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Writing Presentations for Business

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Tues, 6/05/2012

The process of writing a presentation for a prospective client is critical to your closing ratio. If you take the time to act as a true consultant, listening to the needs of each respective client, then you ought to make sure you take the next step and match your written presentation against those needs.

You may be saying, “why wouldn’t you do that?” You would be surprised how many times I have seen a salesperson do a magnificent job in learning about the client, yet fail to provide a reflection of his or her findings in the written proposal.

Making sure you cover everything in the written proposal accomplishes two things; it shows that you were listening to the client, and also, it gives support and reasoning as to why the client should go along with what you are proposing them to do.

When you present the proposal, this gives you a chance to make sure that what you heard the client say in the needs assessment meeting was correct, and it also gives the client the chance to either re-confirm what they said or make additions. The more you know, and the more accurate you are with the knowledge you have learned, typically gives you a better chance to build a long lasting mutually beneficial relationship with the client.

Your presentation should start out with the objectives of the client, followed immediately with their unique needs. Next you should be building the bridge to your product or service by showing how if used correctly, they would be solutions to the challenges currently being faced by the client. Itemize the many benefits of using your company’s products and solutions and then have a summary page to say thank you. Sounds kind of corny, but I can’t tell you how many business owners have said thank you for saying thank you.

Often a written presentation is reviewed beyond the initial presentation meeting. So make the writing personable, as if you were in the room when the client reviews it for a second time. Taking the time to develop a template for these proposals is critical. Don’t get caught up in only providing client’s a bid for business or an estimate. This can be done by a computer. If you use the knowledge and information you learn about the client to start developing a relationship right out of the gate, you are bound to increase your closing ratio immensely.

What are your challenges when it comes to written presentations? I look forward to hearing your comments. Until next time …