In many conversations with service providers, I am often surprised that even the most sophisticated professionals get caught in the presentation trap. They spend an inordinate amount of time preparing for a razzle-dazzle presentation, and often lose sight of the issues at hand.

Why Presentations Can Cost You The Sale

Everything service providers do before—the prospecting, contacting and qualifying of potential clients—seems to be aimed at creating the opportunity to present their solutions. Everything after—the downhill run to the sale itself, including overcoming objections, negotiating, and closing—is designed to support and reiterate the presentation. Consequently, sales organizations devote a tremendous amount of time and resources to creating compelling presentations and proposals.

The irony is that most of this effort is lost on clients. Presentations that are too early in complex decisions are largely a waste of time.

Many service providers hate to hear this because the presentation is usually the key weapon in their sales arsenal. It is their security blanket, their comfort zone, and they loath giving it up. They seem to be on a mission to relentlessly educate the client because, after all, they will not buy what they don’t understand.

Exactly right. The client will not buy what they don’t understand. A presentation can take clients to a higher level of understanding, but it is one of the least effective methods for accomplishing that goal for several reasons:

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