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Apr 182012
Jan 232011
This post is the by product of a discussion on LinkedIn. I give the reference latter in the post for those wishing to read this interesting conversation.
I have to say I totally disagree with all this bashing of “elevator pitches.” Please keep in mind this is my two cents and personal opinion. I respect all that has been stated on this subject though I may not agree.
The basis for bashing is not based in fact, but in a mystic that has been created by hype about how terrible these pitches are.
A true elevator pitch is simply a statement used in prospecting of what someone does. It could be as simple as “I help shoe companies increase their distribution.”
Now I ask you how is that in any way “phony” or “pitching?” Are you telling me that you are not going to reveal what it is you do to the person you’re talking with? Of course you are.
Great elevator pitches are not so simple but use what is known as a “unique selling proposition. (USP)” I feel obligated to define this term as few really know what it means.
A USP is a unique statement of the benefit one can provide. It is a statement with the purpose of engaging the prospect by making them feel they’d be crazy to buy from anyone else regardless of price. It must be free of platitudes and statements of things that the prospect would expect (We fix it right the first time), and it cannot be something your competitor could say. Otherwise it’s not a USP. (For those interested
I highly recommend Richard Hershaw’s book Monopolize Your Marketplace as a reference on this subject and how to create a powerful and compelling description of your business.
Example
I help shoe companies improve their distribution and our benchmarks show that companies that use our program get an average of 15-19 percent increase in distribution over the first two quarters — 8% above any other program tested.
This is a USP and a powerful elevator pitch. What shoe company executive is going to ignore the fact that the average result is 15+% increase and 8% better than the competition? Few! They are going to engage you.
There is nothing pitchy about this statement which is likely to do more for opening a dialog than the so called “meaningful conversations” — which in all discussions such as this are NEVER defined.
I would also disagree that what you say before or after the elevator pitch is more important. If you are giving such a pitch, your are in fact trying to engage the prospect. The best and most powerful way to engage a prospect is to show that you can provide value — NOT say you can provide it — show it. If you are unsuccessful you won’t get to say anymore! What do you think is more important than engaging the prospect?
The statistics above do exactly that. I think the example you gave (See the LnkedIn Question: “Let’s be honest about elevator speeches! for the example I refer to. It is in the clarification to the question in paragraph 3) fails to provide evidence of a benefit beyond your say so. Except for the trademarked name of the product every one of your competitors could use the same statement. I don’t think that statement differentiates you from anyone else. The statement above certainly does.
Besides your name and hello this would be the first thing out of your mouth and the basis for any continued conversation or a return call if left as a message.
We don’t need to move from pitching people, we need to move from doing it badly!!
I would obviously agree that having a referral is an advantage. But only if the referral has talked to the prospect about me. Otherwise it won’t carry much weight until you establish value. And even in that case all that I have suggested is still valid.
I would add as a footnote this is one of the biggest problems in selling. People are not skilled. Most sales people have never pursued the definition and study of USPs, or studied communication skills, or even read the major works on selling.
It is not the selling or sales theory that is bad — its the lack of real skills by the users.
Sep 032009
I know many salespeople are going to read that title and think I am absolutely crazy, and maybe I am. However it’s been my experience in two plus decades of consulting to inside sales groups that inbound calls are more frequently botched than cold calls generally perceived to be more difficult.
The primary reason inbound calls tend to be more difficult is that the prospect starts with control of the call and typically salespeople don’t know how to gain control of the call.
I submit to you that you must control the call if you are to have an “effective” sales presentation and process. Otherwise, you simply don’t get to tell your story and frequently don’t obtain the critical information you need about the prospect.
When a prospect calls in they usually have a bunch of questions which be begin to rapid fire at the salesperson. Once the salesperson begins to answer it becomes a freight train he or she cannot stop. Prospects fire question after question and then say they need to think about all of this information and will call back when ready.
The second thing that happens is that many salespeople are not competent questioners. If you listen to the tapes of telephone sales calls you will find that salespeople ask very few questions. This weakness tends to compound the difficulty of gaining control of the sales process on an inbound call.
Summary: The correct way to think about any sales call.
Remember that it makes no difference who dials the phone. On and inbound call you are still talking to someone you know nothing about. You don’t know if they are the decision maker, or have a clue about their environment and how your product or service might fit in.
On every call you need to take the process from the beginning. Thus on the inbound call you must tactfully gain control of the call and the direction it takes. Doing so on an inbound call will give far better results.
Aug 312009
One of the worst parts about telephone sales is that because it’s not a physical appointment you are much more likely to get stood up. If you were showing up in the prospect’s office they would be forced to keep the appointment solid where in telephone selling you have much less control.
Let me share with you a simple little technique that I have found that makes a difference in how often you get stood up or end up in a phone tag.
Make an appointment.
Most telephone sales people do set up a time to call back. What they don’t do is start that conversation by asking the prospect to get out their calendar and put the appointment down for a specific time and allocation of time for the meeting.
When you make the appointment make the case that you don’t want to be playing phone tag with them wasting both your time and theirs. Ask if they would get their appointment book out and log the meeting allowing for X number of minutes so that you have time to complete the task at hand.
It doesn’t hurt to send an email on the morning of the appointment as a reminder as well.
I think it’s the part about making a deal out of it that helps. It’s doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it seems to save some missed meetings. Give it a try.
Aug 162009
The first and most important part of a voice mail message is the unique selling proposition (USP). If you don’t have a very powerful USP you won’t get people to call you back. Click Here for the post discussing USPs.
There are two approaches to leaving messages. I will discuss the standard method, for a powerful alternative method see Daniel Parinello’s book “Selling to VITO.” Thought this is written and aimed at CEOs you can successfully adapt his method for just about any call.
The Standard Method
From the research and testing I’ve done on this subject, short concise messages do the best. Give your name, your company and your phone number followed by your USP, and conclude by giving the phone number a second time. You may also add at the end a reference to when you’ll try back. Remember to say the phone number slowly each time so that it can be easily understood and the person has plenty of time to write it down. Making it difficult for the person to call you back is not going to help you.
There are some who say it’s better not to leave a message. Not leaving messages can be dangerous if you are calling repeatedly to try to catch the person.
The problem is that your number and name come up in the caller ID and the decision-maker knows who you are. Decision-makers are very busy and don’t like to take calls unless they know who’s calling and what it’s about. If you call many times and don’t leave a message you become potentially a pest as you haven’t given the decision-maker the information he or she needs to make a decision on answering or returning your call. This will annoy many people so you want to avoid doing it.
Timing is everything. If you hit the decision maker at the right time with a good USP you will get a returned call. Sometimes if your message is strong enough you will get on the plate even thought your solution wasn’t currently top priority.
I recommend leaving a second message with a different USP a couple of calls later. After 3-5 tries in the course of a couple of weeks I would stretch out the next call to a couple of weeks and then reschedule for the future. You don’t want to be a pest, but you do want to be persistent – sometimes people are just busy.
From Flyn
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