Power Point, Do You Use It?

I had this discussion with my coach in the last few days (yes, I also have a coach) and it's been on my mind, so I thought I would write about it.

A few years ago, the Power Point program was all the rage. All someone had to do was developed the "slides" for the program and whatever product that person was trying to sell, the Power Point would do it, and the rest was history. Now, since I'm in the mortgage business, I never bought into that philosophy. I didn't quite understand how someone who was presenting a mortgage program (more often than not it was the Option Arm) could have just a generic programed presentation to cover everyone he/she was presenting to.

I remember having words with my boss at the time about how I didn't believe that was affective selling. There were too many unknowns when presenting to a live crowd. Oh, just to let you know, I was more into the training aspect of the Pay Option Arm. I trained mortgage folks how to understand and present it. A lot of times, I would be asked to present the Option Arm to a group of borrowers as well, so using a dry erase board was more suited to my style.

Anyway, my argument still stands to this day...You cannot present mortgage programs (effectively) to anyone by using a generic program. If you're handcuffed to following the format of the program, you're limited to the direction the audience you're presenting to can go. If someone has a concern or a question that's not answered in the presentation, chances are you won't have the visual aspect of handling that concern in your favor. And, if you didn't know, you can sell more affectively by using visuals.

The Pay Option Arm is tough to sell, but if understood properly, there is nothing that can beat it. Bottom line, if you learn to present it properly, you have just opened the door to be perceived as more of an expert than your competition.