The secrets to great client engagement

Ever frozen mid-sentence during a product demo or felt your heart race before a cold call? You're not alone. The difference between mediocre and exceptional salespeople often comes down to mastering presentation skills and understanding the psychology behind effective demonstrations.

Stop bombarding prospects with technical specifications. The most successful product demonstrations follow a narrative structure that resonates with our innate love for stories. When you frame your presentation as a transformation journey—identifying the client's problem, demonstrating understanding, and showcasing your solution—you create a compelling reason to buy. This approach works because humans have been storytellers since our ancestors gathered around campfires thousands of years ago.

Trust is the foundation of every successful sale, yet many salespeople rush to close before establishing credibility. Take time to listen and reflect your client's challenges back to them, showing genuine comprehension before demonstrating solutions. Cold calling becomes significantly more effective when approached with respect rather than desperation—focus on securing a brief future appointment rather than an immediate sale. Remember that the person you're interrupting wasn't sitting there hoping for your call.

Whether you're demonstrating complex technology, presenting at networking events, or overcoming public speaking anxiety (where "more people would rather be in the coffin than speaking at the funeral"), the principles remain consistent: respect your prospect's time, demonstrate empathy, and engage them in conversation rather than talking at them. The more they speak during your interaction, the stronger the connection and the higher your chances of success.

Ready to transform your presentation skills? Subscribe to this channel for more practical sales techniques that respect both you and your potential clients. What presentation challenge would you like addressed in future episodes?

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Presentation Skills
• 1:58 Storytelling in Product Demonstrations
• 5:44 Building Trust Before Closing
• 9:08 Practice Makes Perfect
• 12:28 Networking and Public Speaking Tips
• 14:45 Cold Calling With Empathy
• 20:09 Final Thoughts on Client Respect

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

Do you have to demonstrate your product or your solution to potential clients? And if you do, how good are you? And be objective. But if you were to mark yourself out of five, where do you think you are? Are you consistently hitting a five, or are you kind of down in the twos, threes or maybe even worse?

Speaker 1: 0:34

So in this podcast, I'm going to talk a lot more about the presenting side, and this also includes networking tips, cold calling, that kind of thing All of these things a lot of people get very uncomfortable with. So if this is you, please hang on in there and let me take you through the podcast. Before I do that, just another reminder to like, subscribe or leave a comment. All of that stuff is really helpful. I'm just a small channel, so I would really appreciate your help to help me grow, particularly if you find what I'm talking about useful. What I'm talking about useful. So I'm going to start with looking at presentations and particularly visual aids as well. So what can you do if you have to demonstrate your product?

Speaker 1: 1:26

Now, the very first thing to do is to think about telling a story, and the reason that I say that is that, if you think about it, we love stories. We are natural storytellers. If you think about how big the movie industry is or how popular television is, we just love stories in one form or another. And obviously prior to that there were books. And if you go back hundreds, thousands of years, our ancestors would have been sat around a campfire somewhere telling stories. So once you understand that, it means that the language or the construction that you use when you are going through your product can be much more engaging. So I've seen people selling technical gear where they'll basically get a data sheet out and that just runs through one spec after another and they pretty much plow through that. Now that is pretty awful. It's very boring For some people. It will work, because there are some people who work very much on the detailed level and if you are familiar with disk and it's something that I use in my training but the people who we regard as compliant the high C people they are very much into lots and lots of detail.

