The Sales Pitch is Dead

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  1

  Moose Wiener

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  One of your best articles to date. These are profound sales truths perfectly attuned to today's selling environment. Unfortunately, the article is too long to tattoo anywhere on my body, but I was tempted to do so.

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  2

  Sid Herron

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Hey, Geoffrey, I agree with this one too!

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  3

  globalfabllc

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  it has long been dead. if i hear another sales person give me one of the Zig Ziglar "If I could tell you ______, would you be interested?", or go for a series of Yes closing. it is as if their sales knowledge was learned and could be contained on the back of a matchbook (before iPods, Blackberry's and, indeed, the internet, information, education and interesting facts were printed on matchbooks that you could find in stores, restaurants, hotels, etc. they expired around the same time as the stupid sales pitches did.)
  All that said, if a salesperson seems like they have MY interest at heart (seems is good), i am more open minded about making a purchase.
  If I am not going for a 100% kill rate with my customers and am willing to let the fit make sense (product to customer), that is the best sale. they got the price and product, i got the sale and margin. they never feel manipulated or screwed and i am happy to see them at the tradeshows and airports. Win/win! It has to be best for both parties.

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  4

  redscarf

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  The sales pitch has been dead for a very long time and I've
  never ever used that term and I've been selling for a long
  time. When potential customers asks me what my pitch is I
  know this isn't the right customer and he/she is a dinosaur
  and not in the loop. Poor customer...They are not on the
  same page and I exit as fast as I can. They're also blatantly
  telling me that they have no respect for me and what I do.
  This is one of the first telltale signs I notice. I always ask
  this type of customer what do you mean by a sales pitch?
  Then I wait for an answer.

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  5

  conrad rozario

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Do agree...the sales pitch is gone.....accept for pockets of sales persons & " sales gurus" who believethat they possess the "magical sales pitch" or have composed the messianic " 7 easy steps to writing a killer sales pitch".
  
  What works is getting sales staff to understand customers.....because each of them are customers themselves....they buy stuff from other pople. In a big way they know how the customer feels, thinks, wants and how they want to be looked at and understood. It about all the things that Geoffrey has mentioned and more. The golden rule needs to applied...." Treat others the way you would like to be treated'.....or "Sell to others the way you would like to be sold."
  
  

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  6

  susanwwh

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  it is useful for me to learn how to treat my customers.

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  7

  akalekye@...

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Thanks Geoffrey the article is quite insightful

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  8

  Charles Hude

  06/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  I would just like to say that your quick tip about telling them something bad or something that could go wrong is a great tool for honesty. I have used it for years and it works and the key is to be truthful.
  
  Customers know in the back of the head that no company is perfect and when you show them your not perfect it puts them at seize. The biggest thing it does is make them question your competion when they tell them nothing will go wrong.

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  9

  Q N Q

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Yes Geoffrey, The sales pitch is dead for c- level sales managers or highers. Telecallars may still use it or na?ves might, to initiate the career. But truth is, it is almost dead. I myself have experienced positive growth by using steps conveyed in the article. Sometimes you might not end up fixing the deal on the spot, but when you look at it just to maintain good relationship or representing yourself as a PR, you end up with no frustration. Here you require patience and optimism. And certainly it will give you pleasant surprise in due course of time, either giving sales directly or listing you productive customers. In anyways you get benefited. It supports you when you opt for another organization or product. This is very good technique to maintain peace within yourself and outside. Way to lead with healthy life- nation. Note : 8 is practical. I also like an idea you flaunting Jerry through BNET.
  Thanks and regards, Sangeeta

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  10

  Coach-Lee-428

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Simple, succinct and right on. Sales pitches are based on sales or product based marketing instead of education based marketing.

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  11

  karamos

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Yes, three rules to building relationships.

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  12

  clarkm

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  One good rule of thumb, sell how you buy. Nobody likes to be sold too, everyone likes to buy. The door knockers and the telemarketers deliver pitches, who really buys from these folks?

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  13

  al6fan

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  RIGHT ON!!
  Be true to yourself and let it shine through to your customers.
  You are the professional, share the knowledge~people like it
  and tend to have more trust in you.
  
