Elevator Presentations and Your Yankee Stadium Presentation

Most of us have heard of the "Elevator Presentation" which is usually a 15 second overview of the benefits we provide for our clients when they work with us. A good 15 second elevator presentation is designed to arouse curiousity and lead to what Chet Holmes calls a "Stadium Presentation".

Chet sets up the Stadium Presentation idea pretty well:

"Imagine I could put you in a giant stadium right now as the presenter, and the entire audience is completely comprised of your most perfect prospects. Are you ready right now? Could you walk out on that stage and present to every one of them and do it perfectly? Now before you say yes, let me make the stakes higher. Before you walk out there, the audience is told: “You had to come, but you don't have to stay. If this person (you) fails to keep your interest, you can simply get up and leave.”

Chet continues:

So you need to open your stadium pitch (as I call it), with what I call “wow's.” This means that all great presentations start off with information that makes your prospects say: “wow, I didn't know that.” The focus must be on THEM and things of interest to THEM, not you. So rule number one of a great presentation is that it must be focused on the prospect and not on you (at least not initially).

In my language... that means every presentation we make should serve our clients in some unique way.

More on this in my next post...

Describing Your Unique Serve-Haggar Slacks

Why would you buy one brand of casual slack (or as Haggar calls them "Premium Dress Khaki's") over another? The Haggar Brand has done a great job creating an environment in the men's section of department stores with their "Quality for Life" display pictured above. The picture is a bit small so I will do some explaining.

First of all, they do a great job of what marketing expert Jay Abraham describes as "Risk Reversal". These slacks are guaranteed for the life of the owner.

Secondly, the Haggar people go to great lengths to explain what makes this particular slack line of such great quality. Not only do they list the specifics on a poster, they have turned the slacks inside out and placed little explanations at all the appropriate places. Here are the advantages described by Haggar:

A. Buttons - Guaranteed Unbreakable

B. Seams - Guaranteed Unrippable

C. Zippers - Guaranteed Unbreakable

D. Pockets - Guaranteed Unrippable... and they are extra deep and large

E. Waste Band - Expandable for your comfort after that big steak at the Outback


This is great selling!!! Most companies are content to say we have "Quality" this or that and leave it there.

Whatever you sell, it serves the client when you show and tell them what sets you apart or what unique advantage you offer. Figure out how to turn your product or service inside out so they can easily see what's not obvious.

Thanks Haggar... You showed us how to "Make Things Right" in the video from my last post... You are also showing us how to "Sell Things Right".

The C.A.R.E. Presentation System

A friend of mine recently shared a system that she was taught working in a successful telephone selling program. She was very successful with it and it fits perfectly with the Servant Selling Philosophy. C.A.R.E. stands for Connect-Attract-Respect-Engage.

Connect- This is just an attempt to establish a personal connection with the individual you are speaking with. Different people do this different ways. When I'm on a face to face sales call I always look for something in the prospects office that I genuinely like, admire, or am interested in. It could be a book, a picture, a decorating item, the architecture or design of the building... anything. I will usually make a comment, give a compliment, or ask a question. On one call I absolutely loved the neck tie the guy was wearing. I complimented him on it and he took it off on the spot and gave it to me. I walked out with a contract and a tie that I wore for several years.

Attract- This is sharing a lead idea or sample. It's like the headline of a newspaper or a really well designed advertisement. It must be something that is attention getting in a positive way.

Respect- Respect is recognizing that everyone won't be interested. The timing, the chemistry, or the fit may just be a little off. It's releasing the prospect to make a decision not to do business with you and doing that without a struggle. You just move on to the next one.

Engage- If the prospect shows interest, you move on into the buying process. It many mean giving a fuller presentation or just writing up the order on what you presented in the attract step.


This is a simple 4 step plan that will work for selling a lot of things. Whatever you sell, you need a repeatable outline that is flexible enough to accomodate the many directions a sales call can go. Give the C.A.R.E. plan a try.

Systemize Your Presentation to Serve

Your presentation is a vital part of serving your customer. I don't really believe in "canned" word for word presentations. I still remember going to work for the Zig Ziglar Company as a 23 year old and being asked to memorize a twenty page presentation word for word. I was the only one in my training class that took the request seriously and stayed up late many nights trying to get it down. The problem was that none of the customers I called on had spent any time memorizing their responses.

I do believe in "planned" presentations however. You should have a strong outline and system that keeps you on track and encourages a clear concise overview of your offering. A number of sales trainers and books offer some good outlines. Neil Rackham has written extensively on his S.P.I.N. selling program. It stands for Situation-Problem-Impact-Need Pay Off. You can read a thorough explanation in one his books. In Ziglar on Selling you will find the P.O.G.O. System. It stands for Personal-Organizational-Goals-Obstacles.

One of my 2 or 3 favorite books on selling is Conceptual Selling. It can be ordered at my on line bookstore link at the right. The authors, Miller and Heiman stress that all presentations can be boiled down to Getting Information, Giving Information, and Getting Commitment. They emphasize sequenced pre-planned questions and well thought out presentation modules that can be ordered and re-ordered on the fly.

More in my next post....