All sales people are constantly looking for ways to improve sales presentation outcomes. Whether you prefer to give sales presentations that are based on slide decks, other media or rely on less technological methods, the following tips to improve sales presentation approaches can help you refine the art of giving presentations and build your sales numbers.

Take Control of Your Sales Presentations

While involving your audience in the presentation is a great idea, if you do not have control over the presentation this can quickly devolve into a question and answer session in which meaningful and important information falls to the wayside. To improve sales presentation outcomes, try the following:

• Ask your prospect if he or she anticipates any interruptions; if an important call is expected, ask to reschedule your presentation. Alternatively, you can ask the prospect to hold non-emergency calls.
• Build space for questions into the normal flow of your sales presentation so that the prospect is involved and knows he or she does not need to interrupt to ask his or her questions.
• Choose where you sit, where you stand, and how you speak in ways that build confidence and authority while respecting your prospect’s own position and authority.

Simplify the Presentation Structure to Keep Your Prospect On Board

There is a lot of information that you can include in a sales presentation. However, just because you can tell your prospect a fact, figure, or anecdote does not mean that you should. When working to improve sales presentation success, simplifying the structure of your sales presentation with the prospect in mind can go a long way towards engaging and converting your prospect into a sale.

• Increase and improve sales presentation receptivity from your audience by keeping the structure of your sales presentations easy to understand and relevant. Think of a typical five-part structure with slight modifications when creating your sales presentations: Introduction, thesis, supporting information, conclusion, and close.
• Use a basic template for your sales presentations that allows you to insert and remove information and material based on your prospect’s situation, needs, and likely concerns.
• Plan for occasions when the prospect may need to cut your meeting short. If you had planned on having a thirty minute sales presentation but when you arrive the prospect announces he or she only has fifteen minutes, it is invaluable to already know which sections of your sales presentation can be shortened or cut altogether.

Analyze Your Presentation Talents to Identify Areas to Improve Your Sales Presentation Skills

The art of giving sales presentations is all about skill. Those who are looking to improve sales presentation skills because they are less comfortable with giving sales presentations can take heart: Anyone with the drive for sales can master the skills needed to give exceptional presentations. The first step is to find out which areas of your sales presentation skills should be addressed first. You can do this by:

• Asking a recent pitch, peers, or sales managers for feedback on your presentation approach to find out where to improve sales presentation proficiencies.
• Using a video camera to record yourself giving a sales presentation. If you can, tape a real sales presentation to a prospect. Watch yourself to identify areas where you might like to strengthen your approach.
• Distributing a survey to all converted customers that includes questions about their impressions of the sales presentation(s) you gave.

All three of these approaches can help you target and improve sales presentation skills that you will use throughout your sales career. Remember, though, that to be comfortable giving a sales presentation you should always be yourself; do not try to model your sales presentations off of what you have seen from professional speakers or similar figures. Improve sales presentation methods while doing what rings true to you in order to assure results.