It’s a real call from one of our sales team to one of our prospective customers.  Here are the boxes it ticks:

1. Right length
2. Right tone – not too desperate!
3. Right message – arouses curiousity (ensure that it is professional and accurate though!)
4. It is clear
5. Repeats phone number (slowly!)
6. And it got a callback – from COLD!

If you can replicate these points in your voicemails, you will enjoy much more success!

Are there any aspects of this voicemail message that you do or don’t like?  If so, let us know.

We regularly run telesales training courses focused on how to sell using your own natural style.  If you would like to chat, give me a call when you can!

The first five criteria were mentioned:
1.  Previous relevant experience in their sector/category
2.  Special insights into their issues/problems/audiences
3.  Ability to deliver a solution
4.  Cost effectiveness
5. Strength of senior management

 Here are the next 5 reasons why clients say “Yes!”
 

6.  Financial stability

 
No prospective customer will be interested in a partnership that will be soon brought to a screeching halt when you become insolvent! 

So please make sure you point out to the customer the highlights of your financial success.  For example:

• You have been active in the market for a number of years,
• You count X, Y and Z as some of your biggest clients, and
• You are investing in your company with innovations and technology.

7.  Position within your own sector

Your average pitching audience will see 3-6 of your competitors, and even though you know what you offer, it may all look like the same thing from their side of the boardroom table.
So you must differentiate, and that means declaring your market position.
For an understanding of positioning, there is no greater book than “Positioning, The Battle For Your Mind” by Trout and Ries. 

They reasoned that each market segment is like a ladder – for example in the “Cola” category there are 5-6 main players forming the rungs of that ladder.  Each cola has a position – a stake in the ground.  For example, diet, upper class, a mixer, the real thing…
With that in mind, are you clear about your position in your sector?  Is it  “100% digital”, or “we come to you”, or “guaranteed success”.  For a position to be viable, then you usually have to be first, and if you’re not first then you need to do it much better!
 

8.  Creativity of your solution

 
If you are in a totally non-creative industry, then please skip to number 8!

But I think most industries are creative, even if you don’t realise it right now! 

Creativity is how refreshingly different your solution is.  It might for example look at the problem from a different angle (maybe the customer angle, or the media angle). 

Creativity is important to differentiate yourself, but it also has to be a part of the solution.  You are solving a business problem, not a creative problem.

And if you think creativity only belongs in an advertising agency, think again. 

You can be creative with how you structure account service, how you order your logistical solution, how you present a contract – there are all sorts of opportunities to demonstrate “out of the box” thinking.

9.  Chemistry of the team

Chemistry is defined in Wikipedia as “the science of matter and the changes it undergoes”.  Notice that there are two dynamics here – the original form, and then change. 

What does this mean for chemistry within your team?  Well, the same two things. 

Winning teams are the combination of personalities in your team, but it is also the way you change with,  and react to, each other.

So in the pitch, true team chemistry is not just how you appear, but the small changes that you go through in the room while you are pitching. 

It’s the changeovers, the reactions, the subtleties and the way you bounce off each other that count. 

10.  Performance against industry benchmarking

Won any awards lately?  Been the subject of a survey, or some research?  Have you had the opportunity to statistically prove how good you are – compared to others in your industry? 

This is all important information. 

The reason is that industry benchmarking can move the pitch topic – even if for only a minute or two – from opinion to fact. 

And undeniable fact is part of a compelling argument for clients. 

So there are our top 10 reasons why clients will choose you at your next pitch.  Knowing this information, you can ensure your next pitch is a winning one.  Any questions, or if you would like me to help you win your next pitch, then please contact me today!

With my “consumer” hat on, I reckon I have said “no” to about about 100 sales approaches made to me in the past 12 months.  And I’m no Simon Cowell.  However, casting my mind back, I remember only about 4 of them, which is probably why I said “no”.

In other words, the vast majority of sales approachs are a bit like 1990s ”cookies and cream” house renovations - dull and uninspiring.

That number again:  I have forgotten 96% of the initial sales approaches made to me in the past year. 

I know I’m a sample size of only 1person, but your prospective clients are probably the same.  

In fact, I’m pretty sure I don’t get sold to as often as some of your prospects might, so maybe the numbers are even worse!

It made me think:  what makes for an outstanding sales approach?   What is really going to stick in their minds?

What is going to elevate your sales approach to the top 4-5%?

Answer:  Change their world!

It’s a big statement isn’t it? 

