Companies possess many different marketing assets and we believe presentations represent a major part of those assets. Our sales teams are engaging with clients and prospects on a daily basis. We have our standard marketing collateral we send to clients only to have that material be pushed to the side while the prospect focuses on more pressing matters…certainly not our pitch. Companies have unique opportunity to give prospects a glimpse into their story and how they plan to service the client, irrespective of whether you’re a product or service based business. Giving prospects an opportunity to experience your presentation before you actually present can translate into more leads for your company. Below are some examples of how to take advantage of this.
LinkedIn Posts & Profile
When you get in touch with a prospect, the very next place they go is to LinkedIn. Lets assume you have an all star rating on your LinkedIn profile and the prospect is able to ascertain everything that is pertinent to them deciding whether to grant you a meeting or another phone call. LinkedIn allows individuals to post their presentations to their profiles. If you and your sales team have given many presentations, I’m confident you have a standard presentation that has a compelling title that can lure your prospects in while they troll your LinkedIn page. Post both your standard presentations and past non company related presentations to your LinkedIn profile page to ensure the prospects you connect with are able to get that true glimpse into your company.
Templatized Presentations
The biggest concern many companies have in publicizing their presentations is giving away trade secrets and compromising their competitive advantage. We understand that posting and freely sharing proposal increases this possibility. So our solution is simple. Go through 4 – 5 of your most recent presentations. Break down which slides have competitive compromising information versus uncompromising. Create a new cohesive proposal that only includes the uncompromising parts of the proposal. This will allow you to go after prospects without risking your competitors pulling from your strategies and tactics.
Slideshare.net
Slideshare.net is a presentation sharing site that is more powerful than simply sharing presentations. Slideshare has a robust audience of people constantly searching for information in these presentations. In addition, slideshare is search engine friendly thus allows your presentations to collect search engine traffic. Whether you choose to send large files or links to prospects directly, slideshare is a creative way to build an audience while sharing your presentations with prospects a little easier.
Video Presentations
We bring up the topic of video presentations in 3 out of every 5 articles we write. It is not by accident. Incorporating video in your presentations remain the most powerful means of breaking up and enhancing your presentations.
Funny thing is we’re actually referring to sending short videos to prospects. There are many apps and quick video software that allows you to send 1 – 2 minute videos to prospects. Videos make things more personal and puts a person’s face and voice with the company versus just a voice (via a cold call), or simple text via an email.
Sample On Your Website
Don’t be shy to leave a sample presentation on your website. I know you may think that you competitors can get a hold of your information and your competitive secrets. But if you took our advice in creating an “uncompromising presentation,” this should not be an issue. Consider all of the web traffic your website collects. These include organic search traffic, referral traffic from link building, direct traffic, and even social media traffic. Your website is one of the great tools you can leverage, but what you put on it matters just as much as simply having a presence. Presentations expand far beyond what takes shape in the conference room. Take advantage of your presentations in these creative ways to generate more leads and increase conversions at the pre-prospecting stages of new business development.