Do you Craft your Sales Pitch?

A salesperson while presenting or demonstrating the concept that he represents uses 

a Sales Pitch to communicate to his prospect. The first 2 minutes of your download is

 the elevator pitch and it is of paramount importance that you gain entry into the 

mindset of the prospect during this part of the sales pitch or else the prospect might 

hear you and yet not listen!

Why is Sales Pitch so Important?

The importance of Sales Pitch can be seen in the following statistics:

1. 20% of the top salespersons close 80% of the sales deals in any industry.
2. Human beings think only 1% consciously and 99% sub-consciously. Hence sales pitch must address the sub-conscious mindset
3. Prospects are left brainers and right brainers. Each category needs a separate sales pitch to be effective.

• Prospects are influenced by reading reviews about your product even before you start your sales pitch.

Most Common Mistakes in Sales Pitch

1. Do not flaunt the Features of your product. It has very little meaning for the customer. (Instead tell Benefits)
2. Do not use jargons or technical terms to impress the customer. It actually confuses him.
3. Do not tell the truth. ( Instead try to arrive at the truth through storytelling)
4. Do not try to convince the customer by becoming the advocate of your product or service. Instead give enough benefit inputs to the customer so that he convinces himself to buy your product or service.
5. Do not try to tell any problem of yours to your customer. He is least interested in the same even if your problems are genuine. (e.g. Labour cost is very high in my factory)

Ingredients of a good Sales Pitch

1. Start to create a conversation. Monologues spoil your sales pitch. It must be a dialogue where the customer willingly participates.
2. Research well before sales pitching as you are expected to provide solutions to your customer which translates into financial benefits for the latter. You surely cannot do this without properly researching the customer. Your insights must answer the question “What is in it for me?” in the minds of the customer.
3. Sales pitch must be given to the decision maker only.
4. The compelling benefits and insights highlighted by you in your pitch must give the customer a vision for the future.
5. Objections, if any, raised by the customer during the sales pitch must be handed with kids gloves. Try to avoid getting into arguments. If you can, please postpone all debates for the future.
6. Always listen to the customer to understand him/her rather than to reply to him/her.
7. Your sales pitch must create a sense of urgency in the minds of the customer.
8. Your sales pitch must give additional value to the customer; over and above what he/she would normally expect from you.
9. Always end your sales pitch with “The Way Forward”. We can also call it CTA (Call to Action)

Strategy for a good Sales Pitch

1. Don’t you agree? Make a compelling statement and end the same with this question.
2. Create a dichotomy. Tell a Truth A which is good and follow it up with Truth B which is bad. Follow this up by creating a dichotomy between good and bad.
3. The principle of Demo. It is always a good idea to show a demo during the sales pitch , wherever possible.
4. Arouse the audience interest by storytelling.
5. Strike an emotional appeal with your audience.
6. Educate and Inspire
7. Paint a picture by vivid storytelling.
8. Flattery of customer helps you replace self doubt in the minds of customer with self esteem.
9. The Pique Technique: This is a persuasion strategy believed to work by raising the listener’s curiosity and thus disrupting the automatic “No” and encouraging you to engage with the asker.

Words that must be used in a good Sales Pitch

• Advantage
• Amazing
• Avoid
• Bargain
• Because
• Best
• Brief
• Easy
• First
• Fix
• Free
• Help
• Imagine
• Improved
• Instant
• Now
• own
• Remember
• Save
• Thank you
• Unusual
• Value
• Welcome
• You

By now , you must have developed a comprehensive view of how, why and where

to pitch your sales pitch.

Remember, a job well begun is half done!

Is Sales Managing You?

Is Sales Managing you? This is a question which all of us want to overwrite with the 

answer “I am managing my Sales”. What is there in this function of Sales that it ends

 up managing you if you do not know exactly what is there in it to manage for you.

• Managing Sales Team
• Managing Sales Funnel
• Managing Sales Competition
• Managing Sales Fatigue

Managing Sales Teams

In order to manage sales teams , you must understand that attrition rates are high in

 sales teams and hence you must have the capability to hire quick enough and have

 a good “bench strength”. The team selected in sales must undergo a structured 

training program of induction and anything to do in sales should not be based on

 instincts. Making use of technology for daily reporting and BI so that you are able

 to lead effectively.