To change someone’s world is going to take some thought, some initiative.  Maybe you have to put in more effort with your research.  Maybe you have to be a bit cheeky, or presumptuous.

A goal this big is known in some circles as a BHAG:  A Big, Hairy-Arsed Goal. 

But if you don’t have an approach to change their world, then be prepared to join the bland wallpaper of sales approaches that will steal time from your selling day and your propects’ days too.

How do you change their world?

a.  Get into their shoes! 

• What’s going on in their world?
• What are they worried by?
• Has something exciting taken place recently?

I was talking to Samsung recently and, a couple of days before calling them, they’d become the world’s number one electronics company – how uninformed would I have looked if I’d not mentioned that milestone?

(More importantly, how many other sales people call on Samsugn without knowing that?)

b.  Find an angle! 

We forget the telephone can be an intrusive interruption to people’s day.  It’s a device designed with an intrusive noise, sitting prominently in the room or in your pocket which screams ‘I want to talk to you now!’

Out of habit, convention, fear, we answer it then often regret doing so as we’re stuck with an irrelevant pitch for a venue hire service that we don’t need (again).

Imagine each person you call thinking the following:  

‘Why should I spend the next 2 minutes of my life talking to you?’

If you can’t answer that question in the first 30 seconds, you’ll lose them.

Find your angle in advance and open with it.

c.  Say it with pride. 

Every business has to make money and every sales call says ‘You should buy my product.’

Prospective customers have to believe that your product will change their world.

• Do you believe it will?
• Is it clear you believe so?
• Can your prospective clients taste your belief in the product?

There are few more compelling offers than unshakeable and passionate belief in your product.

So make sure you’re sold on it then bring it to life.

Example:  I used to sell property in France. One day at an exhibition, a fellow exhibitor (selling in Bulgaria) brought a client over to me at the show:

“Paul, this lady would like to buy a property in France and I’ve told her you’re the only person to speak to.”

With several other French agents at the same show, it was a great recommendation to receive.

It was 2 years later that I met the fellow exhibitor again and he explained that the basis for his recommendation was that he had heard me chatting with someone at the exhibitor party the previous evening: 

“You had such passion for France and such belief in your conmpany’s ability to help, I decided there and then that I’d send any French enquiries to you.”

Was I an expert on France and property?  Not by a long-shot.  But I knew my little patch with 100% conviction, and I spoke with child-like, wide eyed enthusiasm.

d.  Take a risk!

To change someone’s world you can’t give them what they already have, or tell them what they already know.  You have to be bold!

Example 1:  If you are selling a venue service, then offer a money back guarantee plus £50 to put into the staff Christmas party fund!   You need new customers, and you have an unwavering belief in your product, so why not?

Example 2:  You are selling call conferencing equipment.  Rather than try and sell all the benefits, you realise that you have a great product to demo.  So, you ring clients and ask them whether they have an important customer meeting coming up, which you will be delighted to host on a trial basis.  All you would like back in return is an honest assessment of the product so that you can improve it for others.

Both of those examples aren’t just giving someone a message – they are changing their world!  Their next function will be a success, and they will be able to reach out to dozens more customers simply via your call conferencing service.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

The passionate sales person who really wants to change their world will be the one laughing all the way to the bank in 2010.

If you want more tips on changing their world, give me a call!

This is a difficult question to answer in just a few words.  The reason is that that clients alter their priorities across industries.

For example, in relatively immature industries, such as Web Design, a proven track record of success, plus a financially robust balance sheet, are both essential elements that clients will look for.

In mature industries, such as Logistics, it’s quite the opposite.  Clients know that the top logistics companies are on the whole successful and financially robust.  Instead, clients might be looking for freshness, energy and innovation in this mature industry.

But there are loads of other considerations too.  The following list is partly reproduced from Neil Flett’s excellent Pitch Doctor book – I have added some comments to the side of them to help provide additional insights.

Your job prior to the pitch is to find out which of these points are right up the top of the client’s assessment notes. 

If you get them right, and focus your pitch in those areas, then you will have much more chance of success!

TOP 5 CRITERIA FOR WINNING PITCHES:  WHAT DO CLIENTS WANT?

1.  Previous relevant experience in their sector/category

With your case studies, consider using the “Challenge, Solution, Result” structure.

If the “Result” section is written or spoken in the client’s words, even better!  And of course even better than that is that if you have any successful track record with the client, be sure to mention it. 

