Mack Powers

I was talking today to a sales professional in the real estate industry. We were discussing how different the markets were today than they were 6-18 months ago. In the past, he said that his role was to bring a willing seller together with a willing buyer. In today’s market, he said that he now has to the difficult challenge of bringing a distressed seller, who is generally selling short, together with a buyer who is skeptical and wondering what is wrong with the deal.

As a sales professional, your value might be changing as well. In the past you probably have played the role of a facilitator. Today however, your role might be closer to the role of a mediator than you have ever experienced. Have you considered the difference? Consider that a facilitator is simply someone who makes progress easier. Therefore in the past your role was one of connecting people who were both comfortable and ready to move forward with a deal. In that environment there is little or no friction with both parties trying to get the deal done. Today as a sales mediator, you might need to position yourself differently. Why, because not everyone will be excited about having to carry out the transaction. Here are several thoughts about what mediation is. Even though buyers and sellers aren’t generally in a dispute, consider how these rules could be slightly modified and applied to you in your sales and business development role.

1. The role of the mediator is to reduce obstacles to communication, assist in identifying issues, exploring alternatives, and facilitating voluntary agreements resolving the dispute.
2. The mediator is responsible for assisting you in reaching informed and voluntary decisions while protecting your right of self-determination.
3. The mediator must maintain impartiality throughout mediation. Impartiality means freedom from favoritism or bias in word, action or appearance, and includes a commitment to assist all parties and not any one person.

Applying these rules will allow you to establish trust with any party who is not favorable towards the deal. Trust in every economy is at the heart of every deal. Try this new role out or a variation of them and let me know how they work for you.

I have a habit of competing in speech competitions. I will generally compete against 4-5 other speakers who will all be graded, as will I, by judges. The best speaker will be awarded a prize. This can be grueling and it generally is. As a result of competing I have learned a number of practical lessons regarding communication. I have even won a few of these contests based upon what I have learned.

I would like to share three key points that I have learned by competing:

• In every speech, if I want to do well, I have to connect with my audience.
• Every speech has to have structure.
• You can only cram so many words into a timed speech (about 200 words a minute). Since these competitions are timed you can’t go over the time limit or you will be disqualified.

These three skills are important when one is communicating to an audience. How would these principles apply to an audience if you one were to use PowerPoint while presenting? They directly apply!

• Can you connect with your audience? Most great communicators will connect with an audience without the use of slides. Think of JFK, Ronald Regan and Jerry Seinfeld. Can they communicate without a PowerPoint? Sure they can and so should you. People don’t connect with the slides and the fancy screen dissolves, they connect with you.
• Does your presentation have structure? Make sure that your presentations have a structure or a plot. What is the story that you are sharing? Make sure that the PowerPoint is structured and that there are smooth transitions between the points. Define the main message that you are going to communicate and then break down the presentation into an understandable format. An example of this would be: One third for the introduction of a topic statement, one third for how you arrived at the topic statement and facts to support your claim or argument, and one third summarizing the importance of your claim or argument.
• How many Slides will you have in your presentation? There are only so many slides that you can cram into a 20, 40, or 60 minute presentation. Find out what works for you. I would suggest that you not try to present more than one slide every two minutes. Therefore, a 40 minute presentation should have approximately 20 slides and no more. Resist the temptation that more is better. In this case less is better. Use the extra time that you have to connect with the audience and tell them your story.

Remember the three fundamentals of communication and don’t be distracted by the technology. You will be glad you did, and so will your audience.