I = Interest your customer. Do you have colorful story, an interesting prop, a new sample, or a prototype that you can share during your presentation to get your customer’s attention? Try something that your competition has never tried before. Do something different to help create excitement and to establish your creativity as a professional during your presentation. Have some fun with it—I guarantee your customer will, too!

N= Never use the phrase, “I think”, during your presentation. Why? Your customer’s don’t care what YOU think. They only care about what THEY think. Customers sometimes relate to your other customers, so may want to know about their experiences or challenges. However, never tell your customers what you think, because in their minds, right or not, YOU are on commission and your ideas are less than credible.

V= Verbally ask the customer check-in questions during your presentation. Such as: “What do you think of that idea?” and “How important is that to you?” or “Where can you use this?”

O= Organize your thoughts before presenting. Remember I mentioned that today’s customers have a very short attention span? You’d better be prepared to be succinct, focus on this particular customer’s specific needs, and not talk too much. The better organized you are, the less chance you’ll talk yourself right out of a sale!

L= Let you customer interrupt. If your customer is a)excited or b)bored, you may get interrupted. If the customer is excited, great! Close her right there. If the customer is bored, she’s telling you to move on to another point—that the one you’re spending too much time on has lost her interest and isn’t important to her.

V= Verify that what you are presenting are indeed, the right ideas to suit your customer’s most pressing needs. How do you do this? Listen. Did the customer nod, agree, interrupt, or cut you off? Listen for the clues and follow through with some ideas of your own.

E= Express yourself skillfully. If you are emphasizing how your service worked with another customer, tell a story to make it interesting and compelling to the customer. If you focus on your customer’s real need, avoid rambling like a used-car salesperson, and establish your credibility, you’ll find that the sale is just around the corner.