Managing Sales Funnel

• 

The conversion of leads into Sales is a journey which the Sales Management has to 

closely monitor. The sales funnel ratio’s should be healthy and the velocity of

 movement of leads into sales is very much dependent on the sales manager. Inside

 the funnel, structured process that ensure conversion of Marketing Qualified Lead 

(MQL) into Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) and finally BANT (Budget, Authority, Need and

 Timeframe) leads. Once the leads mature into an opportunity customised 

proposals are given only if one is able to conduct a structured need analysis. 

Good proposals convert into a negotiation opportunity and finally to sales.

Managing Sales Competition

Know yourself well

It is important to know your product mix well so that you know where you enemy can

 attack you first. The BCG matrix shown above will give you an idea of the “dog” and 

“Question mark” products.

Once you have analysed your self well, keep in mind the following sins that you can

 make in handling your competitors:

• Do not be the first to mention your competitors name
• Do not attack the competitors products or services
• Do not agree to a product comparison with competitor
• Do not ask as to what your customer likes about your competitor

Managing Sales Fatigue

For sure all sales managers must understand the following stress curve and deal with

 their sales teams accordingly.

• 

If the Sales Manager also understands the nuances of the following root cause 

analysis of sales fatigue, it will serve him well.

• 

The 5 lines of defense shown above is a checklist for all Sales Managers to ensure

 that sales fatigue, burnout and overdose syndrome does not spoil the effectiveness

 of good sales teams.

In a Nut shell

• 

These 4 pillars of Sales Mangement summarises the challenge of Sales Management.

For more details of this topic, visit us for Sales Ki Pathshala every Wednesday from

 9-10 am or email us on sanjay@consult4sales.com

Why Align Sales and Marketing?

Sales and Marketing: Marketing creates a lead and Sales ensures that the lead converts into business by facilitating a sales transaction.

AIDA & SPANCO: AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) The last “A” of AIDA initiates SPANCO. (Suspect, Prospect, Approach, Need Analysis, Closing, Order). 

MQL & SQL: Marketing Qualified Lead have the “willingness to buy”.  Sales Qualified Lead are those MQL which are backed with “capability and urgency to buy”.

Where does the mis alignment between Sales and Marketing start?

32% Marketing people do not use Sales data fully. 43% Sales people do not fully use Marketing data.

What are the areas where alignment of Sales and Marketing has helped best run companies in past?

How does alignment of Sales and Marketing help in realising a better LTV(Life Time Value) from customers?

How much revenue boost can one expect by aligning Sales and Marketing to 100%?

How does CRM help in better aligning Sales and Marketing?

What is the monetary benefit if you are able to align sales and marketing?

Finally, what are the 7 advantages of suitably aligning sales and marketing?

In this blog, we have tried to curate inputs from various websites on similar topic. For more details on this topic, we invite your queries on email id sanjay@consult4sales.com

What Are the Good Management Skills?

A good manager has the capability to inspire others and attain the best results through them. They are
good in their people skills. They understand the strengths and weaknesses of every team member and
use them according to their ability. They are approachable but keep a certain distance so as not to
dilute their position. They are affable and assertive too. They can gauge the various situations quickly
and find ways to resolve them to the best possible conclusion under the circumstances.

Good management skill is all about managing those under you and keeping those above you in good humor.  A manager acts as a go between the supervisor and the subordinates. It is the job of the manager to achieve the results through the work done by the employees in a company. Any employee facing any grievance or problems in work is certain to approach the manager for solutions. A good manager in response always display courteousness, humbleness, and put forth his or her response according to the situation.

Some of the good management skills include:

A Happy Disposition

A manager is not a stern tyrant but rather highly approachable people with a ready smile who can be
assertive as and when the need arises. Only when the subordinates are able to communicate their
problems, the right solutions can be found. A smiling person is also a person who is popular among
the employees and is able to create an influence.

Great Listening Skill

Communication is a two way process, so a good manager is also a good listener. Such a person has a
sympathetic ear. Good listening skills include looking at the person who is talking in the eye, which
communicates your interest in their point of view. There should be weekly meetings held which
clarifies the position of every employee. The manger gives every person job responsibilities in keeping
with their strength and weaknesses.

Regular Interactions

A manager gets in the thick of things and holds regular interactions which each and every person under
his or her charge. This helps to build up a rapport and achieve positive results. Good managerial skill
includes knowing each employee thoroughly right down to the minutest detail.

Treating Subordinates as Individuals in Their Own Right

The managerial skills can be honed through continuous interactions with all the people in the
organization. People learn from their experience, the same thing is true for managerial skills. You
find out something new and exciting each day, the important thing is to grab any opportunity that
presents itself.  Even if you get an opportunity to learn from your subordinates, grab whatever is
interesting and impelling.