In a perfect world, you make your sales presentations in person. This is your chance to wow your prospects with your knowledge of what they need and how what you’re selling can help them. You make eye contact with key decision makers. You watch the reactions of your audience members, and based on that information, you adjust what you say and how you say it. When you’re giving an online presentation, you face extra challenges. AJ Agrawal, in a SalesForce post, tells you how to succeed in these situations.

Live Presentations

It might be tempting to skip the live performance and email your prospects a prepared presentation. You can use technology to monitor how many people access the presentation and which slides are really holding viewers’ attention. That kind of anonymous feedback will help you improve on the slides – specifically, you should delete the parts that nobody is spending time on.

A live presentation gives you a chance to further engage your audience. Your slides should contain a mix of static text and video clips. Today’s audiences are comfortable with video and enjoy listening to different voices and perspectives in a presentation. To make sure people are paying attention, build in time between major parts of your presentation to ask the audience questions. You can also use feedback forms or surveys to encourage your listeners to answer questions with a simple click of the mouse and display the feedback in real time. This kind of interaction means your listeners may engage with you and what you’re telling them.

Customized Presentations

You may have a few prepared presentations that are perfect for prospects in specific buying stages – the information search, the evaluation of alternatives, the repeat buyer. To really make an impression, take a few extra minutes to customize your online presentation for each prospect. Bullet points on your slides should address the specific pain points the prospect has mentioned or the pain points her industry is experiencing. Can you find a video clip that speaks to his unique situation and maybe generates a laugh?

An online presentation requires extra effort on your part. When prospects sense you are being respectful of their time, they’ll be more likely to reward you with their attention and possibly, a contract.