“You have to decide that you’re going to be great. You have to decide that you’re going to find people who are already doing what you aspire to and intentionally spend more time with them. I’m leaning even harder into that idea with what we’re doing in the Sales Success Community.” – Scott Ingram in today’s Tip 1409

Do you surround yourself with the best?

Join the conversation below and check out the links!

2023 Sales Success Community Offering
Setting Yourself Up For A Great 2023!
Scott Ingram on LinkedIn
Submit a Sales Tip

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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. I’m gonna grab the last two tips for the year before we wind things down with a top 10 countdown through the official end of the year, and today I want to talk about surrounding yourself with the best.

Hopefully, you’ve heard the Jim Rohn quote that suggests: “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” I heard this or variations of this idea a lot over the course of my career, but it wasn’t until I started the Sales Success Stories podcast that I actually did anything about it. I mean, it seemed like a good idea, I believed in the premise, but I didn’t do anything about it.

To that point in my career, I’d been a maybe slightly above-average performer. I’d had some really good years, but I’d also been inconsistent and I’d been let go on more than one occasion. I don’t think it’s an accident that once I started being intentional about seeking out the best in sales and really working to understand what they were doing and how they were winning I have consistently been the #1 top performer at my company the last 5 years running. As I’ve learned over and over again from the very best. It starts with a decision.

First, you have to decide that you’re going to be great. You have to decide that you’re going to find people who are already doing what you aspire to and intentionally spend more time with them. I’m leaning even harder into that idea with what we’re doing in the Sales Success Community.

Until this last year, the community was super organic and really only worked because it was full of proactive people who found each other at our Sales Success Summits or they were really proactive and reached out to those that I interviewed after hearing them on the podcast.

Now, it’s 100% game on and I mean that literally because I just put a gamification platform in place to help bring the community closer together and provide a massive dose of accountability so that we can continue to grow, outperform, learn from each other and support each other. It’s all available as part of our All Access Pass offering and I talked about this more in today’s episode over on the Sales Success Stories podcast. I’d encourage you to go check that out. Essentially what I’ve done is preassembled the best so that all you have to do is show up to be surrounded by the best.

A very significant percentage of this community are sales professionals who’ve been featured on Sales Success Stories and if you know anything about that show it’s that I only interview #1 and top 1% performing individual contributors.

Again, it’s probably no accident that they are the first ones to sign up because they know the value of being around the best. I suppose it’s also really hard to find somebody to look up to and learn from when you’re already in the #1 spot at you company. So we come together there in the Sales Success Community.

If you enjoy this podcast, if you’re ready to make a commitment to yourself, an investment in yourself, and have that opportunity to spend time with the best. The best also includes Meshell Baker and Jack Wilson who you hear all the time on this show, then you probably know what comes next: DailySales.Tips/1409. You’ve gotta take action. On that page, you’ll find links to learn more and to sign up.

Once you’ve done that. Please do yourself a favor and go do that, and then… be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“When you truly set out to be valuable to the sales process and develop your character and enjoy the process, this will be the most satisfying and rewarding career that you have.” – Meshell Baker in today’s Tip 1408

Do you remember your why?

Join the conversation below and check out the links!

Meshell Baker on LinkedIn
Meshell Baker on Youtube
Meshell Baker on Facebook
Subscribe to Meshell’s Mailing List
1401. Remembering Your Why Will Help You Fly (Part 1 of 2)

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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Meshell Baker as she shares the second part of her two-part series that she started last week in tip #1401. Here she is:

Meshell Baker: Hello and welcome to part two of two, Remembering your why will help you fly. Last week I did the top 4 of 10 and here are the final six.

Number five. Sales is about unlimited opportunities. When you understand that there are no limits to selling, there is no cap. Yes, there are some companies that have cap on commissions and that could be a starting point that levers you to the next opportunity. And when you allow your mind to be unlimited and understand that everything is happening for you, not to you, you will see the opportunities in every situation, circumstance or person that you speak with.

Number six. Sales is about being optimistic. This wraps around the last one, that when you are optimistic. When you see the glasses half full, you will see the opportunities. Remember what you speak about, you bring about. And when you see the problems and the challenges and the overwhelm and the frustration, that’s what you continue to create. Instead, when they tell you, Oh, this is going to be difficult, you look at it as an opportunity to refine your character. Oh, they let you go. Well, this is my opportunity to find a better position. Oh, they’re cutting your commissions. Well, this is an opportunity to make and budget, or make the budget I always wanted. Everything is about seeing the opportunity and that’s what optimism is.

