Dear {{FirstName}}

1. How to Sell More to your Customers in Hard Times

Since a newsletter is all about feedback, you deserve to know how the first three Relationship Selling Seminars went off - so here goes!

We kicked off in Durban on 13 June and went on to Namibia the following week. From the delegate evaluations, I feel the seminar has been given a resounding thumbs up.

• Durban: Content 93.2%; Presenter 93.1%
• Windhoek: Content 87%; Presenter: 90.8%
• Walvis Bay: Content 91.5%; Presenter 92.1%

In view of this being a brand new seminar, I was very pleased to receive such overwhelmingly positive evaluations. I will be using the feedback and comments to make adjustments to the seminar to ensure that it continues to evolve and become even more impactful each time I present it.

In the current market conditions, and considering the urgent need for businesses of all sizes to maximise sales effectiveness I will be doing a 6 seminar campaign in the major centres over the next 2 months. In the Gauteng area, where traffic and travel time has become such an issue of late, I have scheduled 4 dates at different venues with the intention of one being close enough for you to get to easily. Here is the new schedule:

Breakfast events: Registration and delicious continental breakfast from 07h30, seminar 08h15 to 11h15.

• Johannesburg 15 August Emperor's Palace, off R21
• Cape Town 26 August Cullinan Hotel (previously 14 August - date changed)
• Pretoria 28 August CSIR, Brummeria

Evening events: Registration tea/coffee from 16h45, seminar 17h15-20h15. Scrumptuous finger buffet served midway.

• Sandton 29 July FNB Conference Centre, 114 Grayston Drive, Sandton
• Krugersdorp 19 August Avianto, Mulderdrift
• Durban 9 September The Hilton, 14 Walnut Street

At only R679 per person including VAT, a meal and a complimentary copy of my new book "Even You Can PRESENT WITH CONFIDENCE," this is a particularly good value for your sales team. More information and online bookings can be found here, or phone us on share call 0860 503 191.

If you subscribe to the Sunday Times and therefore receive their complimentary daily, The Times, you will see our seminar adverts featuring prominently, mostly on a Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

2. Business Presentations: What is your Value Proposition?

Feature article - excerpt from soon to be released "Even You Can PRESENT WITH CONFIDENCE"

Whether or not you use presentations to sell, market or show case a product or service, I'd like you to consider this simple question: If you're going to present to a group of people, surely it's because you ultimately want them to do something? So even if you're not selling, at the very least you will want to persuade them, even if only of the merits of your point of view.

If you're trying to convince people of something they are not interested in, they won't listen to you. So, when will people listen to you? They listen when you address their problem. And when and why do people buy? They buy when they are convinced that your solution will solve their problem. So, what is your first step? If you already have the product, service or idea, ask yourself whose problem it is most likely to solve and how it will solve the problem. Then design your argument around fulfilling the needs of the market you have identified - in other words the audience you want to convince.

How your solution will solve my problem is far more enticing than what a product or service can do. It's a time-tested concept called "features versus benefits".

Your presentation is designed by:

1. Outlining the problem.
2. Sketching the current and the ideal situation.
3. Showing that the current situation can be improved on.
4. Outlining how your solution creates the ideal situation.
5. Showing your audience how buying or adopting it now will solve their problem/s.

Then make it simple for them to buy. Because of credit cards, it has never been easier for people to make instantaneous buying decisions, especially when they have just been enthused. So make sure that when they do, it's from you and that it's now.

It's quite simple. Why would people part with their cash unless you are solving their problems or meeting their perceived needs? The amount they are prepared to spend is in proportion to their perception of the size of their problem, the consequences of not taking action and the value of the solution they find.

Now ask yourself why people spend what they do on luxury items when a basic item usually performs more than 90% of the required functions (eg motor vehicles or cellphones)? The answer is the same. It satisfies a need, even if that need is simply the desire to be seen to be successful. Your ability to find a person's or an audience's hot button is your key to their decision being in your favour.

