The Reason Your Presentations Don't Get The Results You Want

Are Your Presentations Believable?

Why Aren’t You Getting What You Want?

TeachUPresentation.com

Teaching executive presentation all over the country to people just like you, I see a lot of presentations.

Most presentations are aimed at getting something.

You want to convince management to approve a new project. You want a new customer. You want to close a big deal.

Believable

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We make commitments and promises to help us get what we want.

We hope that by making a commitment or promise, the other party will be persuaded to enter into a transaction with us.

Why Make Commitments and Promises?



Commitments and promises are supposed to have influence.

That influence should help us get what we want.

Right?

Influence



Sometimes our commitments and promises are not as helpful as we want them to be.

Why doesn’t the other side see the value in our commitment?

“We support what we sell!”

“We will be here after the sale!”

“We will deliver on time. You have our firm commitment.”

Meaningless Commitments and Promises



Let’s look at the difference between commitments and promises [for the sake of this discussion].

I won’t go into the details of the exact definitions. Presentations like this can get boring if there is too much to read.

(Note: This topic is covered in detail in my presentation classes)

What is a Commitment or a Promise?



For our purposes:

A commitment is an assurance to you that I will do what I say. It can be verbal or in writing.

A promise is an assurance to you that I will do what I say and if I do not, I will pay a penalty.

There’s a big difference!

What’s the Difference?



For Example:

A Commitment: I will deliver on time. You have my word. I will put it in writing.

A Promise: I will deliver on time. If I do not, your order will be discounted by 1% for each day I am late in delivery.

The promise carries a penalty to me if I fail to deliver on time.

Examples



Which has more persuasive power, the commitment or the promise?

Obviously the promise is more persuasive.

The promise gives you incentive to buy from me.

And, the promise gives me incentive to deliver on time.

Which Is “Stronger”?



If you prefer to make a commitment rather than a promise, doesn’t that signal some degree of doubt to your customer?

It does.

Do Not Fear Making Promises



If you are not sure about what you are able to deliver, you won’t want to make promises.

But promises, even seemingly hollow promises, add to your ability to persuade.

Think about this…

Do You Have Doubts?



If you sell a pencil for 50 cents and that pencil comes with a lifetime warranty to never, ever wear out, you will impress some customers.

Even if to receive satisfaction on the warranty, they must ship the pencil back to you along with return shipping and handling costs of $2.

Seriously. Would it be worth the trouble to return it if the eraser fell off?

It’s Just a Pencil



No, of course it wouldn’t be worth the time or expense to return a 50 cent pencil.

But if the other pencil sellers do not offer a promise to replace the pencil in the event of failure, you will sell more pencils even if they charge only 40 cents per pencil.

Signaling



Yes, you are right, not everyone will see the value in your warranty and be willing to pay the price difference.

Many, however, will.

Why?

You Are Right!



There is a perception that the product with the warranty is of superior quality.

The better the warranty, the better that perception.

We’ve arrived at the point

Perception



Make promises.

When you make a promise to your customer that contains a penalty clause to you, your promise has meaning and will help persuade new customers to trust you.

Commitments without self-imposed penalties have little power. “We stand behind what we sell” means very little to the potential customer.

Make Promises



What if we improved on the warranty to say:

Return the pencil to us at any time you are unhappy with the performance and we will send you a new one.

Wow, that’s even better.

Given a choice between a 40 cent pencil without a warranty and the pencil I sell for 50 cents that comes with a “no questions asked” warranty, many, if not most, will choose my 50 cent pencil.

Improve on It



When choosing between 2 items, people seek the better value. The pencil that costs more and has a great warranty is probably a better pencil.

The price difference is only 10 cents.

I hate cheap junk that falls apart the first time I use it.

The eraser will fall off the cheap one.

It must be better, they guarantee it.

(This is the course our minds take)

Perception IS Reality



You probably face a lot of price resistance in your business. Most businesses do. Consumers, businesses and governments are all very price conscious.

Commitments do help build trust.

Promises are better. A promise, with a penalty clause on you, the seller, signals both a sense of security and a perception of higher value to the buyer.

Promises Add Value



When you provide something of value to a potential customer, that’s called a payoff.

Adding payoffs to doing business with you is a great way to gain an edge over competition or persuade the boss to let you go ahead with your pet project.

Payoffs backed by promises have a lot of pull.

Payoff



Service sales benefit from promises over commitments too.

I sell business education services. My competitors offer this warranty: If you are not satisfied with your training, we will work until you are fully satisfied.

That’s ok. But is it enough?

Some offer this: Money back if you are not satisfied.

That’s a bit better. But you still assume the risk.1

What If You Sell Service?

1 You assume the risk because you must make the case for a refund and then hope to get it.



The TeachU Presentation warranty is better:

If you are not satisfied that we delivered what we promised, you do not pay.

No pre-payments. No deposits. No Hassles.

See the difference? We bear all of the risk.

We work hard to make sure every client is satisfied.

Wouldn’t you with a promise like that?

The TeachU Presentation Warranty



Do you add commitments or promises to your product and service offerings?

Better look closely at that from your customer’s point of view.

Where you are making commitments, change them to promises with a penalty on you.

Do you offer promises beyond the warranty? You should.

Look at What You Offer



Lastly, because terms like “satisfaction” can be vague, I would not recommend shipping millions of dollars of product under such loose terms as “don’t pay if you are not satisfied”.

But you could say that if the order is not to the customer’s specification, you will do X [be specific] to remedy the situation within a given time.

Don’t Worry



Above all other considerations, most new customers merely want to avoid being taken advantage of.

They fear being ripped off.

The stronger the terms in their favor, the easier it will be to convince a prospect to become a customer.

Remember! Each promise is an added payoff. Promises add value and insulate margins. Payoffs help prospects justify the purchase.

Insecurity



This is a little sample of the material we cover in our intermediate-advanced presentation training.

We have studied business and the art of persuasion and we know what works. The tips in this presentation come from our module on Game Theory.

If you want to improve the effectiveness of your team’s presentations, you might want to host a presentation class taught by one of our expert instructors. You know there is no risk, right? We’ve got more payoffs for you.

It’s What We Do



I’d like your thoughts on this subject. Contact me personally:

Chris Reich

[email protected]

(530) 467-5690

TeachUPresentation.comTeachU Presentation uses the 3Es System of Business. We believe the keys to long term success are Education, Ethics and Excellence. TeachU Presentation is a TeachU company.

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The Reason Your Presentations Don't Get The Results You Want

Business

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