Number seven. Ssales creates relationships. When you focus on establishing relationships over the transactions, you will end up having a better and a more fulfilling, and a more profitable sales careers. Because top performers in any industry don’t sell on their own. They actually have referrals, recommendations, repeat business, which creates raving fans and a resounding reputation in the marketplace. So when you establish relationships, maintain relationships, the simplest things, a card, an email, a text, find some way to stay consistently top of mind, you will constantly have a full pipeline of sales opportunities.

Number eight. Sales is about overcoming obstacles. This goes back to what we said. There is nothing that is meant to stop you. Everything is meant to help you expand your capability. You are a seller. That means you are delivering solutions to people’s problems. And guess what? The better you come at overcoming obstacles, the better your mind will become creative about being a solution to your prospects, to your clients, to your colleagues, to your supervisors, to the companies that you work for. Face all obstacles with the mindset that this is my opportunity to be brilliant.

Number nine. Sales offers unlimited rewards. Again, sometimes you’re at companies that don’t necessarily have the best compensation plans. And that’s not forever. Do the best with what you have, wherever you are. And you create a gateway to the unlimited opportunities that exist. Complain about where you are and you remain where you are.

Number ten. Sales provides personal satisfaction. When you truly set out to be valuable to the sales process and develop your character and enjoy the process, this will be the most satisfying and rewarding career that you have. There is no other position in the world that allows you to be as successful as you possibly want to be, when you invest in yourself and remember why you started in the value that you get to create and who you get to become. Have a greater selling.

Scott Ingram: For a link to connect with Meshell and to get back to the first tip in this series, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1408. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“We need to give them the ability to stop being so confused about what it is they’re actually trying to sell. We can do this.” – Fred Copestake in today’s Tip 1407

Can you do this?

Join the conversation below and check out the links!

Hybrid Selling Book
Fred Copestake on Linktree
Fred Copestake on LinkedIn
Submit a Sales Tip

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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Fred Copestake. Over the last 22 years, Fred has traveled around the world 14 times visiting 36 countries, and worked with over 10,000 salespeople. He has taken some of the things that really make a difference in modern selling and put these in his new book: Hybrid Selling. Here he is:

Fred Copestake: We need to move salespeople from busy, horrible, wasteful, tiring, unfocused approach where they’re using old-fashioned techniques, things which push customers away because they ignores them. We need to give them the ability to stop being so confused about what it is they’re actually trying to sell. We can do this. We can do this by helping people to prepare, plan and use process. We can give them ways and means to be more effective. We can help them to flip, follow and focus. Flip their approach so they can think about what the customer really cares about and to use a way of working that’s going to focus in on those things that are going to make a difference for the customer. We want to set them up so they’ve got clarity in the way they work. We can coach them to give them the confirmation in that what they’re doing really is going to have an impact because they’re working more collaboratively. Ultimately, this is about having good people doing good things in a good way. I’ve said this before, that is what I stand for.

Scott Ingram: To connect with Fred on LinkedIn and check out his book, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1407. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“The way you present your price will affect sales volume and willingness to pay of your buyer.” – Per Sjofors in today’s Tip 1406

Do you set a price anchor?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Per!

Sjofors
Per Sjofors Website
Per Sjofors on LinkedIn
The Price Whisperer Book
Submit a Sales Tip

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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Per Sjofors. As a serial entrepreneur, running companies in Europe and the US, he did pricing experiments. Some of these worked spectacularly well, and some did not work at all. As a result, Per founded his company out of his frustration with what business schools teach about pricing. Here he is:

Per Sjofors: The way you present your price will affect sales volume and willingness to pay of your buyer. The way to do this is to set an anchor, right? And what I mean with that is that when you present your price, first of all, I would recommend that you always give the buyer a choice of three. A good, better, best, right? You probably already know that, but it’s always good practice because then the choice is not should I buy? Should I not buy? But the choice for the buyer becomes which of the three should I buy?