Clients want to know that you can hit the ground running to help reduce induction rollout costs.

2.  Special insights into their issues/problems/audiences

Your aim with a pitch is to change the client’s world. 

If you are a “me-too” pitch, then you will deservedly be jammed in with the rest of the pack. 

Tell them something that they either don’t know, or haven’t given enough thought/priority towards.

3.  Ability to deliver solution

Note the wording here:  deliver solution. 

This is not “ability to present solution” – that’s the easy bit!  

What you have to do when you’re pitching is to show how you are going to actually deliver the solution.

Show them the people who will be rolling out the solution – their personalities, drive, ambition, track-record.  Plus a simple to understand rollout-plan!

4.  Cost effectiveness

Not price, but cost effectiveness.  

Make it your business to know the difference! 

A price alone has no value.  But when you put it into a pot with anticipated (or guaranteed) results, added value, benchmarking, success-measurements & performance incentives then you have cost effectiveness!

5.  Strength of senior management

Who’s driving the strategy, thinking and financial success of your company? 

Your senior management needs to put their heart & brains on display – and not just sit there nodding.

They are the first five criteria. 

Of course there are more. 

In upcoming blogs we will be examining Needs 6-10 including;

• Commitment to targets and evaluation, 
• Dedicated resources available and
• Creativity of your solution.

Until then, happy pitching!

Which is why David Blane gets my vote as a great natural presenter.

I was absolutely riveted during his 20 minute TED TALK video (below), which grabbed my attention with the enticing headline “How I held my breath for 17 minutes.”

Blane spent considerable time crafting the content, getting the messaging right, and hitting the right visual note for each point. 

He read out about 50% of it, which usually isn’t the best thing to do, but he got away with it because he stayed within his natural style.

And that’s the key:  Blane showed his own personality and didn’t try to “put on a show”.  In that way, we bought into him as a person. 

Which is why he got a standing ovation!

Take a look at the video (below) and let me know what you think!

It’s not always the pair most technically perfect; but the one judged by the viewers to work best together.

The same applies to supplier-client relationships. Most companies want to ensure they are compatible with you before entering into a critical partnership.

Often this is done through a ‘chemistry’ meeting.

Preceding a formal pitch, the chemistry meeting is designed to assess whether both sides have similar attitudes, values and perspectives and will be ‘a good fit’.  Later meetings will be about procedure, resources, plans and detail. 

Right now, it’s about feelings, getting along – likeability.

You might have some business to attend to – such as getting a brief or taking a tour of the client’s premises.  But it’s really about chemistry.

The question to ask is:  How will the customer FEEL about you when you leave the room? 

By coming up with some words to describe this feeling, you can reverse-engineer the meeting to get the desired result.

Say you would like the customer to feel that you are:

• Experienced and knowledgeable about them
• In sync with their culture, and
• Interested in them. 

If that’s the case, then here are 3 chemistry questions to address before this important first (and potentially only) meeting.

Chemistry Question #1:  What other companies have you worked for in this market?

Although your client may be looking for an innovative approach, it’s usually from someone experienced in their area.

This gives a sense of security – the bedrock of any new business relationship. If that’s not possible, then offer up examples of situations where you have worked to a similar brief and got good results.

Be resourceful but don’t lie or bullshit; clients usually detect it and it can create problems further down the line if they don’t.

Chemistry Question #2:  Are you in sync with the client’s culture?

In 2006 I was presenting my credentials for some sales training to an advertising agency in the very trendy Farringdon area, just near our offices at Natural Training in London.

Rather than gathering in a traditional meeting space, I met the client in the café, full of plasma screens and uber-cool people decorating beanbags with their trim stomachs on display. 

Now I’m from a media background and know how to mix it, don’t get me wrong! 

However try as I did to fit in I felt that from a communication perspective I only received and gave off about 50% of the messaging that I would normally achieve in a meeting.  There were simply too many distractions, and I left the meeting feeling dejected.  I’m sure the client did too.

In hindsight, I should have tried to gain a better understanding of the company culture straight away.  I should have dressed more appropriately (designer rips in my suit?!) and really just relaxed about the whole thing!

Even though I was received well, and I think they liked me to a degree, I failed to really spark with the client in a chemistry sense.   And it cost me – I never did receive that business.