Speaker 1: 2:50

Now, if you've chosen sales because it's something you want to do, the chances are you're not a detailed person. Salespeople tend to be more big picture, more focused on hitting the objective, hitting the target, and possibly more interested in people in terms of engaging with them. However, if that is you, if you are much more of a detailed person and you're listening to this podcast about sales because sales is just something you're having to do because of the stage that your business is currently at then I really would encourage you to just listen, step back, let go of the preconceptions. Let go of the preconceptions, because one of the most important things to recognize as a salesperson is that not everybody is the same, and what we all do unless we're or most of us anyway, unless we're told differently is we just assume that everybody else is the same as us and they want to receive information in the same way. Their interest in certain topics takes the same form. So it might be lots and lots of detail, for example, but the truth is we're not. So there's a variance, and this is really what behavioral profiling is all about, and DISC that I talk about in the course that I offer. So if you haven't had a look at that, please do. You will find a link in the website, which is wwwsalescrafttraining and that will take you to a free one-hour video well, webinar that will take you through a lot of steps to help you in your sales. So I digress.

Speaker 1: 4:30

So, when it comes to demonstrations, think about the story. So what am I talking about? Well, I want you to think about who is the person who will benefit from using your product or your service. What is the problem that you solve, in other words, the person that you're talking to when you present. They are likely to have that same problem right now. So talk about the problem and ideally, what you'll do before you even get into the demonstration is to talk to your client and get them to tell you in their words what their problem is and what they hope you can deliver to them. So remember that as salespeople, we're problem solvers. People ask us to come in not for our dazzling personalities, but because they have a problem and they believe, they hope that we can solve that problem for them. So the first thing you always need to remember is to first of all get very clear on what the problem is that the client is trying to solve, and make sure that it is the problem or they are the problems that you can solve.

Speaker 1: 5:40

If it's multiple, demonstrate to the client that you understand. So it's showing empathy, it's kind of getting into their head. It's letting them feel that, yeah, you understand them. They've told you what the problem is. You have demonstrated that've told you what the problem is. You have demonstrated that you absolutely understand what the problem is. And in doing that you'll start to build trust. And once you've built trust, you can then make a sale. And one of the mistakes that a lot of people do when they're selling and why they don't sell in fact is that they try and close a deal before they've established any kind of trust. So always have the conversation with your client.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Then the thing to show is let's call it the transformation, and what I mean by that is simply demonstrating the solution. So you are showing them that you can with your solution excuse me, whatever form it takes that you can give them the outcome that they are looking for. So the first stage is to talk about the problem, get clear about the problem, demonstrate that you understand the problem so that they build that they have that confidence in you. Then you can move on to demonstrating how you can solve the problem. Now, obviously, I don't know what you're selling, but that, essentially, is the process and the purpose of a demonstration. Now, there are different ways to demonstrate products and I'm not going to go into all of those in this podcast.

Speaker 1: 7:15

So, when it comes to practicing, in the last podcast I focused a lot on what do you do if you're on your own and you are trying to improve your sales techniques. Well, the very first thing and in fact we're going to use some techniques that I've already discussed in that, but it's to describe a scenario and then record yourself demonstrating to that scenario. And how do you know what the scenarios are? Well, what are the? Let's take the top three situations that you walk in on where you know that you can provide a solution to your client. Let's just take three. So what would be typical situations for you to have to basically offer a solution for? How do you define those? What are the key characteristics of them? And that will set you up.

Speaker 1: 8:08

So you need to be putting yourself in your client's shoes. What's the problem they've got? What is the outcome? They are hoping that you can deliver for them. And then how do you go about establishing trust and demonstrating that you can meet that outcome? So that I've spoken about this for a bit now, but I think it's really important that you get this basic structure correct, because if you don't, you will be trying to close when you haven't established trust. You'll be trying to close when you haven't established credibility. You'll be trying to close when your client is still not convinced that you can provide the solution they want because you haven't shown them. So it's really important that you get those things down and just restructure or structure your presentation so that it's in those forms. It needs to be interactive with the client and you're always listening. So I've seen some people it becomes like a play. They don't want to interrupted. But that's not what you're doing. This is an interactive situation. But you need to have those guidelines so that you stay within the guidelines and they will carry you, they will take you towards the outcome that you want. So record them.