  I wouldn't buy from me if I was "pitching". This isn't a game, it's
  a livelihood~live it, in other words be honest and up
  front~always.

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  14

  hershmarketing

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  I couldn't agree more. I would venture to say the "sales pitch" died a long overdue death some years ago. We have long term clients (7-9 years, average) and the only reason they are long term is because we never pitch them - not in the beginning, not during, not ever in the relationship. They know we are listening to their needs, not ours, and the marketing strategies we develop for them produce results because they are based on what the client is saying they want and need. And when we suggest a course correction, our advice is, more often than not, accepted because our relationship is based on mutual respect. Which comes from paying attention and not putting the agency's needs first. Seems so simple. Do I hear the KISS principal being applied here?

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  15

  prasanjit

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Very True:
  
  Pitching, for a sales Rep. is a crime, the prospect never buys what one offers, they buy what they want. A sales rep. should be like Santa, listen to the prayer of prospect and gift them the same on Christmas (365 days). 2 days back I closed a customer whom i contacted in 2007, he some how got my new numba, and contacted me, he still remembers that i actually proposed him what he requires today, that point he was not that financially strong. Today he bought it with better value additions.

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  16

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  06/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Email from a reader:
  
  Once again,I couldn't agree more. I would venture to say the "sales pitch" died a long overdue death some years ago. We have long term clients (7-9 years, average) and the only reason they are long term is because we never pitch them - not in the beginning, not during, not ever in the relationship. They know we are listening to their needs, not ours, and the marketing strategies we develop for them produce results because they are based on what the client is saying they want and need. In fact, it's one of the main things the clients say sets us apart from other marketing firms. And when we suggest a course correction, our advice is, more often than not, readily accepted because our relationship is based on mutual respect. Which comes from paying attention and not putting the agency's needs first. Seems so simple. Do I hear the KISS principal being applied here? Keep up the good work, Mr. James.
  

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  17

  Collygra

  06/25/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Was it ever alive?

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  18

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  06/25/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  Re Note 17:
  As long as Ed McMahon was alive, it was.

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  jmachonis

  06/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  As one who has sat on both sides of the table (more on the buying side these days) you are right on with the death of the pitch. If a sales person even pulls out a powerpoint in our first meeting, he's gone. Listen, take a page full of notes, and come back to let me know how well you listened, and how you are going to help me.

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  20

  outsidetechnologies

  07/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  What do you mean by "sales pitch?" If it's a statement or set of statements intended to persuade a prospect to purchase, no--a sales pitch is far from dead. No salesperson can be effective without the ability to speak persuasively. So it's not useful to malign sales pitches without understanding what they are.
  
  Are there bad sales pitches? Sure! Are there ones that are ineffective? Absolutely! Does that mean that any statement a salesperson might make to encourage a positive view of his or her product is lame? No.
  
  Call it a "sales pitch," a "persuasive statement," or simply "encouragement to buy"--I don't care. If it's good, and it works, rock on! No one is served by getting stuck on terminology. There is nothing inherantly wrong with a sales pitch.

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  21

  exaviator

  07/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The Sales Pitch is Dead

  outsidetechnologies is right. If you say you never "pitch", to many people, especially in manufacturing, then that means you never show potential improvements to customer process, product, etc.; you never describe how you can fill a critical need or interest; and on it goes. Now, do you have a canned presentation that ignores the specific interests of your customer? Of course not --- if that's what you mean by pitching, you're right: it's obsolete. But if you think that a customer doesn't look at the calendar and say "OK -- let's see -- I have the pitch from Amalgamated today", you're deluding yourself.
  
  In your persuasive conversation with a customer, regardless of how well you listen, how GENUINELY focused you are on his needs, how keen you are on real mutual benefit, many, if not most, customers still see the concept of a "pitch". I've been in Ops, Procurement, and Gen'l Mgt for the last 10 years, but got my start as many did in Sales/Application Engineering. I still hear the term "pitch" all the time, even from VCs and multi $B company execs, and it doesn't bother me in the least. If you let it wrinkle you or make you feel insulted, you are already off your game. It's not pejorative or disrespectful.