Gear Up for Q4 and Year-End Presentations

As September winds down, many professionals look toward the start of Q4 and the beginning of the end of the year. Everyone knows that this time of the year is extremely important for retailers, hoping for a strong holiday shopping season. It is also a significant season for companies across all industries: sales teams make a push to reach their year-end goals, marketing reports the year’s campaigns performance analysis, and finance delivers annual reports and next year’s budgets.

The fourth quarter is not only the holiday season, it’s presentation season. So, before you get caught up in which costume you will don, how much turkey to roast and whether you will make it to 11 holiday parties, get your presentations lined up and prepare for a strong finish. Here are a few tips for knock-out year-end presentations:

Sales

• Line ‘em up: Take the time now to determine which of your customers end their fiscal year on December 31. Set up as many meetings in advance as possible. This time of the year is busy for everyone, so getting on their schedule before people start getting too busy with their own work or taking time off is key.
• Know the prospect: Research your prospects thoroughly so that you fully understand their needs. This way you can tailor your presentation in a way that addresses each prospect’s unique problems. Also make sure to learn their typical buying processes in order to prioritize leads.
• Don’t forget about your existing clients: Make time to meet with all of your major customers. Next year’s budgets are typically lined up at this time, so get on their radar for future projects. Also, there may be some remaining dollars in this year’s budget and you could help them use it up.

Marketing

• Set the stage: When presenting statistics or any form of data, provide meaningful context to help your audience better understand the information that you are sharing. Explain the criteria for your analysis, and explain the objective of collecting this data in the first place. This background information will help them absorb the numbers you are about to show.
• Be clear about your message: Focus on one key message per slide and be clear about what you want your audience to know. Maybe you want to share your conclusion that sales rose 20% as a result of your campaigns. Use a chart to show the sales growth and title the slide with the specific message “2010 Sales Increased 20%”, instead of using a generic title like “Sales This Year”.

Financial

• Use visuals: It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers, but try to diversify your slides with the use of relevant images to help keep your audience engaged.
• Inform and incite: The goal of every presentation is to get your audience to agree and take action. Persuasiveness is not only important for sales and marketing, it also makes for more commanding informational presentations. As you prepare your presentations, ask yourself “How do I persuade my audience to use the information I’m giving them?”