Success stories are at the heart of effective sales conversations.

Powerful and persuasive sales conversations always include success stories that show how products or services have specifically worked for past customers or clients. Your prospective client might be trained to resist a sales pitch, but no one can resist a good story.

When it comes to using success stories in your sales conversations:

• How do you sell to competing companies within the same industry?
• What happens when you can’t mention a past client by name?
• What’s the best way to share past success stories? Tell them, or use testimonials?

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Patricia Fripp shares the biggest mistake sales professionals make and what to do to make your sales presentations powerful and persuasive.

“Patricia, what is the biggest mistake sales professionals make?” I was recently asked this in an interview. My answer?

Not rehearsing.

I expected to hear, “We lock the presentation team in the board room for a week. We go over our parts, video, and review. Then we bring in at least five different audiences of team members to listen and give their feedback.”

This is what he actually said, “We are lucky if we do a run-though in the back of Sylvia’s car before we walk in.”

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Patricia Fripp explains how to make your prospect’s needs central to your sales presentation through FrippVT.

Selling to large enterprises can be complex, but your sales presentation does not have to be. You are often speaking to the audience of your audience. In other words, your presentation will be repeated and discussed for months with individuals you may not have met.

When your message is clear, concise, and focused on the prospect’s needs or opportunities, you have their attention. Everyone on the presentation team must deliver a consistent message and be well rehearsed. (more…)

Patricia Fripp explains shows you how to structure a sales presentation through FrippVT.

When you know you’ll you have a few minutes to present to a true decision maker, what do you say? Don’t panic. This is a great opportunity. Be prepared and get to the point.

Remember, with a senior level executive you must be clear, concise, credible, and able to articulate your bottom line. Always start with structure. No matter the importance of your message, your presentation will only be successful if you first recognize the importance of structure. I discuss structure in this video excerpt from Fripp Virtual Training: (more…)