Presentation Advisors Blog

Why The Pasta Bar is Doing Everything Right in Social Media

About 8 months ago I was sitting in my favorite lunch spot, Liquid Lunch, and was trying to use my cell phone to check into Foursquare.  Unfortunately I couldn't because not only was there no wifi, there was terrible cellular service (not the business's fault, I know).  As I looked around, this quaint soup/sandwich joint with a freezer full of old-school sodas, a chalkboard menu, and a line nearly out the door made zero effort to join the new media revolution.  No Twitter presence.  No Facebook presence.  A website akin to Geocities.  A missed opportunity.

It motivated me to write a post about the lack of restaurants embracing Foursquare, and praising AJ Bombers which has done a bang-up job of exactly that (and more) in Milwaukee.  There are so many opportunities for businesses to embrace their customers and even those who aren't yet customers by utilizing the FREE tools that web 2.0 has provided us.  No purchase necessary.  Sweat equity not included.

Just today I was reading AJ Leon's blog, as I do nearly every day, and he posted a video of a restaurant he had found in Azusa, CA, on his cross-country road trip for Rise of the Cubicle Farmer.  It's called The Pasta Bar, run by two uber-passionate people who have taken advantage of all the opportunities social media has provided to "hug their customers" as I like to put it.  AJ explains more in the video below. 

This is exactly what I was hoping Liquid Lunch would do.  In our Post-Advertising age, this is exactly what ANY business can do to tell their brand story, close the trust gap, and make life a little better for their customers, one meal at a time.  The opportunities are endless, as long as you're passionate and willing to put in the sweat equity.  The Pasta Bar has, and they're reaping the rewards.

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Using Presentation Design to Simplify the Complicated

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Common Craft.

My friend Clay Hebert (pronounced "A-Bear") of Tribes Win turned me on to Common Craft - a company whose product is "explanation".  Of course this seemed right up my alley, so I checked out what it means to "produce an explanation".  Basically, Common Craft creates short, simple videos using paper cut outs and drawings to explain commonly complicated ideas.

The Story Is More Powerful Than Your Sales Pitch

Recently I was forwarded a video of author, consultant and business pioneer Tom Peters talking about the power of storytelling.  I know it may seem as though I'm saturating you with "storytelling" posts since I just posted a video by Nancy Duarte about the power of story in your presentations, and I apologize.  But this was too good not to post ASAP.

Book Review and Giveaway: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

When a business becomes so successful that there is an article-a-day written about them, it's only a matter of time before the CEO writes a book about how he/she achieved such a feat.  What you expect is 200 or so pages of business processes and advice.  That's absolutely NOT what this book delivers.

Instead, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose offers a first-hand account by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh of what shaped him as a person which would eventually lead him to creating an online company whose values were developed from the inside out.  Zappos invested their time, money, and resources into customer service, culture, and employee training.  Three areas often pushed aside by companies whose only goals are dollar signs.

I had expectations for this book and it completely missed the mark - in a good way.  This isn't a business book (or a customer service book), per say.  It will DEFINITELY help you look at business differently, from Tony's perspective as a CEO unlike any other.  This book provides Tony's account of his journey, from grade school to Amazon.  I am familiar with Zappos but was unfamiliar with their history, from an idea on a napkin to a 1 billion dollar business.  Let's just say it wasn't all rose petals and double martinis.  It's not a complete history of Zappos, nor Tony's autobiography, although it includes many elements from both.  It is simply Tony trying to tell the story of his journey while also offering insight into the science of happiness, complete with graphics and resources. 

While I'm a fan of all things related to business, there was actually a specific section in Delivering Happiness dedicated to Tony's experiences with public speaking which I featured in my post Presenting Happiness: Tony Hsieh's Rules for Public Speaking. 

This book will teach you what passion can accomplish, and how sometimes all you can do is have faith.  In the end, this book will do nothing less than inspire you to deliver happiness in your own way, whether it be to your culture, your customers, or yourself (or all three).  I highly recommend it. 

Want to win a FREE copy of Tony's Book?

The folks at Delivering Happiness not only provided me with an advanced copy to honestly review, but a second copy (paperback, which I think is more convenient) to give away to one of my readers!  Very cool of them.

If you would like to receive Delivering Happiness free to your doorstep, there are two ways:

1. Simply ReTweet this post with the hashtag #FreeDHBook (that's VERY important!) and/or
2. Leave a comment below with the title/author of a book that has changed your life personally, professionally, or both

If you do both #1 and #2, you will be given two entries, although retweeting multiple times (while appreciated) will not improve your chances of winning.

