When giving a sales presentation, it is inevitable that questions are going to come up from the audience. Questions are just a fact of life when presenting a sales pitch, and that is actually a good thing – when someone asks a question, they are indicating that they are at least paying attention to the presentation, and they would like to know more. If you do a good job of handling the questions you are presented, it may be possible to close the deal. To be at your best when questions are sent your way, consider using the tips laid out in the content below.

Offer Question Asking Periods

The first, and perhaps, more important tip you can receive on this topic is that you need to set up specific question asking periods within your presentation. Before the presentation begins, inform the audience that you will be pausing at certain intervals to take questions, and encourage them to write down questions that come up so they can be asked at the right time. You don’t want to be interrupted while you are trying to give a great presentation, so addressing customer questions only at specific times is the best bet.

Respect Each Question

As a presenter, you never want to give the impression that you are talking down to the audience. The saying that there is ‘no such thing as a dumb question’ certainly applies here. You need to treat all of the questions with respect, and answer them earnestly. Even if the question relates to something you already covered in the presentation, be professional and polite in providing your answer.

Delay Some Answers Until the End

When an audience member asks a particularly complex or specific question, it may be best to delay your answer until you can have a one-on-one discussion after the presentation has concluded. You don’t want to take your presentation way off track by diving into a specific topic which may not be relevant to most of the people in the room.

Confirm Satisfaction

You need to make sure that you are providing answers which actually resolve the questions that have been asked. How do you do that? Simple – ask if your answer was sufficient. When you are finished providing an answer to a question, ask the individual who raised the question if they are satisfied with the answer. If they are, you can move on. If not, you can follow up and engage in a discussion which should pull out the answer they are looking for.

Give a Great Presentation

One of the best ways to answer sales questions is to cover the questions in your presentation before they are even asked. By putting together a detailed, easy-to-follow presentation, you are likely to cover most of the information that the audience needs without them having to ask for it. There will always be a few questions involved in your presentations, and that is fine, but do your best to cover everything on your own and everyone will leave happy.