A few months ago, I decided I was going to start coaching and teaching again as a form of business revenue.
After taking a break for a year to focus on writing and creating courses, it was time to get the sales funnels in place to make some money. Part of this sales funnel was a sales presentation.
While I didn’t have to do a live sales presentation for my funnel, I thought it would be fun. Additionally, doing it live was a great way to add some people to my growing email list.
The Weeks Leading Up to The Sales Presentation
I’d been preparing for this sales presentation for weeks. I created the outline while at a business retreat in Puerto Rico, had a graphic designer working on the slides way ahead of time and tested my tech at least a thousand times before the actual event.
I also took my marketing game to the next level. I had so many people sign up for this sales presentation that I reached maximum capacity on my webinar software.
How did I manage to do this? By leveraging the social media tools that convert the most for me. In my case that means Facebook and Instagram. I also worked on specific email copy and sent a series of emails out to my list.
So, I’ve prepared the presentation, the slides are beautiful and my tech is working. I even found a good area in my coworking space where I could conduct the sales presentation with no interruption.
Even though I was a bit nervous, I’d done everything I could to prepare and it looked like everything was going to be smooth sailing. But it wasn’t.
The Day of the Actual Sales Presentation
As the universe would have it, when it came time to actually do my sales presentation, everything decided to stop working.
First, the sound on my webinar software wouldn’t work and I still have no idea why. Then, my back up, which was Facebook Live, also had terrible sound.
To make matters worse, right as I was in the middle of trying to figure this out, the power flickered at my coworking space, I lost connection and everything dropped.
It was an absolute nightmare. People were complaining about the sound, I couldn’t get my message across and then everything dropped.
There were a few moments there where I was utterly frustrated. How could this sales presentation which I’d worked so hard on go so miserably? How could I possibly be any more embarrassed?
Fortunately, I was able to save it. Here are some of the lessons I learned from this terrible experience.
You need tools to get your mindset right…fast.
My virtual assistant was kind enough to remind me that tech issues happen to everyone – even the biggest guys out there. Sometimes tech is what it is and people understand that.
I spent a few minutes getting my frustrations out and then I did a quick meditation to calm down. This allowed me to get in the right headspace and come up with some solutions.
There’s always a solution to every problem.
So none of the technology I needed to do a live sales presentation decided to work when I needed it to. While this is every online marketer’s worst nightmare, it’s not the end of the world and there are ways around it.
What I ended up doing was recording the sales presentation using a screen recording software I use and the best mic I had. From there I uploaded it to YouTube as an unlisted video and sent it to everyone who registered.
Basically, I put my feelings aside and put on my big girl pants to get the job done. And I did a really good job because I started getting Facebook messages about how amazing the presentation was. People also still signed up for consults with me.
You can still use a disaster as a teaching opportunity.
When I sent out the email to the people who registered for the webinar, I decided to turn my hellish day into a teachable moment.
Most of the people who registered for the sales presentation wanted to create their own brands online. As such, they were there to learn about online marketing.
I figured, “What’s more real about online marketing than your tech going down in the middle of a sales presentation?” and used it as an opportunity to teach them a lesson about running a business online.
In this case, the lesson was that things would one day not work and all you can do as an online business owner is find a Plan B and keep it moving. That little nugget alone was very much appreciated.
A disaster is likely a blessing in disguise.
Because of this nightmare of a sales presentation, I was forced to create a separate video.
The good news is, this video is probably better quality than anything I would have gotten from my webinar software. That means I’ll be able to use it over and over again in different automated sales funnels instead of having to do live sales presentations.
Additionally, the video is already uploaded and people started watching it as of that day. And finally, since there weren’t live comments coming in, I could really focus on delivering great content. I didn’t even have to be on the video myself!
The bottom line is I probably ended up with a higher quality offering that will convert better as a result of this technical fluke. While it was absolutely frustrating in the moment, the silver lining is I now have every part of my sales funnel completed.
Not only that, but as I already mentioned, I still have registrants signing up for consults with me, so it wasn’t all a complete bust.
Moral of the story: Sales nightmares happen.
These kinds of things happen all the time in business. When it comes to a sales presentation, it’s really not a matter of if, but when something goes wrong. The key is to know how to rebound and always find the silver lining.
Most of all, don’t let it get you so discouraged that you give up. At the end of the day, it’s all a learning experience.