Now, the way you present your price should be done in such a way that as your buyer read your price. That we typically read from top to bottom and from left to right, at least in the western world. So you want to start with a high price that sets an anchor point because as humans, we cannot avoid comparing numbers. And if you set that anchor, a high anchor really should be as high as possible. And the consequent numbers, the consequent prices would appear more affordable for the buyer, right? And you may want to make that anchor, like I said, as high as possible and very few will buy it except a few people who say, well, I just got to have the best, I just got to have the most expensive thing. But those are not many.

What you’re going to find out is that you’re going to sell most of whatever the middle choice is, and that’s going to be obviously the most attractive choice for most buyers. Now, adding an anchor point like that will typically add between 3% to 5% additional sales volume. And who wouldn’t want that, right?

Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Per, and to his book “The Price Whisperer: A Holistic Approach to Pricing Power”, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1406. Once you’ve done that. Be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“We always talk about scale and efficiency and productivity, but those things don’t apply when it comes to multithreading. So get out there and single thread multiply.” – Jack Wilson in today’s Tip 1405

What’s your thought about this?

Join the conversation below and be sure to connect with Jack on LinkedIn!

Jack Wilson on LinkedIn
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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Happy Friday everyone! Here’s Jack Wilson with another brilliant tip:

Jack Wilson: What’s going on Daily Sales Tips Community. Jack Wilson back with another tip. Today I want to talk about what multithreading really means, because for some, it’s a misnomer. Some people think that multithreading means you’ve just involved with multiple people, but that’s not really the case. It doesn’t matter if you had two or ten people on a meeting. That’s not true multithreading.

I actually recommend single threading multiply. That’s a word. What you need to do is take all of the participants in your deal and you need a single thread with each and every one of them. See, every one of your buyers has different needs. They’ve got different perspectives behind the problems you’re trying to solve. They also have different interpersonal relationships among themselves. And if you believe in what I talk about, a lot of Gestalt Theory, people act differently in a group setting than they do one-to-one.

So the more you’re able to connect and establish relationships one-to-one with the individual buyers in your process, that’s true multithreading. We always talk about scale and efficiency and productivity, but those things don’t apply when it comes to multithreading. So get out there and single thread multiply.

Scott Ingram: I hope it goes without saying because you listen all the time, but for a transcript of this tip and a link to connect with Jack, click over to DailySales.Tips/1405. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“So it’s just all about understanding those guys, what their strategy is, their growth potential, and their growth strategy is for the year and in helping them achieve those goals.” – AJ Brasel in today’s Tip 1404

Do you build co-selling relationships?

Join the conversation below and learn more about AJ!

Clover Imaging Group
AJ Brasel on LinkedIn
AJ Brasel on Sales Success Stories Interview

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or email [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. For today’s Throwback Thursday tip we’re going to go way back to episode 45 of the Sales Success Stories podcast and a clip from my conversation with AJ Brasel. I actually had an opportunity to catch up with AJ earlier this week and he’s now leading the entire sales org at Clover Imaging, but this was his perspective as their top performing rep back in the day:

AJ Brasel: I don’t sell directly to the people who use my product. I sell to people who sell my product and it’s really not convincing them as much to buy my product, but getting them to believe in what we can do and how we can partner up with those organizations. So whenever I go into an account and I take on a new account or I win new business or whatever it may be, I really try to get in there and understand that accounts goals, the way they go to market, the way they compensate their sales team, try to understand everybody in that organization’s role. My job is to go in and develop a relationship with all those people and find ways to make their lives easier and then also train their sales team, make sure that they’re up to speed with our product and understand the value of partnering with Clover a little bit more, a little bit more closely.

So I think the way I go about my business is I just make sure that everybody is comfortable, understands everything that I can bring to the table, and I only propose things that fit with their strategy or their goals. I’m not trying to throw things at them that don’t make sense for their organization. I try to be really honest with them. I try to make sure that they understand that whenever I’m selling them something, I mean it. I think this is going to be really beneficial to your organization, and that builds up that foundation of trust. And there’s going to be times where they bring more opportunities my way, or they share things that they wouldn’t share with other vendors. And I’m able to be a little bit more of an advisor to their organization and help them maybe see where shortcomings are or maybe see where they could have a little bit more success out there in the field.

The great thing about selling to channel is I’ve got a ton of different dealers that I work with that have been successful in their respective markets. So I can also take things from dealer A that might apply to dealer B. As long as they’re not in the same market and selling into the same customer base, I think that I can share success stories and help those guys grow as well. So it’s just all about understanding those guys, what their strategy is, their growth potential, and their growth strategy is for the year and in helping them achieve those goals.

