In this episode of Selling in Asia, Tom Abbott sits down with Spencer Waldron to discuss how to craft highly engaging virtual sales presentations. Spencer is the Director of Global Brand Communications for Prezi – Where he masters the art of helping others communicate visually through storytelling and video. He is, of course, an expert in Presentations, Rhetoric, and Data Visualisation, and also an International and Virtual Keynote Speaker.
Move your team from a state of fatigue, to a state of engagement.
Spencer Waldron, Prezi Director of Global Brand Communications
If you haven’t heard of Prezi already, where have you been? Jokes aside, they’re pioneers in Presentation Software that utilizes motion, zoom, and spatial relationships to bring your ideas and stories to life, making you a great presenter.
Founded over 11 years ago, Prezi has come to rival PowerPoint as an alternative solution to non-linear storytelling. If that isn’t enough to pique your interest, consider that Prezi has over 100 million users! Over the last 11 years, these users have created 325 million public presentations – viewed over 3.5 billion times.
We’ve been helping companies transition from in-person to virtual selling for the past few months. One of the main things we cover is how to keep virtual presentations engaging through your delivery and presentation materials. We asked Spencer to share some top tips on the Selling in Asia podcast.
Virtual Sales Presentations are Conversational Presenting
Spencer and his team found that most businesses spend at least 20% of their preparation time tailoring their presentation to their prospective clients’ needs. However, this is incredibly inefficient. For instance, you may spend the first 10 minutes of your pitch discussing something that still isn’t relevant, at which point – you’ve already lost their interest.
Prezi allows prospective clients to ask for the information they actually need. Therefore, an imperative aspect of the concept of conversational presentation is to ask for directions. Overall, Prezi allows for complete control of the presentation’s construction.
No one wants to sit through a boring, static, and endless slide-filled meeting – it’s just not engaging. Prezi champions using innovative and dynamic tools to ensure that potential clients emotionally connect with you, making you more likely to follow through with a purchase.
The goal is to take the client on an emotional journey; what do you want them to think, feel, and do – Leverage how people feel connected to their needs.
Camera Confidence
All good things take time, so for most people, presentational confidence takes some time to develop, and that’s okay! Although the only real way to gain confidence is to get started, don’t wait for perfection. Dive into the deep end – otherwise, you might miss out on a potential client or deal.
You’ll make mistakes, that’s okay.
Spencer
“…but what if my prospect doesn’t want to connect their camera?” is a very valid and common question; If you can’t connect with your client visually, you’ll struggle to measure their engagement. Are they checking their emails? What’s their body language like? Are they… asleep?
Encourage them to connect with you; however, if they don’t, that’s also okay because you’ll notice that the next time you connect – so will their camera. This is why it’s crucial to create highly engaging virtual sales presentations.
Virtual Sales Presentation Best Practices
- Memory & Movement: Moving graphics gain attention and raise your prospects’ dopamine levels. However, ensuring they change frequently must be graceful to avoid your prospective client becoming overwhelmed.
- The 20% Rule: Always give 20% more emphasis on your voice, movement, and facial expressions when connecting via video. This makes it easier to understand you and raises your voice to an unnatural level, eliminating filler words.
- The Unseen: Everyone has a hidden emotional agenda; it’s perfectly normal. What happens in a prospective client’s day might affect their decisions, so it’s important to remember that trust is everything. Don’t ignore the signs; you can always suggest rescheduling to another time if they’re distracted.
Also read: 9 Virtual Selling Best Practices To Host Effective Virtual Sales Meetings
Final Thoughts
Selling virtually is not a matter of just doing the same old sales pitch but online. You have to be highly organized and have tightly planned presentations to avoid leaving your prospect bored and disconnected.
Gain the skills to master moving from in-person to virtual selling by enrolling in SOCO’s Virtual Selling online course. Once registered, you will get immediate access through our e-learning portal, SOCO Academy.
Do you prefer live or in-person training for your whole team? Our virtual selling program equips sales professionals with virtual selling skills and techniques through live training to help them build rapport virtually, effectively present their solutions online and win deals remotely.
