Most PR practitioners would tell you there's an element of sales in media relations and other common PR practices, which would generally imply that successful PR people are good at sales. While that may be true as a rule, I've seen some glaring exceptions during sales presentations that would be best avoided.
 
As anyone who's been in a sales presentation for any type of professional services knows, a prospective client is looking for two basic things: confidence that you're qualified in your discipline of practice and comfort with you on a personal level, since that's a crucial way to determine whether you can work together. Anyone who's been in any type of professional-services practice will tell you that one of the things that most often derails a client relationship isn't so much the results that are achieved, or the lack thereof, but the way the two sides work together.
 
Obviously, the most crucial time in terms of imparting your professional qualifications on a potential client is during the sales process. It's during this period that the potential client is looking to be reassured on both a PR pro's professional qualifications and the likelihood of a good working relationship. To make this process go smooth and seamless, it's imperative that the PR pro conduct in-depth research on the client's company and anything else that would help them seal the deal.
 
I can't tell you how many sales presentations I've been in, either before I went out on my own or since that time with an agency or consultant with whom I was partnering with in an attempt to win a new account, where my fellow PR pro just wasn't prepared. Worse still, they weren't very elegant in terms of the way they expressed that fact. You should never, ever say anything to a prospect that conveys a notion that you didn't do much to prepare for a presentation. Even though it's true that you're not yet working for the client and may not come to work for them, the fact that it is a crucial time in which comfort levels are set, failing to prepare often sets things on a course from which it's almost always impossible to recover.
 
Likewise, if such a gaffe happens, never say that you'll learn about the subject in question once you get the account. Truth be told, clients don't want their valuable billable-hour dollars being spent to get their PR consultant up to speed on something they should have known in the first place. From the client's perspective, if you don't know their business, you should have never bid on the account.
 
This is especially crucial for PR pros that deal with small and mid-sized businesses, for there will likely be many times that these practitioners will be meeting with someone who's never actually hired a PR firm before. We must remember that it's always a bit of an uncomfortable feeling to hire someone to do something for the first time; that's especially true when you're talking about a professional service that's going to in most cases be commanding a four and five-figure monthly fee. That's not to say that anybody who makes a gaffe in a sales presentation isn't a PR pro of proven qualifications and/or that the agency wouldn't go on to do a good job on the account. But, if you put yourself in the client's shoes, you'll realize they have no way to know that, which makes it imperative that the lead person in the presentation does everything to illustrate the necessary qualifications.
 
Obviously, the sales process will be easier for those who stick to a few core disciplines in their PR practice. One of the reasons I don't veer from my core focus areas of technology, real estate and financial/professional services is because I know these areas and keep up with the key events and players within them.
 
If you've been in the business long enough, chances are you'll run across someone who also loves tossing out a series of verbal volleys on things not only about their company, but related subjects. Whether or not you think it's something that should have been known before going into the presentation, odds are they think the questions imperative and/or will make some sort of judgment based on them. While there's no way to ensure you'll know every single question that might come up, a good preparation will minimize the chance of an embarrassing encounter.

Cyrus is president of Astoria Communications, a New York City-based PR consultancy serving clients in financial/professional services, technology and real estate. His clients include law firms, legal organizations, technology companies and several non-profit organizations. Before opening his PR consultancy in 2004, Afzali worked at several New York agencies as an editor and as a writer at several media outlets, ranging from small, daily newspapers to CNN Financial News.

Read more articles by Cyrus at TalentZoo.com under Very Public Relations.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Illustrating Experience During Sales Process is Vital to Success