Rainmaking Problem #4: A Tough Presentation Setup
(This is part of my series on Rainmaking Problems. I hope you will leave a comment with your thoughts on a solution to this problem.)
Lest you think this case seem irrelevant to you, it is but an extreme version of situations many of us face when selling to a committee with some of the members attending by phone. By studying extremes we often learn things less apparent in milder versions.
A turnaround management firm we have worked with sells its services to committees of creditors. The firm is often asked on one-or-two-week’s notice to present to such a committee that will pick an adviser from three to five firms after all have made their pitch. Each firm is assigned a slot running anywhere from twenty to forty-five minutes. Most are at the shorter end of the range.
Perhaps ten to twelve members of the committee attend the meetings. They usually include a member of the workout department from the troubled company’s bank, representatives from major vendors and others. Each creditor usually has an attorney with him.
Now comes the hard part: The meetings are held by conference call with each creditor and the turnaround managers participating from their separate offices. The attorneys may also be attending from their offices or from the offices of their clients. Just imagine, a twenty minute presentation to anywhere from ten to twenty people, all attending by phone from separate locations!
I advised that in this environment the chances of winning go way up if you are well networked with the creditors and their attorneys before you even get the invitation. As true as that is, it doesn’t say anything about how you should manage the meeting, itself.
Any thoughts? How can the client shine in this difficult situation?
(Got a problem selling professional services? Feel free to email me your problem and it may become a future “Rainmaking Problem.”)
November 19th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Assuming that the firm has followed your networking advice but is still faced with the situation you describe, they have to use their presentation to stand out v. the competition.
First thing I’d do is hire a top-notch presentation coach, and use him/her as follows.
1. As soon as you get notice, get the coach in the door to help structure the presentation. Then rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
2. Have the coach listen in, and then immediately debrief. Identify what worked well and what didn’t. Then follow up immediately with a note / email to the buying team highlighting the key differentiators, and addressing any potential concerns.
3. After the coach has listened in on 3 presentations, do a thorough debrief on what worked and what didn’t, then restructure the pitch - starting from scratch if needed.
David Harkleroad
CMO
Hay Group
November 19th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
No matter what the reason for the meeting, knowing the attendees is a must.
Having a global list of video conferencing rental facilities - is also a pretty handy idea. Less travel costs and a visual is always better than voice.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
This is the kind of rainmaker scenario when the carpenter’s credo to “measure twice, cut once” becomes critically important. As a voice on the other end of a telephone line, your content has more impact than your stage presence. As a result, you need to prepare for these types of telephone meetings the same as you would for a formal stand-up presentation. Develop a meeting agenda and share it with the attendees via email prior to the call. Rehearse your opening comments. Define precisely what you want the meeting to accomplish. Audiotape yourself and listen with a critical ear. Put yourself in the place of your audience and honestly assess if your key messages are popping out and likely to be retained. Use specifics rather than generalities as the former will force the listeners to pay attention. Test and re-test your words and tone. Reflect on and review every possible interpretation, misinterpretation, and nuance. The more time you spend upfront and the harder you work at planning, rehearsing, and critiquing, the more confident, comfortable, and natural you’ll appear to your clients — whether over the phone or in person — and the more you’ll stand out from the competition.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
My first question: Is it possible to disperse some of our team and sit them with the key decision-makers in outlying locations?
As well as helping from a sales perspective by getting more face to face with the decision-makers; sometimes the clients themselves see it as very valuable as it allows more interaction and further explanation in those face-to-face sessions.
After that (and especially if it’s not possibel to disperse & partner up) you need to make the presentation and messages very simple. Better to have a clear, simple theme that hits the point and demonstates real understanding of their issues, than an impressiv but complex plan which proves impossible to communicate via teleconf.
Ian
Ian
Ian
November 20th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Thank you, all. There are some good ideas here. Hiring a presentation coach, especially one with experience handling this kind of setup, is a great idea. Audiotaping! Of course! Why didn’t I think of that! Spreading your team out among the creditor committee members would be worth a try to see if it could be made to work.
David, everyone should note your longer-term view. Don’t treat each of these events as a one-off. You are right to suggest that we can learn more from several of them than from one.