Scott Ingram: For a link to my full interview with AJ and to connect with him directly, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1404. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Your territory is your business. Run it like you own it.” – DJ Sebastian in today’s Tip 1403

Do you run your territory like it’s your own business?

Join the conversation below and share your thoughts!

DJ Sebastian on LinkedIn
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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from DJ Sebastian. As a top-producing sales executive for some of the best technology companies, DJ learned that to become great at selling, you must be a great communicator. Now, as a sales coach and author, DJ’s mission is to help the next generation of B2B sales professionals become elite sellers. Here he is:

DJ Sebastian: Your territory is your business. Run it like you own it. Elite sellers view their sales territory like it’s their own business. Even though they work for or represent another company, they manage their sales territory like an entrepreneur, and they are the business owner of that territory.

Here are five ways the elite seller uses entrepreneurial approaches to build and maintain a healthy business.

1. They focus on building their business through proactive prospecting to generate and build their pipeline. They don’t wait for cold leads to be handed down to them. Realizing that oftentimes these could be a waste of time, they qualify all opportunities ruthlessly, so they don’t spend time working sales cycles on suspect leads or opportunities that will likely end up in no decision.

2. They build strong relationships with customers and nurture advocates who will help them sell. They actively seek referrals from satisfied customers, business partners and network with others in the industry.

3. They realize that they must control their own destiny and not rely on sales managers to hand them, ready-to-buy customers, because those rarely exist.

4. They build their own personal brand inside their business through continuing education as they refine their selling skills, sales strategies and communication skills.

5. They defend their territory and protect their turf. When asked to give up accounts, they make a strong case for keeping their assignments by articulating why their relationships within the customer account are a benefit to the company.

They also maintain a list of possible accounts that would make sense to turn over to other salespeople and maintain notes on potential pursuit strategies and account details that will help the salespeople who take over responsibility of those accounts.

Scott Ingram: For links to connect with DJ, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1403. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Take advantage of the responses you get. If someone says they’re busy, ask them what they’re busy with. If someone says now is not a good time, just be polite and ask why and show them that you’re human. And watch your appointment setting go up and your reply is multiply.” – John Yoder in today’s Tip 1402

Are you busy with what?

Join the conversation below and be sure to connect with John on LinkedIn!

John Yoder on LinkedIn
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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from John Yoder. John is a ten-year sales vet who lives and breathes all things customer success and isn’t afraid to promise an 8-minute response time. When not looking out for others’ best interests, he resides in the Greater Cleveland area with his wife, daughter, dog, and loves of everything Ohio State. Here he is:

John Yoder: Hey Daily Sales Tips Community. This is John Yoder bringing you an actionable insight for the Q Four holiday season. I think a lot of times with our outreach, in terms of getting a hold of people, likely you’re not going to get a response or maybe you’ll get a reply back that says, I’m on PTO since we’re now into the swing of the holiday season. But in the event you do get a reply or get someone to answer the phone, it’s likely, regardless of what you ask them, that they’re going to respond with super busy man, or like, I have a lot going on. And the typical reply to that, I think, at least in my experience or when I was younger, was something along the lines of, totally get it, let’s find some time to reconnect. And really you’re not actively listening, you’re just you’re hearing and moving on.

I think what I’ve seen this year, especially as the trend of customer service has declined severely in all industries, is that people really want to know that they’re being listened to and heard. And so rather than just say, oh man, I totally get it, I’m busy too, they don’t really care. They just try to get you off the phone or they’re just trying to get you out of their inbox. What I would rather recommend, and that’s got me a couple of meetings or some exchange emails, is when they reply with, Oh man, I’ve been super busy, just ask them. Busy with what? Right?

You’re showing at that instance that you’re really listening to what they have to say. And obviously, there are two routes that can come from that. Either they say, like, oh, I’m trying to get all these projects done, like, I got to run, or they’ll say, oh man, we just lost headcount. And so I’m picking up initiatives and I’m trying to get things done and what kind of things? And really it just gives you an opportunity to turn your ten-second conversation into maybe a 3o second conversation or maybe a minute or something like that. But what it’s really showing at its core is it’s showing that you’re interested in what these people have to say and you really care about what’s keeping them busy.

