A few days ago I was interviewed on Sales Thinker Radio by Todd Youngblood and Todd Schnick and the topic of our conversation was Ditch the Pitch.
During our conversation I suggested that sales people stop delivering canned and generic sales presentations because they are ineffective. One of the worst approaches you can use in a sales meeting is to immediately launch into your presentation. Unfortunately, many sales people still use this approach and it does little to help them grow their business and increase their sales.
I also went on to say that it is critical to rehearse your sales presentation several times beforehand especially if the prospect is one of high-value.
On the surface, these two strategies may seem to conflict with each other but they don't. Here's why...
The best sales call is one with a two-way dialogue. An open conversation between you and your prospect during which time you ask them tough, probing questions that make them think and that help you determine the extent of the their problem, the implications and the impact, and their level of commitment to solving the problem.
The challenge is that most sales people don't ask difficult and challenging questions because they mistakenly think that prospects will be offended. Plus, they feel very uncomfortable asking questions of this nature.
Let's face it, tough penetrating questions tend to be very direct in nature.
My suggestion during the interview was to also verbally practise asking those questions BEFORE meeting with your prospect. This helps you become more comfortable asking the questions and gets your brain and mouth working together. This process is also effective because you actually hear the questions and when you repeat them several times, they no longer sound as difficult to ask.
Once you gain the information you need, you launch your presentation but you only discuss the key aspects that relate to your prospect's situation. That's why you practise it beforehand. That practise helps you commit to memory the key points you want to make. When you practise a presentation several times, you can easily recall specific aspects and highlights.
Here's an example...
A couple of weeks ago I met with a new prospect and although I had a presentation prepared I used that presentation as a guideline only. The presentation itself only took 15 minutes but the conversation lasted almost 90 minutes. And after that conversation, I had a much clearer picture of what my prospect was looking for.
If you are serious about increasing your sales it is critical to practice and rehearse...but please...don't pitch!