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One way to set yourself apart in a beauty
contest presentation is to plan more than what
you’re going to say.
Plan what you’re going to ask.
Beauty contest presentations are those formal
pitches where teams of vendors are paraded
before a panel of decision-makers.
Everyone gets about an hour to give their
presentations.
These presentations can be very dull, especially
if the presenters just talk about themselves for
an hour. The best beauty contest pitches
actively seek to engage the decision-making
panel.
You do that by asking questions. When you
get a dialogue going with the panel, you are
better able to show off your intellect and your
ability to work with the client. Since
picking a vendor can be very difficult, that
unscripted exchange can give the customer more
insight into your team than a formal pitch ever
could.
Let’s say that you’re pitching to win a big
piece of legal business. You’ve reviewed the
client’s legal issues and your presentation
includes a proposed solution (or at least it
should). But the fact is that you probably
still don’t have all the information that you
would want to solve the problem.
Maybe you’re not completely clear on a business
policy that could impact the legal strategy.
Maybe you’re not sure why a particular decision
was made in the past. Chances are there is a
lot of information that you’d like to know from
this client.
Why not take
the chance to ask the panel your questions?
“We’d like to take the opportunity to ask you,
what is your business policy in this area?”
Getting the prospect talking gives you a chance
to really gauge what they’re thinking and then
respond in the moment. That exchange can also
give the client a great feel for you and your
team and how you work with clients. It can be
the difference between winning and losing.
At Speechworks we help our clients learn how to
communicate in a way that connects and
persuades. If you’re interested in becoming a
great communicator give us a call at
404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net |
