Types of Sales Presentations: Standard, Outlined and Program

Types of Sales
Presentation
Gopal Thapa
Nepal Commerce Campus

11/25/18 Gopal Thapa/Selling/Presentation2
Types of Sales Presentation
1. The Standard Memorized Presentation
2. The Outlined Presentation
3. The Program Presentation

The Standard Memorized Presentation
 It is a carefully prepared sales story that
includes all the key selling points arranged in
most effective order.
 The presentation is usually developed after a
careful analysis of the sales stories of the
most successful salespeople.
 The best features and sales points from the
various presentations are incorporated into a
sales story, which is then memorized.

 Sixty years ago, John H. Patterson, President
of the National Cash Register Company,
originated the standard presentation
 He visited the company’s sales agencies and
had a stenographer take down the sales
presentations of the best NCR sales
representatives .
 The talks were analyzed and a standard sales
story was developed.

 All the sales representatives were required to
use this standard presentation and
demonstration.
 A tremendous increase in sales resulted, and
soon many other companies standardized
their sales techniques and demonstrations.
 There is considerable disagreement among
sales managers as to the merits and demerits
of the standard memorized sales talks.

 Many managers insist every sales person
memorize the entire sales talk and deliver it
word for word.
 Other believe salespeople should memorize a
standard sales story but be free to adopt it to
suit their own personalities.
 Still other managers are bitterly opposed to
any standard memorized presentation.

Advantages:
Standard Memorized Presentation
 It ensures the salesperson will tell the
complete and accurate story about the
company’s products and policies.
 It encompasses the best techniques and
methods used by the most successful
salespeople.
 It helps the new and inexperienced
salespeople
 It eliminates repetition and saves time for
both the salesperson and the buyer

Advantages:
 It guarantees the most effective presentation
by having the sales points arranged in a
logical and systematic sequence.
 It provides effective answers to all the
possible objections that may be raised by the
prospects, and thus gives the salesperson
additional confidence.
 Since most salespeople tend to standardized
their sales talks anyway, why not
standardized on the “one best way”?

Disadvantages:
 It is inflexible and artificial and it tends to
make a robot out of the salesperson. As a
result, they lose enthusiasm and originality.
 It can not be used in types of selling in which
the sales person makes regular calls on
customers.
 It discourages or prevent the prospect from
participating the sales conversation.
 Difficult to get started again after being
interrupted by the prospect.
 Not practical when many products are sold.

The Outlined Presentation
 The outlined presentation differs from the
standard memorized presentation in that it is
more flexible and need not be memorized.
 It is usually consists of a systematically
arranged outline of the most important sales
points.
 It may also include the necessary steps for
determining the prospect’s needs and for
building goodwill at the close of the sale.

 Salespeople often memorize presentations,
such as a standard introduction, standard
answers to the most of the common
objections and a standard close.
 These memorized portions then become a
part of their outlined presentation.
 Through skillful use of the memorized parts,
the sales person gain many of the
advantages of a complete standard
memorized presentation , but they still keep
the interview flexible and informal.

 Some companies provide their salespeople
with suggested outlines for each product.
 Others provide general instructions on the
techniques of developing sales outlines

Advantages:
 It is more informal and natural
 It is more flexible
 It is easier for the salesperson to get back on
track if interrupted.
 There is less chance for domination by the
sales person.
 Therefore the prospect’s needs, desires,
viewpoints and opinions are more likely to be
considered.

Disadvantages:
 The salesperson may not be able to express
themselves as effectively when speaking
extemporaneously.
 There is a greater chance to be sidetracked
from the sales story.
 The salesperson may not be prepare the
sales talk as carefully when it is not
committed to memory.

Program Presentation
 It consists of a complete written or illustrated
presentation developed from a detailed and
comprehensive analysis or survey of the
prospect’s or customer’s needs.
 Extensively used in trade selling
 For advertising, industrial and office
equipment, supplies and in management
consulting work

Four Basic Steps
in Program Presentation
 Getting permission to make a survey
 Making the survey
 Preparing the Program
 Presenting the program or proposal

Getting Permission to Make a Survey
 The sales representatives should convince prospects
of the desirability of making a survey to discover their
exact needs or problems.
 Often they will refer to similar surveys that have
produced substantial savings or gains for other
customers.
 They also call in specialists such as engineers or
system analysts, to make the survey. This lends
prestige to the proposal and the prospects thus more
likely to authorize the fact-finding survey.

Making the Survey
 Simple survey consists of a single interview
or a short questionnaire that provides the
sales representative with a picture of the
problems of prospects.
 Some surveys, however, are more complex
and require the services of many technical
specialists or experts,
 IBM spends thousands of dollars in personnel
costs alone to get a single proposal ready for
presentation to a prospect.

Making the Survey
 After the initial research is completed and all
of the facts are obtained, the salesperson
diagnoses these facts to determine how the
company’s product can best solve the
prospect’s problem.
 This analysis serves as the foundation for a
definite program proposal

Preparing the Program
 After the facts have been carefully analyzed,
a written or illustrated proposal is usually
prepared for presentation to the prospect.
 This proposal normally includes:
1. a statement of the problem or need
2. the proposed solution to this problem or
need
3. proposed program cost

Preparing the Program
 Each proposal is tailored to the needs of the
prospects.
 Under certain conditions, the salesperson will
want to dress up the program presentation by
using visual aids such as slides or movies ,
charts, demonstrations models and portfolios.
 If the presentation is to be given to group, it
is especially important to make use of
appropriate visual aids.

Presenting the Program or Proposal
 The final step is selling the proposal to
prospect.
 The success or failure of the entire program
presentation hinges on the kind of job the
salesperson does in explaining and
presenting the proposal.
 Presentation of this kind demand an unusual
amount of advance preparation and practice
before the actual interview occurs.

Advantages of Program Presentation
 It provides an opportunity to determine the
real needs and problems of the prospect.
Emphasis is put in the right place – the needs
of the buyer
 It provides the sufficient time to gather and
analyze the facts to prepare the most
effective solution to the customer’s problem.
 It provides the opportunity to developed a
polished and personalized presentation.

Advantages of Program Presentation
 It builds prestige for the sales representative
and the company. The prospect thinks of the
sales representative as a professional
assistant who is helping to solve the
customer’s problems.
 It eliminates time caused by an excessive
number of interviews. The salesperson
normally obtains permission to make the
survey during the first interview and then
presents recommendations during second
interviews.

Disadvantages of Program
Presentation
 It is time consuming and expensive. (much
time for survey without any guarantee of
making a sale)
 The potential customer may object the survey
on the ground that the salesperson is biased.
 In the past, many salespersons obtained
interviews under the pretext that they are
making surveys. As a result, many customers
are wary of surveys or studies.

Types of Sales Presentations: Standard, Outlined and Program

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