Episode #65: Stop Pitching

Smoothly memorised shtick, elaborate glossy materials, sharp suits, large expensive watches, bleached teeth, the perfect coiffure are not important in sales. Hollywood pumps out Wall Street, Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room, The Wolf of Wall Street and we get sold an image of what high pressure salespeople look like.

What we buyers really want is someone on our side. We want help to solve issues slowing us down, holding us back or preventing us from growing as we would wish. There are 6 steps on the client journey with salespeople: know you, like you, trust you, buy from you, repeat buy from you and refer you because we are a believer. This sounds simple, but salespeople get confused sometimes.

Dumb Things Said

I coach salespeople but am amazed at the dumb things they say and do. Some want to jam the square peg in the round hole and then argue with the client about why it will fit when it clearly doesn’t. When they get pushback from the client they then try to overwhelm the objection by will or force of personality. This is stupid too.

The salesperson jumps into the slide presentation on the laptop from the get go. Or they are pulling out their shiny flyers or expensive brochures or whatever and are launching forth with their memorised shtick.

No More Show & Tell

When I am coaching aspirant professional salespeople, I ask them how do they know which slides to show or which flyer they should offer to the client? This is usually greeted with a “Huh?” response.

As salespeople, we don’t know what to show the client and we shouldn’t show the client anything, until we know what they want. By the way, get permission to ask questions first, especially in Japan. Here the status of the buyer is sky high and it is a total impertinence for a lowly sales pond scum to be asking God questions about anything.

Get Permission

Nevertheless, get permission and ask. Find out if there is a match. Mentally scour the walls of your gigantic solutions library, floor to ceiling packed with possible antidotes to their business ailments and select the best one for the client. If your solution doesn’t fit, then don’t waste the client’s time - keep your shtick to yourself.