 |
|||
|
|
The Top 5 Reasons Sales Pitches Don't WorkComment on this newsletter at yastrow.com People do not want to be assaulted by one-way communications. They want to be invited into two-way conversations where they can be heard and understood. But a "pitch" is inherently a one-way process. You pitch something over the side of a boat into the sea. A pitcher pours water in one direction - out. To throw a baseball is to pitch. What happens when a pitcher throws a ball directly at a batter? The batter usually ducks or jumps out of the way. Here are the top five reasons people are so averse to sales pitches. Why sales pitches don't work, #1: Your customer doesn't care about your story I'm sorry to be the one to deliver the bad news, but here's the unadorned truth: Your customer really doesn't care what you have to say about yourself, your company and your products. Your story is not that interesting to him. He cares much more about his own story. This is at the heart of why sales pitches don't work. Your customer spends 1% of 1% of 1% of his time thinking about products like yours, but he spends each waking minute thinking about himself. He only cares about your story to the extent that your story can enrich his story. The greatest myth of marketing and sales is that customers want to hear our stories. They care about their own stories, and a sales pitch is, inherently, your story. What do you think is more likely to catch the attention of your customer, a story about you or a story about him? As Aristotle said, "The fool tells me his reasons. The wise man persuades me with my own." Why sales pitches don't work, #2: Because your customer cares so much more about his own story than he cares about your story, it is really difficult to hold his attention as you deliver your sales pitch. If you give a sales pitch, it's highly likely that your customer will be distracted by thoughts of other things, everything from his next meeting to making sure he gets to his son's little league game tonight. Your customer has many important things to do today. If you focus too much on your story, those more immediate concerns will draw his attention away from you. Why sales pitches don't work #3: Your customer wants to talk. Specifically, your customer wants to talk about himself. It is not enough to ask questions during your pitch, or to leave moments in your pitch for your customer to talk. This won't feel like talking, it will feel like answering. It is the difference between a conversation and an interview. Most people love to talk. And, they are much more engaged in the moment when they are talking than when they are listening. Why sales pitches don't work #4: If you throw a canned sales pitch at someone, the odds of that pre-scripted message being the right message for that customer, at that particular time, are very slim. Every customer has slightly different needs, nuances and interests. A sales pitch is relatively inflexible and will not be able to adapt to what you will learn during a customer interaction. Most successful selling isn't about convincing. It's about diagnosing. If you are pitching, it is only a coincidence if the pitch you toss at your customer lands in the right place. Unlike a sales pitch, a good sales conversation helps you diagnose your customer's interests, needs and opportunities. And, it helps you identify the details that make this customer unique. Why sales pitches don't work #5: Your product may be exactly what your customer needs. But your customer needs to see the connection between what you offer and what he needs. This isn't so easy. If you are telling your customer how wonderful you are, and how your product benefits people like him, you are requiring him to make the specific connection between his needs and your offering. That's a lot of work, and he's not inclined to do it. Your approach to sales should help your customer see this connection. We've seen the top five reasons sales pitches don't work. So what are we supposed to do? Stop selling? Of course not. We just need to stop making sales pitches. Instead, we need to create sales conversations. We need to Ditch the Pitch.
|
 |
See this newsletter in your browser
Buy Steve's book, We: The Ideal Customer Relationship Learn how to create natural, human business relationships in We: The Ideal Customer Relationship. Buy We at Get More Steve Don't write your sales story ahead of time. The One-Paragraph Rule: it's time for a break.
Ditch the Pitch and improve your sales conversations through relationship-building encounters. Download Steve's free ebook: Encounters: The Building Blocks of We Relationships Brand Harmony in an all-new, redesigned paperback edition:
Perfectly portable and packed with content to orchestrate your customer's total experience. Seth Godin says, "I had to buy two copies. The first one is so dog-eared and underlined, I couldn't read it any longer." Now just $10! Helpful Links See this newsletter in your browser |
  |
|||
© 2010 Steve Yastrow. All rights reserved. |
 |
||
