Don’t Judge Your Sales Presentation While You’re Doing It!
One of the things that trips up public speakers is monitoring themselves while they’re in the middle of a talk.
They notice their rapid and loud heartbeats, sweaty palms, irregular breathing, shaky limbs, and declare to themselves: “Gosh, am I nervous!”
Then, they panic, thinking: “I have to stop all of these symptoms!”
Not true.
As any professional speaker will admit, a case of nerves is common before a performance that you care about giving. It’s actually a sign that you’re aroused, and the adrenalin is pumping.
Like an athlete, you’re getting up for the game, and once the first ball is thrown out, or you’re in the action, your nervous condition will be channeled into winning the contest.
A similar case of nerves can afflict you as a seller. You might think you blew it, by forgetting to make a key point, or that you left out a crucial feature or benefit.
Instead of worrying about it, the best advice is to move on. Finish your presentation, remembering to ask for the sale, at least once!
There will always be time to do a post mortem, critiquing what you did or didn’t do.
But I’m not even sure this is advisable, because you can’t know how you came across to the buyer, so the feedback you’ll give yourself is subjective.
You’ll be better off following through with the prospect with whom you think you erred, and moving on to new ones, unburdened by negative self-judgments.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