As opposed to the other question that, in my opinion, I think it’s kind of died off, which is like, what keeps you up at night? I don’t want to talk about that stuff. I have terrible things that keep me up at night, but I don’t want to share them with some random person on a cold call.

Anyway, as we head towards the thick of the holiday season and people start dropping off, start putting up out of offices and things like that, just take advantage of the interactions that you get. If someone says they’re busy, or if someone says, now is not a good time, or it doesn’t even have to be that specific response, just reply back. Or ask them back, like busy with what? Or I’m sorry to hear that, like what’s going on? Or just be human.

I find that the brands that I lean more on nowadays and more apt to be a return customer are the ones that actually answer a phone or call me back or help me solve a problem, but it may not mean I bought a car now and I’m going to buy another one in six months. But if that guy was helpful and really cared about why we needed an SUV because we’re having a kid or whatever the conversation is, I think that speaks volume.

So as a quick refresher, take advantage of the responses you get. If someone says they’re busy, ask them what they’re busy with. If someone says now is not a good time, just be polite and ask why and show them that you’re human. And watch your appointment setting go up and your reply is multiply.

Hope this helps with you guys. Happy holidays and good luck in the rest of your Q4.

Scott Ingram: John would love to connect with you on LinkedIn, as long as you don’t immediately pitch him after you do. We’ve got that link for you at DailySales.Tips/1402. And once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click right back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Remembering your ‘why’ will help you fly.” – Meshell Baker in today’s Tip 1401

Do you remember your why?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Meshell!

Meshell Baker on LinkedIn
Meshell Baker on Youtube
Meshell Baker on Facebook
Subscribe to Meshell’s Mailing List
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Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from our favorite sales confidence igniter, Meshell Baker. Here she is:

Meshell Baker: Remembering your why will help you fly. There are so many variables when it comes to creating sales success. Just acquiring a sales job itself is a test of your belief and reason that you have convinced someone to hire you to take on that role. And then when you acquire the job, you are met with quotas and territories and supervisors and emails and phone calls and leads and prospects and all type of things that don’t equate into success so much that it can bog you down mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and physically. You can feel like it’s very heavy and hard.

The one thing that I know to be true that helps many salespeople fly and soar to their sales success is remembering why they started, why it’s important, why they are successful, why they are amazing at the job that they are actually doing, and created for because it will help you move through that doubt, second-guessing, naysayers, critics, all the things that you will constantly meet along the journey in the life of being a sales and a sales leader. I’m going to give you one of the things that I know to be true that is incredibly helpful to sales professionals to keep them focused on their why so they can fly through their sales quotas and targets.

It is understanding and remembering what you love about sales. Why do you love sales? When you focus on that, you will be amazingly incredible at creating sales success. I’m going to give you ten reasons.

Reason number one. I love sales is that it’s helping people, it’s supporting people. To me, sales is a service. It is about a relationship, not just a transaction. It is actually a conversation where I get to hear people’s challenges, their doubts, what their problems are, and offer them a solution that will transform their life for the rest of their life. And I didn’t care when I was selling yellow pages, advertising, pharmaceuticals, whatever I have sold, I have went in with the full belief that I get to help people. I align my values with the companies and the organizations that I partner with.

Number two. Sales deals in the impossible. If you ever had any type of sales success, you will know that you’re often met with circumstances and situations around meeting your quota, around putting a deal through that often feel impossible. And it is never impossible. The word itself is I am possible. I’m possible. And sales allows you to do that on an ongoing and regular basis, which actually helps increase your self-esteem and your confidence in your competency and you get better and better at sales as time goes on.

Sales is about continuous learning. I highly, highly recommend encourage people to understand top performers in sales don’t just take the training, if there is any, because many companies don’t have sales training. And top performers don’t just take the training that they’ve been given at the company. They invest in themselves. They read books, they listen to podcasts, they go to seminars, they attend webinars. They have coaches. They belong to mastermind. If you want to perform well not just in sales, at any aspect in your life, you must invest in yourself. Remember, if you’re not willing to invest in yourself, why would anyone else want to?

Number four sales is about the unexpected. Oh, my goodness. You will always be met with the unplanned, and the unexpected will help you harvest and hone your ability to feel inconvenienced, uncertain and uncomfortable so that you can master your emotions and do exceptionally well at being able to be a solution and valuable to your buyers, your prospects, your teams, your leaders, and the company that you work for. That’s four out of ten reasons why I love sales.