Ford Harding
November 20th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Is it too late to offer up some other quick thoughts?
Can send-aheads and leave behinds be used? Send-aheads can preview the content being presented, as well as cover some material (credentials type content) that you don’t have time to cover.
Keep the presentation a little more nimble. The presenters are fighting against distractions they wouldn’t have in an in-person meeting. “Nimble” can mean shorter points, faster speaking pace and faster visuals (if using an online deck everyone can see. And if you’re not using an online deck, consider using one as a way to get some control back).
Of course, you gotta have a little something in the presentation for everyone. But when on the phone, it might be necessary to verbally call this out more.
Sounds like an interesting challenge! Ford, please consider doing a follow-up blog post to let your audience know how it went.
November 20th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Steve
The use of a deck sent to all participants can give all listeners the same thing to see as the hang on their phones. Sounds like a good thing to provide.
Ford
November 21st, 2008 at 9:33 am
On second thought, I don’t know if I’d send the whole deck ahead. What’s to stop the prospects from skipping ahead? This is a classic mistake that many people make in even an in-person meeting. So for the send ahead, maybe just chunks of the presentation could be used. This forces prospects to pay attention. I’ve used send-aheads as a tease of content to come - illustrating a theme, etc. Or as a way to deliver credentials-type materials that weren’t covered in detail during the presentation itself.
Also, have they had much luck with the online presentation vehicles (gotomeeting.com, etc.)? This can give control back to the presenters, as most prospects surely would have online access if they’re listening from their desks.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Ford,
This is a tough knot to untie.
Let’s see if we can name some of the problems.
1. Loss of control due to lack of physical presence.
2. Voice carries the larger share of the burden.
3. Little room for nuance.
4. Hard to encourage interaction.
5. Too many distractions for the scattered listeners.
6. No visual feedback for the speaker.
7. Hard to call people by name.
8. Some can’t make their voices sound “smiley.”
9. Assumption that it’s basically a monologue–I talk, they listen.
10. Speaker tends to shout and speak fast.
I’m sure there are more, but I will stop there.
A few thoughts.
Get their names ahead of time, if possible, and make a kind of hub and spoke chart that you can keep in front of you, with you in the middle and all their names making a wheel around you.
Use their names now and then. “As John said earlier,” you might say. Or, “Frank made a good point on that score.”
Break the mold. Send them an email ahead of time saying, “I can give you the standard walk-through of the standard deck, or we can get to work on the specific problems of the distressed company.”
In other words, sell by doing rather than sell by telling. My experience and my reading suggest that this is more powerful than any pitch book you might be reading to them.
Of course, there’s a big problem with this approach: How do you keep it organized? I’m sure there’s a way, but this is not the forum.
Instead of sending them a deck, send them an outline with the three-to-five points you will make. Then do the old-fashioned Tell ‘Em What You’re Gonna Tell ‘Em, Tell ‘Em, and then Tell ‘Em What You Told ‘Em.
By the way, you could do this without any slides, or with a GoToMeeting set of online slides. or even with a full deck that you email to everyone right after you Tell ‘Em what your main points will be.
I agree with everything that I’ve read from other responders. I would stress the importance of
- getting off to a very crisp start
- coming around to the crisp start at the crisp end
- saying something unexpected
- providing a clear outline
- announcing when you’ve finished one point and are moving to the next
- using illustrative stories
- using analogy and metaphor, the tools of the poet, to link new concepts to what already exists in their minds
- speaking slowly, deliberately. Don’t work too hard. Sound relaxed. Project a sense of ease.
- having the presenter stand up, weight on both feet, hands actively supporting the spoken message
- being funny. Humor gives you an unfair advantage
- having the speaker ask specific people for feedback or input. E.g., “David, can you tell us how management is feeling?”
I am certain David Harkleroad knows exactly how management is feeling, and I am pleased to be blogging with the Fabulous Ford and the Distinguished David.
Can you imagine the clans of Scotland trying to confer about battle plans by sending pigeons back and forth? That’s about what this situation feels like.
Sims
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Sims
This is thorough and thoughtful. I hope this exchange has been as helpful to others as it has been for me.
Ford