The same principle is true of non-sales situations. For example, when you ask for your lady-love's hand in marriage, you need to satisfy her father's need to know that you will keep her safe and happy. Or let's say you want to convince your colleagues or staff about a new work strategy. You will need to convince them that implementing your plan will overcome frustrating glitches in the production process (their problems), facilitate smoother operations (reducing stress) and/or you will want to convince management that it will result in increased productivity and higher profits (bottom line). Solve their problems and you'll get their vote.

So in the context of a sales presentation, what is your competitive edge?

If two suppliers offered exactly the same product of exactly the same quality and colour at exactly the same price and you could only choose one, which would you choose? Many people would choose neither.

When people have a choice, they choose what they perceive, often in a split second, to be of the most benefit to them. In simple terms, they are seeking the edge that tips their scale - the something that is most important to them.

In a market saturated with great products at good prices, unbelievable warranties and lofty claims, the edge is what someone wants that they are not getting elsewhere. The edge is what others are not doing or doing it another way, cleverer, better, perhaps first and noticeably.

Today it's about capturing peoples attention by being different. So before you plan your presentation, identify your edge, the one factor that makes you stand out from the competition. Because if you don't have an edge, what do you have? The same principle applies to selling an idea, a plan of action, or whatever it is you want to convince your audience to do or think about.

Paul du Toit CSP

Certified Speaking Professional, soon to be published Author, Mindsetshifter and Presentation Skills Coach.

3. Even You Can PRESENT WITH CONFIDENCE.

How to speak like a pro, dazzle your audience and get the results you want every time.

Writing a book has been a wonderfully educating experience for me, and learning the steps right through to publication. Being the impatient person I am, I have elected to go the self publishing route, which will ensure that the book is available soon - in fact the first hard copies will be available at the Sandton Relationship Selling seminar on 29 July 2008 - complimentary to all delegates. My editor, Michelle Coetzee, has done a wonderful job, the peer reviews in so far have been favourable beyond all expectations, and there are some wonderful testimonials in already.

The official launch date for my book, in other words when the first print run is ready, will be announced via this newsletter. There is only one way to get a pre-release copy - come to the upcoming seminar - it's included in the seminar price.

4. Upcoming Short-course Programme Schedule

The following 2 day public programmes are scheduled for the next 3 months in Gauteng:

• Advanced Customer Relationship Skills (16-17 July - bookings close Friday 11 July!)
• Effective Time Management (August)
• Assertiveness Skills (one day only!)
• Mind Blowing Presentations (August & October)
• Stress Management (Sept)
• Conflict Resolution (Sept)
• Business Writing Skills (Sept)

You can go here for the schedule, prices and venues, or phone us share call on 0860 503 191. Both our programmes and facilitators continue to receive sky-high ratings. Programmes are NQF aligned, and assessment is available. Congruence Training is accredited as a training provider with the Services Seta.

5. Requests, and the Quest for Facilitation Skills...the search is over.

From time to time we receive requests for Facilitation Skills training, but we've never really marketed this programme. Well, that's changing.

Sharon King, a fellow PSASA professional member offers an intensive, high quality Facilitation Skills programme over three days. It is not often conducted on a public basis, but will be on 8-10 September 2008. Space is limited, and we expect this programme to be filled soon - so if you're interested, last minute bookings may not get a look in. Pop me a note soon, and we'll book your place.

And, oh yes...the rate is, er...very good indeed.

The National Speakers Association of Southern Africa (NSASA) which I served as President in 2005-2006 has changed it's name to the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (PSASA). The change more suitably describes who the association represents and what it stands for. The branding will remain largely unchanged with the slightest of cosmetic adjustments. It remainsl the home of speakers who take their craft very seriously, but may just make you laugh while they enthrall you with their wisdom and turn of phrase. When you next book a speaker, look for the PSASA logo. If they are not PSASA members, it should raise a few questions in you mind...