If you want to be a better presenter, speak to someone who listens to a lot of presentations. In most companies, that would include someone in procurement or any department that does a lot of buying. Erik Halverson at eBay perfectly fits the bill. As a Global Mobility Leader, he finds the right partners to help over 800 employees a year relocate, often internationally, for a new role in the organization.
At a Southern California Relocation Council event, he spoke about differences between buyers who focus on relations and those who focus on relationships. He sees relations as based on price only, often going out to RFP. These are labor intensive with no emotional entanglement or commitments.
On the flip side, eBay prefers relationships where they make commitments to the supplier. They are loyal, care about suppliers and their decisions have an emotional element, where “Breaking up is hard to do!”
He used a story to illustrate his point:
He had a supplier who came in for a presentation. The supplier brought 15 people (I think he was exaggerating). They were 10 minutes late. The supplier showed the agenda and stated they wanted to present four topics. Eric explained to the presenter that eBay (the audience in the room) was extremely interested in “item D” on the agenda. The presenter said, “That is great and we will get to that later,” and continued to drone on about item “C.” When they were finished, the presenter said “Oh, yeah – you wanted to hear about item “D.” It was now 5 minutes before the presentation was scheduled to end and Eric said, “Too late, your time is up.” Needless to say, they didn’t win the business.
Erik wants to hear new ideas in presentations and he is willing to help the speaker. No matter how proud you are of your pre-prepared presentation, be ready to react to your listeners and speak to what is important to them.
In closing, Eric gave 10 commandments to those that present and sell to him.
- Thou shall have no other clients before me (or you better make me believe this is so).
- Thou shall be accessible and responsive at all times.
- … not steal in your invoicing and pricing better have integrity.
- … have honest, truthful, upfront communication at all times.
- … have staffing continuity (especially those on the day-to-day transactional level).
- … perform duties faithfully, consistently (service).
- … keep commitments and deadlines.
- … honor client’s ENTIRE staff – no matter what level (it’s how you treat the waiter when you take me to lunch – not how you treat the top executive that is so revealing).
- … go the extra mile, make me better, don’t make me ask.
- … protect me from risk – internal and external, loss – monetary and all other ways.
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After completing the Communicate to Win workshop, you will have the most compelling argument and the best ideas. With this complete package, you will gain the tools necessary to guarantee that you have the best ideas and that you can present them confidently so you will WIN. Read what participants say.
photo by Katrina Snaps. Used by permission.