Speaker 1: 9:19

If you're using something like PowerPoint, make sure that they're to the point. You don't go off on a tangent somewhere and maybe have a few slides at the back that you wouldn't normally show, but you can just jump to them. If you're using something like PowerPoint just to demonstrate a particular aspect of what you do, so make sure you're familiar with whatever medium you're using. Now, when I was selling technical test equipment so telecommunications test gear I wouldn't always be able to access somebody's telephone network because the national telephone companies get really cranky when you do that from your home. So I couldn't do that.

Speaker 1: 10:03

But we might have gear that we could use to demonstrate, so you might be able to put it together, a simple rig that might create um. Let's say, in the case of what I was doing, it would create a particular signal that would be similar um to the kind of signals I want to be testing. So that might be easy. That might not be possible, but whatever it is for you think, look at what you can do to set up a kind of rig. If you can't do that, if you can only go live on a client's premises, then just make sure you are very familiar with how the product is operated, where the menus are, how it's structured. You kind of want to get into the thinking part of it rather than just memorizing everything. What is the approach that the designer had in mind when they were putting together the user interface? Just as an example, if it's not, if you're doing something different, you might be selling gym memberships. How can you tell the story of the gym or demonstrate to this particular person what parts of the gym, what exercise equipment? Maybe there's some sort of dietary guides, or there might be the opportunity to work with a trainer. What is the story to tell that is relevant to the issues that this particular person is having and what the best method of achieving this transformation that they want? What's the best method you can offer in order for them to do that?

Speaker 1: 11:31

Now, this might involve presentation of some sort, or I'm also going to talk about networking events, which can be very useful. If you're in a small business, if you have in your area small business networks, if that's relevant to you, it can be very powerful and a very good way of building business, particularly initially, because you're maybe meeting the same people every week. You're sharing what you do. You might be asked to give a presentation about whatever it is you do, about whatever it is you do. Some networking business, let's say, organizations work that way. So I'm thinking of BNI is one of them that works that way. So you might, every couple of months, get up and do a 10 minute presentation on what you do.

Speaker 1: 12:17

So make sure that you're talking about solutions, because when you're in that kind of an environment, you're not so much selling to the people in the room, but you are selling to their network. So they need to come away with a very clear picture of what it is you offer to clients. So that's a slightly different scenario. So if you're not talking to your end user necessarily it could be people in that room depends what you do. But what you really want from these networking events is to have those people talking about you to their network and just in conversation, or if somebody says I've got a problem with whatever this is, whatever it is you do, they can say, oh, wait a minute, I know somebody who I think can help you with that. So you've got to keep it really simple, really clear, and that's the other important thing about presenting, whether it's a demonstration or you're working with a networking group.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Now, one thing that I know a lot of people have problems with and I certainly started out that way, but I decided to just throw myself in and that's talking to a large group of people. So there are ways of handling that. But it's certainly true and I remember this being said, actually about a funeral that when it came to speaking at a funeral, more people would actually rather be in the coffin than speaking at the funeral, and while it's sort of funny, it's actually true to a point. So if you're not very comfortable with public speaking, have a look and see if there is something like Toastmasters or an organization like that that perhaps you can join locally and they will help you a lot, not only in presentation techniques, but you'll get feedback from people in a group where really everybody's there to help everyone else. And I think this is particularly relevant to you if you are working alone, if you don't have anybody you can. Particularly relevant to you if you are working alone, if you don't have anybody you can particularly go to for feedback, then think about using an organization like that.

Speaker 1: 14:33

Now I'm going to move on to just a couple of other things. And cold calls are interesting, because I've actually got a section about cold calls in the training course that I offer on the website. And cold calls are important, but also a lot of people get them completely wrong, because you have to look at it from the point of view of the person that you are cold calling on, whether it might be a business where it's one or two people, a very small office, or it might be a large organization, but either way, when you're walking off the street, the chances are that the person you speak to has not been sitting there for the last 15 minutes thinking I just wish someone would come in and cold call on me. They're probably not thinking that, so the chances are that they're really busy. They regard you as a nuisance. They don't see you at that point as necessarily offering anything of value to them, because if they are in a situation where there's a lot of foot traffic and a lot of people just come in and hit them up on cold calls, they're probably you know, the barriers will be up straight away. So don't try and get a meeting or make a sale or do anything like that.