So ask yourself the following:

• Are you the right person/team for the job?
• How should you turn out?
• What’s the best way to deliver your message?
• Can you have access to the room prior, or at least an accurate description?
• What is the true AIM of the meeting, from both sides?  (Listen carefully to their language as they describe the meeting – is it casual or formal?)
• Have you visualised yourself in the environment? 
• Have you run the client through a Social Media wash cycle?  (Facebook, Linked-In etc).

Although you’re not trying to mimic your client it’s generally a good idea to know what they expect.

Turning up suited and booted, laptop at the ready can be a jar to a client expecting an introductory chat over a coffee.

That said it’s better to over-compensate and adjust than under-estimate and start flapping.

In short it’s about style as well as substance.

Chemistry Question #3:  Have you done your homework?

Have you ever arrived at the first meeting and known not much more about the client than their postcode?  I have.  And I will never do it again.

Right back to Dale Carnegie in the 1930s we are told that to win friends and influence people, we need to show an interest in our fellow human beings.

Showing an interest = asking questions.  Successful selling stems from asking the right questions.  And the right questions are informed questions.

Clients tend to feel (it really is about feeling in chemistry meetings) that potential suppliers who have taken the time to find out about them and their company are the ones they want to work with.

Use your research as the basis to ask intelligent questions and you start way ahead of the game.

Does a good chemistry meeting guarantee you the business?

Unfortunately the answer is no.  But a bad one will almost certainly guarantee that you lose it.

The bottom line:  In a business world that’s full of competitors trying to dance with your partner, it makes sense that you should pay attention to not just the moves, but the chemistry.

In fact “presentation” and “pitch” is a bit like using the words “jog” and “triathlon” interchangeably.   The latter, in both cases, are much more highly organised, structured, challenging and have greater variety.

Just so we are both on the same webpage, pitches are different from a normal business presentation in the following ways:

a.  A pitch is always competitive, pitching you against a raft of other suppliers.  A normal sales presentation may be competitive, but doesn’t have to be. 

b.  The client has invested quite considerable time and effort to define their needs (usually via a pitch invitation document, or an ITT).  In a normal sales presentation, you might drive the agenda instead.

c.  With pitches, the client has assembled a project team to oversee the pitch process and decide on the winner.

d.  Usually the client will dictate the structure of the pitch to you – how long, how much question time and even the main headings to be covered.

e.  Sometimes the client will give you a brief to cover – this doesn’t usually happen in normal new business presentations.

f.  It’s a more formal environment.  For example, you might not have ready access to key decision makers during the process.  That is usually because the client does not want to give an advantage to any particular company.

As I mentioned at the start of February, Pitching Season is officially open, so watch this space for more articles on how to win your next pitch!

And here is one thing that I know from experience is absolute fact:

If you can find a way to relate to them in the first 30 seconds of a call, then you’re off to a flying start.

Customers need to know they aren’t another random number, script or half-hearted attempt.

They want to know that you have looked in to their world, and that you might have an insight or two about how to make their working environment a better place.

So, how do you naturally relate to people when you cold call?

Well the first thing to know is that you don’t need to know a prospective customer intimately to be able to relate to them.  In fact, you can relate to them after just a couple of minutes of research.

To do this, take a look at their website.  Here are my top 5 list of places to check out to find an angle with which to relate, in no particular order:  People Page, About Us, News, Blog & Annual Report (Executive Summary).

Then, when you have found an angle, begin it with the following three simple words:

“I noticed that…”

I have put together two examples for you.  The website page is listed for each client, so you can see where I developed the angle. 

Example 1:  Selling website consultancy to recruitment consultants.

Tired/usual approach:  “John who do you use for your strategic website consultancy?”

Better approach:  (http://news.reed.co.uk/) - “John, I noticed that your website attracted 3 million visitors for the first time ever in January.  How many people are you managing to convert into clients?”

Example 2:  Selling marketing services to service industries.

Tired/usual approach:  “Anne-Marie, are you in the market for a brand new really dynamic marketing company?”

http://uk.westfield.com/london/  “Anne Marie I noticed that you are opening up the new VUE Cinema soon at Westfield London.  Would you be interested in a proven, cost effective way to fill your cinemas every night for the first year?”

Do you see in both of the above examples that the prospect will be much more likely to warm to you?  Plus you are distinguishing yourself from the other 5 calls that they might receive every day.

The point is, if we can relate to customers early on and naturally in the conversation then we have a much better chance of success.  Try to get into the discipline of using those three magic words – I noticed that - at the beginning of your call.

It will help to provide you with much more success in your sales!

