FEATURE | PITCHING SKILLS
STRIKING THE RIGHT NOTE When it comes to turning prospects into customers, you need to be ‘pitch perfect’. ROBIN KERMODE shows how
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nce you’re up to speed and fully prepped it’s easy to think that you will be “pitch perfect” every time, but what is the key ingredient that moves you from a good sales executive to a great one? Do you match the energy of a professional comedian? Or have the calm gravitas of a world leader? Ultimately, all you need to do is connect with the audience so that they want to listen to you. With this in mind, here are ten simple steps to win over your audience, every time.
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UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONAL JOURNEY OF A SALE Imagine a customer buying a new car. It’s a major purchase, so when they finally sign on the dotted line they are likely to be both excited and worried. They might wonder whether they have bought the right car, and they might also feel a little under pressure, having perhaps bought the car before they were ready. It’s at this moment in time that the customer feels most anxious. Yet conversely, at the same moment, the salesperson is at their happiest – because they’ve got the sale. Now fast forward a few days when the customer arrives to collect their car – they’re over the moon with excitement at the prospect of picking it up. But this is the moment the salesperson is least interested in them. They’ve already achieved this sale and are probably more interested in new prospects in the showroom. No matter the industry, sales executives must be aware of the differences in the emotional cycle during the sales process. This means you must try to understand how the customer might be feeling at any stage in the process. If you do this, they will like and trust you. And, as we know, people buy from people they like and trust.
“It’s a wellknown fact that no one wants to be sold to – we all want to feel that a purchase is our idea”
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ASK CUSTOMERS QUESTIONS Before you launch into any sales pitch, start by asking the customer open-ended questions about their needs. While it is tempting to jump straight in with 16 WINNING EDGE
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