Why You Need To Practice Your Sales Presentation — All of It!
I spoke to a medical sales rep today who told me that his presentations go well, until it comes time to ask for the business or “close” as we all like to call it.
I asked him to tell me what it is that he is feeling emotionally at this point in the presentation. Very glibly, he admitted that he feels anxiety and starts to stutter. He also admitted that he has not been closing effectively.
Conceptually, it seems pretty simple — once you have gone through the presentation, demonstrated how your product or service fills the prospect’s needs, handled objections, etc. — you just ask for the business. If you haven’t practiced asking for the business and you are not comfortable transitioning to this point of the sales process, it will create a feeling of discomfort.
Sales people are told to “expect the sale” and even to assume it’s a done deal as you ask for the business. This is so much easier to do if you prepare ahead of time for every part of the sales presentation, including getting your attitude and excitement up before you come face-to-face with the prospect.
In medical sales, closing should be easy if you have done everything else right and you are not trying to figure out what you are going to say next. If you cannot go through the presentation smoothly when you are practicing by yourself, you will probably bungle it in front of the customer.
Healthcare providers are not comfortable buying from sales people who are not comfortable selling. If you can’t do your presentation smoothly, with confidence and a smile, then you need to practice it until you can. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can “wing-it.” Do what the pros do — practice!
