I recently saw an entrepreneur pitch ownership
to a possible investor.
The investor, of course, counter-offered
and the entrepreneur walked away,
refusing to negotiate.
You, as a vendor or potential partner,
may be entering a boardroom
to pitch a product or a deal
but your prospect is there to negotiate.
Expect it, prepare for it.
Run through what if scenarios in your mind.
Don’t walk away from a possibly better opportunity
because you have another one stuck in your mind.
I spent a lot of time in the rink,
having grown up in a family of hockey players.
Today, I can pick out a hockey player off the ice
by the way he walks.
I was watching Tyra a few weeks back and
she exclaimed to the tv star guest
“You play the guitar.”
He looked surprised and asked how she knew.
Tyra told him because of his fingers.
Long time guitar players have fingers
on one hand shorter than the other.
How do these seemingly trivial matters help with sales?
Sales is all about establishing a connection.
As soon as Tyra pointed out her observation,
her guest immediately relaxed,
his shoulders lowering,
his smile becoming genuine.
Greek philosopher Aristotle
over 2,000 years ago
talked about the three ways
people are persuaded (sold to).
They are ethos (image and character),
logos (logic), and
pathos (emotion).
This still holds true today.
The most powerful,
of course,
is a combination of the three
in one sales or marketing message.
Stephan Schiffman posted about
beating the sales slump.
His insights on the cause of a sales slump?
“Most times slumps are caused by
not prospecting awhile ago.
In other words because
you did not prospect 6 months ago,
you maybe feeling it now.”
That’s why its important to
always keep the sales funnel full.
Prospect, prospect, prospect.
Put it on the top of the to do list
and get it done.
Ever receive an e-mail and
ask “why was this sent” or
“what am I supposed to do with this?”
You’re not alone.
Stephan Schiffman in his book E-mail Selling Techniques notes
that the number one mistake
businesspeople make in e-mails is
“Not asking for, confirming or setting the next step.”
How to ask?
He suggests the timeless yet effective P.S.
with the action to be taken.
My guidelines for pitches is
one pitch, one product.
Don’t try to sell every service
your company has to offer.
Adrian Savage,
author and business executive says
“Each additional message causes
an earlier one to be forgotten.
What do you want the audience to hear?
Say it clearly and with confidence
… then shut up.”
Daryl T. Logullo observes that
most companies spend 80% of their promotion dollars
on outbound marketing and advertising.
The remaining 20% is spent on current customers.
He suggests flipping this allocation
for a better return
(as the advertising arena is crowded).
The three simple actions he recommends
(educating existing customers about your product offerings,
informing them that you wish to grow, and
then rewarding them for referrals)
will grow your business.
On the same topic,
Troy White suggests reminding existing customers
about all the products you offer
(his fruit stand method).
If a customer comes to you with
a complaint,
action steps to fix it,
and
perhaps even volunteers time and energy,
listen up.
This person is passionate.
This person is driven.
And if this person is not listened to,
they will either go to the competition
or build a competing product.
Recently a group of advanced members of an investing forum
spent time and effort on proposed fixes.
These were presented.
These were not listened to.
A month later, a competing forum is now active.
Their first customers?
The attendees of the previous forum.
Ray Silverstein talks about
the three styles in sales.
The finder looking for her next conquest,
the minder thriving on relationships, and
the grinder working the numbers.
You can also apply these personality types
to entrepreneurs.
The finder has the big idea
but if it takes time,
not much follow through.
The minder needs to work in
a group to be truly happy
and can usually charm the birds out of trees.
The grinder, which I am,
simply applies the ratio of success to failures
and then works the ratio until she is successful.
As a grinder,
when I look for partners,
I look for someone with a finder or minder profile.
In an interview with Joel Peterson,
the founder of Ravenswood Winery,
he talked about wine tasting
at the tender age of 11.
He would taste and
his Dad would ask him for descriptions.
Why?
Because “kids have better words for wine.”
Its all about keeping it simple, understandable,
approachable for the average person.
That’s how you sell.