Time to Ditch the Pitch and Catch More Sales

It happened again. I answered the phone and the pitch was thrown. A presentation of the “solution” was thrust upon me before I was ready to hear about it or even acknowledge that I had time to talk.

Even though baseball spring training is in full swing, I was not ready for the dreaded sales pitch. Like most buyers who are prematurely pitched at, I considered my options: duck, get hit, catch or bat it away.

I quickly batted away the pitch as:

• My mind went into high alert to escape
• My irritation with the other person grew
• My ears and mind were closed to anything they said

To avoid this reaction from your prospects, think about the buyer’s mindset. When we start the “show and tell” of the details of our solution to a buyer prematurely, they are:

• Uninterested
• Trying to get away
• Irritated
• Thinking the cost is too much

Not the path to a productive sales conversation, is it?

When I am selling, I want the person to hear me, become interested in what we can do, and talk with me to keep the sales conversation going.

That’s why we need to ditch our pitch. Instead, we need to focus on a conversation where we first engage prospects with questions and relevant discussion to identify if they are open to a recommendation.

Only if they are interested, have time and are qualified, should we share right-sized, value-filled information and connect it all to “what’s in it for them.”

As you share the information about how your product or service can do something for them, keep it conversational. Involve the person by asking feedback questions to ensure they want to hear more.

Selling isn’t baseball. It’s time to ditch your sales pitch. Prepare to engage the person in a relevant conversation focused on them and you’ll score a lot more often.

Nancy Bleeke, President of Sales Pro Insider, Inc., and author of Conversations That Sell, a must-read for sales teams around the world, is known as someone who gets things done. She is driven by a battle cry that companies need to systematically make their conversations count-with customers, prospects, and team members. When the right people have the right conversations, companies thrive. Her focus since 1998 is equipping companies to grow sales, customer loyalties, and employee engagement with training, consulting, assessments, and tools that stick.