Oren Klaff, author of Pitch Anything, lays out seven traits that could land your pitch in sales purgatory.
Click here to see the sins >
This article originally appeared at Inc. To read more, check out:
The Best Industries to Start and Grow a Business in 2011 > >
Jason Fried: Why I Run a Flat Company > >
You Don't Build Suspense.
You give a clean, mean, 30-second elevator pitch. Then what? There's nothing left for rest of your sales presentation. The second your listener says "I get it," they'll immediately lose interest. How do you actually build suspense into a pitch?
Oren Klaff, author of Pitch Anything and director of capital markets at Intersection Capital, recommends setting up a story, but building tension through the ending. "You put a man in a jungle, you have beasts attack him, and you bring him to the edge of the jungle, but you don't get him all the way out," Klaff says. "That's how you get suspense."
You're Too Available.
If you don't set up a time constraint right in the beginning of the sales pitch, you could put your time-conscious listeners on edge. Klaff recommends walking into the meeting and saying something like: "I have 20 minutes to really explain this product for you, then let's just chat a little bit because I have to get out of here by 1 o'clock."
This will do a few things for you. First: it will make you seem important—and needed. Second: it shows that you're not going to waste precious time. Third: it will differentiate you from every other salesperson, who would likely stay until kicked out.
You Scare People.
If your pitch is abstract and lacks visual cues, it could be interpreted as a threat. This isn't mere theory—it's backed up by hard science. Klaff explains that the presenter uses his or her neocortex, part of the brain that can handle complex reasoning and data analysis. But the potential customer processes those messages through a more primitive, instinct-aware part of the brain.
Consider car marketing: no one wants to hear about gas ratios or complicated navigation systems; they want to know how they'll feel tearing down the highway at 90 miles an hour. Unless asked details, stick to emotion and narrative.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
For the latest career news, visit War Room. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
See Also:
- 4 Ways To Fix Your Sales Strategy
- How To Tweet Your Way To Money
- 10 Legal Mistakes That Trip Up Startups
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/warroom/~3/cwgy66huFjY/sales-pitching-sins-2011-4
PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION LSI CORPORATION LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION ANALOG DEVICES, INC. INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY SPANSION INC. VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES, INC. MOODY’S CORPORATION IMS HEALTH INC COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
No comments:
Post a Comment