The Opening Pitch

Today I embarked on my first sales pitch; the client being a friend that was passed onto me by my business partner. The expectation was that the deal was nearly complete before I had even arrived and the pitch was just to download some information and meet our point of contact, the business' manager. As it turned out, the manager had marketing responsibilities within the establishment as well and was determined to grill me with questions to ensure that our service offering wasn't something that she could provide for the company internally. Needless to say, I was intimidated at the start.

Then, midway through my presentation my instincts kicked-in and I shifted my approach. Instead of explaining, I humbled myself and I listened. I asked why she felt the service would be something that they could do themselves, knowing I had a short list of quality reasons why they could and a longer list of reasons why they should let us provide the service instead. In the end, it was a phrase that I blurted out that may have helped break down her wall, "You could unclog a toilet, but sometimes it's worth calling a plumber." In other words-- we know you can do the dirty work, but it's a lot more efficient and less mess for you if you let us do it for you.

As I left I felt a bit defeated in the respect that I had to try so hard, yet empowered by my ability to react in the moment and customize my style to the client. You can obsess over the detail and intricacies of a presentation until you fall over, but you can't always predict the personality or disposition of the individual(s) that you're going to pitch to. Ultimately you must be prepared for any question, ready to change course and willing to go outside your personal ways if you expect to complete the deal. Today I accomplished just that & to my relief, my record is 1 for 1.