Several years ago. I was running a presentation program for a leading investment bank. On a break, I said to one of the bankers, “You must really enjoy meeting all these CEOs and getting involved in such important deals.” He stopped dead, looked me straight in the eye, and said, “Hell (he used stronger language, but this is a family blog), if I could make this much money, pumping gas, I would be doing that!” Which leads me to a point that bears repeating…
1.Listeners care only about what they get from features, not the features themselves. A corollary to that is…
2.You need to know what is important to them so that you relate your features to those benefits (Making mountains of money for my banker to, say, ease of use for a trader)
I was reminded of this recently working with a demo presenter. He was excited about the (very impressive) features of his software, but he neglected to wrap them up in take-away or benefit statements that would resonate with his listeners. Fortunately, we quickly corrected this problem, so that his listeners would be persuaded that this, indeed, was the software for them..jpg)
“What’s It All About, Alfie?”
Some of you may remember this was the title of a very popular song sung by Dionne Warwick. A variation of that question is what listeners ask themselves as they listen to you: What’s it all about to me, Mr Seller? What’s the relevance? To ensure the right answer to that question, when you plan your presentation, ask yourself…
- What is the value for each feature or set of features to my listener?
- If I cannot answer that, how do I find out?
- If I cannot find out, why am I including these in the presentation? Should I trash or change them?
Whether you work in technology, media, finance or in another professional service industry, remember that only when your information is linked to benefits and value to listeners will buyers buy and it will be much easier to shorten sales cycles, win support for your ideas, and rally people to your cause.
Let Relevance Reign!
Anne Miller
Words Matter – Make What You Say Pay!
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