Good luck, and thanks so much for reading!

5 Presentation Tips to Increase Sales Tomorrow

If there's one thing I've learned while engulfed in the world of marketing communications the past few years, it's that you are ALWAYS presenting - especially when it comes to business. 

Every interaction you have with prospects, customers, vendors, or even just a random passer-by has the potential to change the course of your business, for better and for worse.  Every interaction is a presentation.  You don't need a projector or WebEx to conduct a presentation.  That irate customer you just dealt with for 30 minutes?  That was a presentation.  That voicemail you just left for a prospect?  That was a presentation.  The way you conducted yourself at the last industry convention afterparty?  Yeah, sorry, that was a presentation too.

Now that we know every interaction is a presentation, how can you use presentation skills to improve sales?  It's simple, but remember, simple does NOT mean easy.  You may understand these tips, but you'll have to work hard to master them.

1. Practice...a LOT (Don't ever wing it) - Larry Bird wasn't born to play basketball.  And you, sir, weren't born to present (nor was I).  It takes practice, and a lot of it.  Larry Bird was an 88% free throw shooter in his NBA career.  Do you know how he did it?  As a child he used to shoot 200 free throws before school, every day.  If he took the weekends off (which he didn't), that's 52,000 a year.  You get the point.
   
   You can't "wing" a presentation.  The audience will see right through you.  Everyone who ever told me they were going to wing it has done poorly.  Whether it's a sales call or just your elevator pitch at a conference, make sure you practice.  In business, you often only get one chance - make it a good one. 


2. Tell a Story - I tweeted recently that "Those who tell the best stories win."  I firmly believe that.  In sales, the prospect doesn't want to hear about your new features or how your service reduces throughput by 12%.  They want to hear how your product or service will solve their problems, and rightfully so since it's their money they're spending! 
   
   Instead of talking about your company, your features, or your recent awards, tell them a story. One of the greatest "stories" I've seen is the "Will it blend?" campaign on YouTube.  Instead of telling everyone how much power their blenders put out or how sharp their blades are, they started putting ordinary objects into the blenders to see if they would blend (and most did!).  This campaign helped BlendTec increase sales by 700%.  Instead of a list of blender features, wouldn't you rather see if it could blend an iPhone?


3. Have a Conversation - A truly great presentation that engages the audience and is easily and often recalled is one that is a conversation between the presenter and the audience.  It's not a lecture, nor a one-way street.  You're not speaking AT them, you're speaking WITH them.  Ask questions.  Learn about your prospect.  Find out what keeps them up at night (with regard to business, of course) and talk about solving those problems.  This is nothing new in sales, I know.  But I still often see salespeople and presenters alike talking so much that the prospect/audience feels disconnected.  It's ALL about them, not you.  Make sure you keep them engaged and included. 


4. Respect their Time, and their Questions - In sales and presentations alike, the audience is sacrificing THEIR time to hear YOU talk.  You must be ever-so-respectful of it.  If they give you 30 minutes, don't simply make sure that you're off the phone in 30 minutes.  Make sure that you have told them your story, had a quality conversation, and answered ALL of their questions within that time-frame.  Thus, this means you're going to have to make sure your presentation is timed out perfectly (see tip #1).  There's nothing worse than watching audience members walk out of a presentation annoyed. 


5. Design Visual Communications Effectively - It's rare you see a presentation not utilizing PowerPoint (or Keynote).  With technologies that allow real-time visual meetings like WebEx and GoToMeeting, many sales calls utilize the screen-sharing capabilities to show some sort of visual aid.  Unfortunately, nearly all of those PowerPoint presentations suck.  They utilize an ugly template which wastes space with a logo and some colored header/footer bars on every slide.  The product/service information is dumped in bullet-point format onto the slides, with a few slides about the company background.  This is terribly ineffective and is costing you sales - I promise that. 
   
   Instead, make an effort to design your visuals effectively.  There are a number of free resources out there, including my free eBook entitled "10 Tips and Techniques for More Effective Presentations."  If you have a presentation that needs and expert's touch, why not hire a presentation designer?  Effective visuals will enhance and amplify your message, allowing the audience/prospect to focus on YOU instead of the text on the slides.  Through the use of images and text, effectively designed visuals also improve recall, which is extremely important when it comes to sales. 

Effective communications is the lifeblood of selling.  A quirky tie and a flashy grin won't get you too far anymore.  Consumers are more educated than ever and don't want to be "sold".  Employ the tips I mentioned in your sales department and you'll find your prospects and customers more responsive, engaged, and ready to sign on that dotted line.