Speaker 1: 15:36

When you do a cold call. I think that and this is definitely true. It's somebody I was helping with a few years ago now. In fact, he had his own business. He would cold call on local stores because he could help them, but his aim when he cold called was to try and make a sale and first of all, it created a lot of stress in him. And, of course, when we're talking to other people, if we're stressed ourselves, they will pick up on it. Now they don't know why we might be stressed, they just know something isn't quite right and obviously, again, that will put the barriers up and it makes it much more difficult to get anywhere with them. In fact, the chances are you're likely to turn them off and blow that potential client.

Speaker 1: 16:17

So the basic thing to do is to go in and this is something I used to do a lot and I would just say to whoever was there I was just wondering, I was just hoping you could help me something like that. You used to do a lot and I would just say to whoever was there I was just wondering, I was just hoping you could help me. Something like that. You used to please help me routine.

Speaker 1: 16:33

And then all you're looking for when you go into those organizations is either a contact name, an email, maybe name, definitely email, if you can get it, and you can always find businesses' phone numbers. You can get it and you can always find businesses' phone numbers and just say that you wanted to just write to them. Something very simple, because you've been working with other companies in similar businesses and you've been able to really help them in whatever it is you do. Now the chances are, when that happens, you're definitely going to get knocked back by some people. They just won't want any of it, they just want you to go, but your chances of getting a name and so having that point of contact is really important. They're much, much greater when you use that technique. I've seen people just walk in and almost demand a name, like the person on the desk is some sort of servant to help them in their sales. So that's absolutely the wrong way to go. If it's a smaller business, then the chances are the person you're speaking to is the right person.

Speaker 1: 17:34

The thing to do then is to say something like look, I can see you're really busy at the moment. Excuse me, don't say that part. So I can see that you're really busy at the moment. What I would like to do is could I have 10 minutes of your time? Maybe some time in the next few days? Could I just make an appointment with you? Try to make an appointment, and that will work much, much better, because when you come in for the appointment, they've agreed to put that time aside.

Speaker 1: 18:04

Now one other thing to remember when you do that if you do turn up and they're clearly really busy and they are up to their neck in it and they're distracted, this is not a good selling environment. So if that's the case and again, these are things I've done. I'll just say look, it seems like this isn't really a good time for you. You seem to have a lot going on. Would you prefer it if we just reschedule the meeting?

Speaker 1: 18:29

And usually, what you'll find is that people are actually very grateful because you've demonstrated some empathy, you've demonstrated respect. All you're doing, though, is skewing things in your favor, and you've now got two things in your favor. One is, when you come back, hopefully, the environment is much more conducive to having a useful conversation with them, and, secondly, most people will feel more obliged to make sure that they are free in that time period. On the second occasion, now, look, you'll always get some people who aren't, and you have to ask yourself if they're the kind of people you really want to have as clients, the kind of people you really want to have as clients. So these are just a couple of things to think about, and I think they're pretty fundamental to how we present, how we share information, and the key thing is to really respect your prospective client.

Speaker 1: 19:25

Put yourself in their shoes and demonstrate respect. Demonstrate, create the environment where you can build trust, show that you understand the problem, that they have, the pain they're going through, and show that you can provide a solution, but do it in a way that will engage with them, and the best thing to do is to keep them engaged in the conversation. I've seen people just talk at potential clients for half an hour an hour maybe the really bad ones and that's really the worst way to go, because all you're doing is turning them off. The more they talk to you, the stronger the engagement and the better the chances are that you're going to make a sale. So I'm going to leave this podcast there. I hope you found that useful. Hopefully there are a few things that you can take away from this and I'll speak to you in the next podcast. Bye for now.