Many sales professionals never consider the opportunity to do workshops and presentations in front of the public. If you are one of them, then you are missing a golden opportunity. 

Public speaking and doing workshops is my number one strategy in capturing potential clients.  Speaking allows me to get in front of prospective clients.  It allows me to showcase my knowledge and expertise.  Many times, I have captured clients, even before I leave the room.

Let me ask you a question, “What is your time worth hourly? Maybe it’s worth $50 or a $100 or $200-plus an hour.  Will you have a better chance accomplishing that one-on-one or in front of a group of potential clients and opportunities?

Speaking allows you to showcase your knowledge.  It also gives you tremendous visibility and credibility over time.  The more you speak, the greater the chances that over time, people will consider how successful you are and they will look upon you as the authority in your field.

Because my profession is as a mortgage banker, I have a greater chance of speaking to first time buyers and potential real estate investors in a non-threatening environment.  These individuals do not feel as threatened compared to a one-on-sales presentation. By giving potential clients the opportunity to learn in a non-threatening environment, it allows you the opportunity to be the first one to provide them valuable information and earn their trust.

Getting the Most Out of Your Presentation

Preparation and Practice
The number one point is to be prepared and practice.  I recently was involved in a “Speak Off”.  The Speak Off, in this case, was an opportunity to join a powerful leads group in the Denver area.  Since another loan officer and I both were interested in the only open spot, a “speak-off” was organized.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.   I had several things against me:  One, I had never been in a leads group before, and two, the other loan officer knew many of the board members and participants in the leads group.  The advantage I had was years of public speaking and extensive preparation practice.  We were in separate rooms and didn’t hear the other individual speak.  Prep and practice, and knowledge of subject matter lead to a landslide victory in my favor.

“Give-Aways” and “Take-Aways”
Every time I speak, whether it’s realtors, first-time homebuyers or real estate investors; they will walk away with something of value.  Maybe it’s a workbook, a list of books to read, maybe tools that they can use in their business.  It’s important that the audience receive something of value every time that you do a presentation.

Follow-Up
If you don’t have a follow-system, you have just wasted your time.  In all of my workshops, every participant completes a questionnaire.  Completing the questionnaire allows the participant to receive added value items.  Based on how they complete the questionnaire, I rank the prospects as A’s-wanting to do business right away, B’s-maybe 30 to 90 days down the road and C’s-not sure when or if we will be doing any business at all.  Even if they are C’s, I still put them in my database and will market to them for two years.  My philosophy is, “It’s not if they will do business with me now, it’s when they will do business with me.”

Other Speaking Opportunities
There are many opportunities to speak outside of our industry.  I’ve created a seminar titled Real Estate Sales Mastery designed for the Realtor and changed the title and a couple of slides and renamed the same seminar for Insurance Agents and CFP’s.  Getting in front of Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs and Chamber of Commerce also can provide you with business opportunities.  Subjects as customer service, time management, life planning are just a few that I have done for these kinds of groups.

I was fortunate to speak at our Douglas County Future Leaders Conference on the qualities of a leader.  I’ve been able to get in front of department heads of a large company in our area and spoke on leadership and retaining great employees.  Author Jeffrey Gitomer has a “50 Butt Rule”.  Wherever 50 butts are, he’s hoping that his butt is in front of theirs speaking to them as the expert.

Conclusion
Consistency in speaking is very important.  Getting out in front of an audience keeps your pipeline full of prospects.  Practice does make perfect and by preparing and practicing your presentation, then following up with all potential prospect, you will greatly increase your opportunities and your chances of having a successful business.

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