If your salespeople are making a presentation to a group, they
must conduct a dry run or practice of the presentation ahead of
time. A dry run is a more elaborate version of the planning
meeting held by a selling team. In addition to the members of
the selling team, you (the sales manager) and other salespeople
should attend the dry run to act as a coach and audience.A dry run serves many
purposes. The first is to ensure that all the people involved
in the presentation know:
- The account history, including
who the competition is.
- The make-up of the group,
including politics, role (economic buyer, user, etc.),
persuasion (for or against your product), stake in the
decision, issues, etc.
- The agenda for the
presentation.
- Their role at the
presentation.
- The team's strategy for the
presentation.
In addition, a dry run gives each
person involved a chance to walk through his or her part of the
presentation, complete with any handouts or demonstrations. This
helps them get comfortable with their material and gain
confidence in their ability to perform. It allows the team to
critique each part of the presentation and make changes to
ensure that it is consistent and concise. For example, they can
help the technical expert focus his or her presentation to the
specific issues of concern for the prospect or explain them in
less technical terms.
The dry run also gives team
members a chance to fine-tune their strategy for a meeting. They
should discuss how to draw out each group member, identify and
address the competition's "white knights" (those who support the
competition over your company). They may also want to assign
members of the selling team to "cover" individual group members.
Of particular importance, the selling team should take this
time to be sure the presentation touches on each of the buyer's
pains and identifies the key competitive issues.
Timing is a critical element of
your presentation. You don't want to exceed the time contract
made with the buyer team unless it is done to accommodate their
questions. The dry run enables your team to craft the program so
that it covers that necessary information persuasively and
allows time for the questions and discussion that are likely to
arise. A good rule of thumb is to assume that at least a third
of your allotted time will be spent in discussion, usually
scattered throughout the period. The audience will never
complain about a shorter presentation, as long as it hits the
high points.
Schedule a dry run for a couple
of days before the actual presentation - close enough to the
date itself to allow people to prepare for it and retain its
lessons. It should occur long enough before the presentation to
give the team time to revise and revamp their presentation, if
necessary.
Excerpted from Sandler's
Strategic Sales Management, Module 2 Reference Guide, ©1998
Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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