If you own a small business, then you need to know how to sell. A reader recently asked about the specific objective of an effective sales pitch versus the goal.
Set Effective Sales Goals
Let’s start by re-examining the actual goal of any sales process. Obviously, it’s to make the sale … win the business … beat all the other competitors. But, remember that the goal from the prospect’s perspective is to choose the best provider/product/service that meets their needs and works within their limits of time, budget and staff. The two should not be mutually exclusive. Consider both sides of the proverbial coin as you work to set your sales goals.
Lose With Class
Also consider a counter-intuitive secondary goal for your sales process – lose with class. When you get that dreaded “Thanks, but no thanks” call or email, respond with class and style following these steps:
* Thank the prospect for the opportunity to work with them and present your product/service.
* Wish them success with their choice.
* Ask who did win the business and why and what was your proposal lacking? This is important information that you might not want to hear but need to. And while you might not get straight answers to these questions, you’ll never learn anything if you don’t ask.
* Close with a genuine wish that your paths might cross again with a future opportunity.
* About the time the project should be completed or the product/service they bought should be fully operational, follow up with a call or note. Simply check in to see how they’re doing and their overall level of satisfaction.
* Once in a while, the prospect may confess that their first choice didn’t work out or meet their expectations. And, by losing with class, you might get a second chance to win the day. Of course, that will rarely happen if you don’t casually check in with them.
Set Pitch Objectives
That all said, the specific objective of the sales pitch is also important, but very different. Consider this approach: The objective of your sales pitch is to provide the prospects with all the information they need or want to make a fast, fact-based and logical decision on whether or not your product or service meets all their needs. Sounding rather counter-intuitive, you can accomplish your sales pitch objective by showing the prospect that you’re not their best choice. So, you can lose the goal while still winning the objective—no small solace, I realize.
Happy Pitching!