If you would like me to come and assist your team with loads of other relevant sales advice to engage customers and win more new business, please call me and I’ll ask you a few questions about your environment and see if I can help!

Why?  Because when they are watching you, your audiences (future clients) are trying to work out whether they can actually work with you. 

After all, pitches are won or lost on team dyanmics – this is important stuff!

And one of the key ways to either look like a harmonious pitching team, or a loosely assembled collection of strangers, is via your handovers.

Handovers are the part of the pitch when one person passes to the next. 

And they can look really great, or they can look really awkward.

When they’re bad, maybe it’s because one person is pleased to finish, or the next one is over-eager to start and it’s all a bit rushed. 

Or maybe the team behaviour simply feels unnatural, via the words, delivery or body language. 

And the client sits there thinking “these people don’t get  along”, or “this so-called ‘team’ look like they met each other yesterday!”

Poor handovers are easy for me to spot, because I’m an outside coach called in to help – in many ways I am the eyes of the client.

Regularly throughout my pitching skills training I stop teams at the point of the handover and put the following question to the group: 

“How can we make Lisa and Danny come across more as a team?”

Sometimes it can be a little thing, such as a warm smile during the introduction. 

Sometimes it is a little more detailed, such as the second person weaving back key moments in their presentation to the previous team member, which effectively doubles the impact of the point.

An excellent reference book for pitching skills is “Pitching to Win” by David Kean. 

If you have a big pitch coming up then you should really pick up a copy. 

For now, Ihave copied a short excerpt below about handovers.  David makes a really good point about how to become more natural with your handovers, thus displaying a united team front.

In the meantime, if you would like to give me a call to discuss this further then please do!

- Over to you David! -

“To look like a team, make your handovers between speakers interesting and smooth. Most presenters get to the end of their section and say, “I will now hand you over to my colleague..” (showing they don’t know the person’s name) “… who will talk you through our strategic recommendations.”

At this point, the unrehearsed person up next shuffles their papers together and hesitantly gets to their feet, emitting a squeak as they do so because their larynx isn’t warmed up.

(They also spent the last five minutes frantically scribbling last-minute notes on their crib sheets, so they missed their cue.)

It doesn’t look very “teamy”.

How much better then that you rehearse to effect a handover that looks spontaneous?

For example: “We conducted six research groups. Two in Scandinavia, one in France, and three in South East Asia. At the groups we found three very interesting types of reaction to your service. In South East Asia……well, Maria, you were at the groups in Singapore, tell us what happened.”

Maria, who knew this was coming because they’d practised it in the third rehearsal, immediately kicks in with her comments. She can then segue into the rest of the research or she can bat it to and fro with the main presenter. Doesn’t sound like much, but it signals teamwork and fluency.

It signals a like-minded bunch of people who can converse easily, who have all been intimately involved in the process and who, vitally, spark off each other.  And, of course, you can’t do this if you haven’t rehearsed because if Maria doesn’t know the presentation is coming to her, she’ll be caught out and the whole presentation will grind to a halt.”

Source:  Pitching to Win, David Kean

This week I have been catching up on Series 7 of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm via i-tunes.

I love Curb.  It has everything:  great characters brought to life by brilliant actors, ridiculous yet really funny stories that twist around and feed back on each other and that quirky look at life that Larry David first brought us with Seinfeld.

What’s the secret to Curb’s success and how does it relate to making your next big sale?

I didn’t’ realise this until about Series 3, but Curb isn’t scripted: the actors, originally chosen for their ability to improvise and bounce off with each other, simply get together and follow Larry David’s storyline structure. So the secret to the success of Curb is the realism of the acting – the way the actors spark off each other.  It’s the spark that thrives only in spontaneity and many of the show’s best lines and moments exist purely because of improvisation. 

The point is, no scripts, just structure.  Curb simply wouldn’t have been the same with scripts and canned laughter.  So, one of the world’s most successful comedies, and they make up the words as they go along! 

A week or so ago I wrote a blog that looked at three types of sales people who sell on the phone:  Scripters, Drifters and Architects.  The blog reasoned that scripting is not the way to sell any more – and neither is drifting through a conversation and going on “gut feel”.  The way to sell in 2010 is by being a Sales Architect.

Larry David is the architect of Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Rather than create scripts, he carefully lays out the foundations (story) and the key milestones for the characters.  Then he lets charismatic humans interact, with fantastic results.

 Give us a call if you need a hand structuring your sale, Larry David style!