The average attention span of the average adult is 12-14 seconds. If your sales presentation lasts more than 1 minute, don’t flatter yourself thinking that most prospects hear or remember what you say.

In a recent sales survey, it was discovered that most salespeople cover 5-7 features during their presentation. When asked what the prospect remembered 24 hours later, they mentioned only one of the features. Guess which one? Not the first one, or the last one, but the one that related to their need, want, problem, desire or concern.

So what is the key to an effective sales presentation? Only cover the features and corresponding benefits of the issues that are of interest to the prospect. People buy for their reasons, not yours. They buy emotionally, and then justify their decision logically. Therefore a powerful presentation does the following:

1. It comes from the prospect’s perspective.
2. It is interactive.
3. It is a conversation with an agenda.
4. It blends a balance of emotional appeal and logical reasons.
5. It is brief.
6. It lets the prospect tell you what he wants and/or needs.
7. It qualifies interest in the features as you move along.
8. It tests the prospect’s interest along the way with trial closing questions.
9. It adjusts to the prospect’s personality style.
10. It is customized and tailored to each prospect.

Most salespeople go into what I call a “feature dump.” One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is that THEY TALK TOO MUCH. How about you? Are you giving more information than you are getting?

Most good prospects are ready to buy before they tell you. Just give them a chance, and they will help you sell them.