Come back next week and I will share with you the last six. Have a great day selling.

Scott Ingram: For all the great links, just click over to DailySales.Tips.1401. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip, and don’t forget to come back next week for part 2 of Meshell’s tip. Thanks for listening!

“When you’re doing presentations or pictures to deliver much more interesting slides. Get rid of the words, get rid of the complex diagrams, keep it to a minimum, get out there, and stun your audience because your slides will be so great.” – Trevor Lee in today’s Tip 1400

What’s your thought about this?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Trevor!

Trevor Lee Media
Better Presentations More Sales
Trevor Lee – Presentation and Sales Training Youtube Channel
12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon
Free Presentations Webinar

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Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Trevor Lee. Trevor uses his 35+ years of experience at the senior manager and director levels specializing in presenting, speaking, and sales to help business people deliver more confident and more successful presentations and sales pitches. Trevor also hosts both the Better Presentations More Sales and the Running 44@60 podcasts. Here he is:

Trevor Lee: Sort out your presentation slides. That is my top tip. How many times do you sit through a presentation and you think, this isn’t very interesting? And it’s usually because those slides aren’t very interesting. So come on, folks, let’s really make 2023 an opportunity to get rid of those boring, hopeless slides that no one’s interested in. Where you put far too many words on the slide, you put far too many complex diagrams.

So here’s a challenge for you. When you start putting your slides together, do two things.

Number one, get rid of the marketing templates on every slide. We don’t need that. People won’t have forgotten between slides who you are, for goodness sake. Okay?

And the second top tip is to get rid of the words. So start with one word and see whether you can work your way up to maybe six at the most. Now you’re going to be thinking, god, this guy is crazy. Why on earth would I want to get rid of all those words on the slides?

Well, I’ll tell you what. You’ll make life more interesting for you and for your audience. And remember, when you’re doing a presentation, it’s not about the slides, it’s about you. People buy from people. So make sure you’re the focus of your presentation, not those chunky, clunky full-of-word slides. It will make such a difference. It’ll be so refreshing for your audience, and it will be liberating for you, because you won’t fall into that trap of turning around and starting to read the slides in the same way the audience are reading the slides as well.

So come on, folks, let’s really get to grips with this, and let’s get out there and let’s make our slides far more interesting for our audiences. Because let’s not forget, a presentation or a sales pitch is a golden opportunity and you don’t want to waste it. And one of the ways of wasting it is those slides.

Now, I know this from here’s, a little bit of experience. I can tell you why it works. Whenever I do a presentation skills workshop, at a certain point I talk about PowerPoint. It’s usually about two thirds of the way in. It’s the fifth of my seven PS of presenting. And at that point I have a little challenge and I give people a chance to win my book, Twelve Business Lessons From Running an Ultramarathon. And I simply say, how many slides have I used so far?

Now, I can tell you that the answers at that point. And it’s a similar presentation, not the same one, but it’s a similar one to most groups, is usually anywhere between 15 and 30. Okay, there’s the odd outlier who goes 60 or something like that. They are absolutely astonished when I tell them I’m on slide 122. And honestly, that is the case. And whether that’s virtual or in person, it’s the same thing. They cannot believe how many slides I’ve used, and that’s because the slides I’m using are very image-driven and they’ve got very few words on, and we tend to move them forward with nice transitions in between.

Now, the other thing, of course, you could do is get rid of the slides altogether. Go slideless. Do you really need slides? If you’re doing a five-minute presentation or something like that? Think about not using slides. And if you’re speaking at a little networking event, they might not have great kit. A lot of events have got small screens. It’s not ideal for using slides anyway. So ditch the slides. Get yourself a few props.

I’ve got an old suitcase I take round to gigs, and I’ve got all sorts of things in it, from a wetsuit, a T-shirt, a sponge, a tambourine, you name it, it’s in there and it is memorable. Years later, people say, oh, I remember the presentation with a suitcase, Trevor.

So there you go, ladies and gentlemen. There we go. Make 2023 your mission. When you’re doing presentations or pictures to deliver much more interesting slides. Get rid of the words, get rid of the complex diagrams, keep it to a minimum, get out there, and stun your audience because your slides will be so great. Good luck.

Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Trevor, and to his podcasts, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1400. Once you’ve done that. Be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip, or just go back to any one of the previous 1399. Thanks for listening!