeting with you because they want to hear from you, learn from you, and discuss how you can help them. They are not meeting with you just to walk through your presentation deck.

Your client wants to be engaged and is looking for you to be as well. They are looking to connect with you, your team, and your solutions on a deeper level than the facts and capabilities in your presentation. Subconsciously, your client is thinking:

“Do I feel confident that you get what my challenges are based on what you’ve said, what you have asked me, and how we’ve engaged today?”
“Do I believe that you will get me to the place where I want to be?”
“Do I trust that you will not only address my immediate challenges but also be there for me long-term?”

Your presentation deck is a tool to help you drive the conversation that allows for the connection the client is seeking.

Do not get trapped in the slides, committed to covering every point on every slide. Instead, be flexible and guided by what they tell you is important to them.
Do not be beholden to the slides, in effect, reading a story to your client from beginning to end. Instead, engage them in dialogue.

Your client wants to be engaged and is looking for you to be as well.

B. Apply the “Billboard Rule”

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The Billboard Rule says that the client needs to be able to absorb your page in three seconds or less, about the same time it takes to read a billboard as you drive by. The client does not need to understand your exact sales point in three seconds, but they do need to be able to quickly grasp what the page is about.

Once they grasp the gist of the page, they are then free to listen to you.

Here are tips to help you design your pitch book around the Billboard Rule:

Be sure that each slide has only one key message.
Delete all content that does not support the key message of that slide.
Refine your headers. Make them self-evident.
Do not use complete sentences.
Test to see where the eye is drawn at first glance and be sure it is the key point of the slide.

C. Clear every slide

To 'clear a slide' is to tell the client what they are looking at before you jump into the details shown on the slide.

You do not want the client to get trapped in the slide, reading a lot of words or wandering around the slide trying to figure it out. When they are doing this, they are not listening to you.

By clearing the slide before you dive in, you are anchoring your client so they can then relax and focus on you and your message. Only after you tell them what they are looking at can you dive into the content and your supporting points.

1. Start with an opening statement that ties back to the title of the slide. This should be the one message this slide is designed to convey. Each slide should have one main message, no more.

Examples:

“What you are looking at is a graph of X. This is a representation of …, so let me walk you through it.”
“There are four points we want to discuss, 1., 2., 3., 4.,… let’s start with the first one.”

2. Clearing the slide may feel unnecessary and redundant to you, but that is only because you know your material inside and out. Keep in mind that this is the first time your client is hearing your story, so be their guide and take them along with you.

D. Make your supporting points

1. Talk about the 1-2 things on each slide that support the main message of the slide. These points should tie to the 3 key messages you have built your overall story around and want them to remember after the meeting.

2. Stick only to those points and to what is on the slide.

Do not verbally add extra information that does not tie to the slide. If you go rogue, you will lose the client as they wander around the slide looking for what you are talking about.

Do not read the slide. The client wants you to point out the critical information and share your interpretation of why this is important to them.

E. For every WHAT, give them the ‘SO WHAT’

The information you share is the ‘What’. A ‘So What’ statement is the follow up to the capability, solution, or fact you’ve shared that tells the client why it matters to them or how they benefit.

The ‘So What’ makes it easier for the client to remember your message because you are making it about them.

Examples:

“Why this is important is…”
“The real advantage of this is….”
“This matters because…”
“The reason this is critical is…”

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F. Use ‘Verbal Grabbers’

Your client’s attention span is short. Their mind wanders easily. Your job as the presenter is to keep pulling them back in.

A Verbal Grabber is a strong word or phrase that is used in conjunction with your voice inflection to let your client know that what you are about to say is important. Its purpose is to spike your client's attention and get them focused on what is coming next.

Examples:

“One of the MOST important issues is…”
“What is TRULY amazing is…”
“One of the SIGNIFICANT keys to all of this is…”
“What is REALLY critical is…”

Verbal grabbers put a spotlight on the information you really want the client to hear and remember. It is like when a teacher says, “This will be on the test!”

A Verbal Grabber and a ‘So What’ can be used as part of the same conversation. Wake up the client, discuss the key point, and then tell them why they will benefit from it.

G. Bridge between slides

You always want one slide to flow nicely into the next, so use simple transition phrases to let them know you are moving on.

Examples:

“So, let’s move to…”
“Now, if we take a look at…”
“Then, this feeds into…”

These transition phrases help spike the client’s attention if their thoughts had wandered away.

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ADVANTAGES TO YOU

You maintain control of the meeting and the message because the client is never wondering what they are looking at or where you are going.
You eliminate confusion and the risk that they will interpret the language and data on your slide in a way that you do not want. Simple and to-the-point statements allow you to hammer home your message.
You leave them with 3 key messages and supporting points that they can easily absorb, remember, and repeat to others inside their organization.

ADVANTAGES TO THE CLIENT

They are free to relax, listen, and absorb your message because you are guiding them.
They are not having to work too hard to understand your message because you are repeatedly spiking their attention and making it easy for them to follow along.
They are engaged because you are making the meeting about them.

EXERCISES

PRACTICE ON YOUR OWN

1. Clear the slide by briefly telling them what they are looking at.

2. Dive into the supporting points on the slide and tell them why they should care.

ROLE-PLAY

Find a colleague who is willing to role-play and give you feedback. Ask them to take on the role of the client and assess what you do well and what you can improve:

How well do you clear the slide, telling the client what they are looking at before you jump into the details?
Does each slide have one message?
Do you stick to the supporting points on the slide, or do you stray?
How well do you use Verbal Grabbers to spike their attention?
Do you bridge between slides?
Are you projecting the right amount of energy and passion?
Does your colleague find him/herself mirroring you because they are connecting with what you are saying?