What is the danger of using demos, presentations and collateral?
The danger is that most people use demos, presentations and collateral as a substitute for having a well thought-out and well executed sales strategy.
PowerPoint can be one of the single most effective communication tools, but it is misused by 80-90% of people using it. I won’t get into how to use PowerPoint, but rather how not to use it. Demos, PowerPoint and collateral all have the same problem: salespeople try to sell using them. The purpose of demos, PowerPoint and collateral is not to garner a “yes.” The purpose of demos, PowerPoint and collateral should be to avoid a “no.”
There are very few businesses in the B-2-B space that are going to be able to sell based on the effectiveness of their presentation demo or collateral.
Not only is it a waste of time to try to do so, it’s a waste of money. There is a high cost associated with using these tools as a substitute for sales skills - especially collateral. Salespeople who freely pass around collateral are not being good stewards of the company’s assets. Some of the collateral is a couple of bucks to 10 bucks a pop. Every time you hand it out in lieu of having a legitimate conversation, you are acting in fear of having that conversation, and wasting time, opportunity and money. My principle is: collateral goes out after the conversation, never before. Even to the point where somebody says to me, “Can you send me something?” My answer is, typically, “No, I don’t know what to send you, but I also want to find out what you need from us.”
With all the technology available today, it is becoming too easy to substitute demos, PowerPoint and collateral for sound selling skills. There’s a right time and a right place for these tools. But the key is to use them to avoid the “no,” and not to get the “yes.”
