ArticleBlaster The Death Of A Sales Pitch

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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Andre Bell

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Article Title: The Death Of A Sales Pitch
Author: Andre Bell
Word Count: 1221
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=112408&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
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[at] with @)

Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=112408

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Far too many people in business waste time pursuing leads that
refuse to pick up the phone or return calls.

In your initial interactions, the prospect seemed 'hot' for
your services. You did your song and dance. You sent
literature. Now... nothing. The prospect has turned cold to all
attempts to further the selling process.

Why? Because they suffer from an ailment more common than the
common cold. Salespressuritis: a sickening fear of being sold.

Fortunately there's a simple cure for this fatal ailment: avoid
selling in the first place.

I don't mean to steer clear of all contact. I mean toss out the
gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques
the 'gurus' of the past preached. In business-to-business
sales, gimmicky pitches DON'T WORK. If anyone buys, they buy in
spite of the gimmicks not because of them.

Gimmicky sales pitches are also ineffective in any big ticket
sales situation, regardless of the market you're selling to.

There are two reasons why gimmicky sales pitches never have
worked and never will. Today's market is far too sophisticated.
They've "seen it all" with respect to alternate choice closes,
Ben Franklin close, and all the other stupid techniques that
insult a buyer's intelligence.

Second, fast-talking, outsmart-your-listener, old school
techniques don't work if you're selling anything over a few
hundred bucks. This applies to what you're selling. Lets face
it, there's not an industry alive that will pay sales reps to
pitch products or services under $100 (except maybe MLM). So,
chances are, what you're selling qualifies as a big ticket item
and you need to know these important steps if you want greater
sales success.

The key to sales success in today's corporate and big ticket
markets is to talk less and listen more.

Here's proof. In 1992 I came across a small case of sales
training booklets that would change my selling career forever.
The case was labeled, Xerox's Professional Selling Skills
System III. The promises of the system seemed somewhat
outrageous. And the sales model was unlike any sales system I
had ever seen before then. But I reserved judgment and like
Mikey... I tried it... I read every page of the system. I
worked through the sample case studies and scenarios. I had no
clue if my efforts would pay off or not.

The results? My sales more than doubled. In fact, finally
finding a selling "system" instead of winging the sales process
made me the top salesperson in under 30 days at that company
where I had previously been struggling just to keep my job.
People with more experience than I had years on this planet
were selling less than me.

Pretty impressive stuff considering the month before I received
a written warning of dismissal if my sales didn't turn around.
And here, all of a sudden, I became number one on the totem
pole. Sweet!!

However, I DON'T recommend using the Xerox Selling System
today.

The Xerox sales model is a tedious process to use. Yes, it's
more effective than "winging it". But the problems the system
brings are many.

The process is easily fouled if you forget one or more
techniques or miss hearing your "cue" for what to say next. And
worse, the Xerox selling model often causes objections where
none existed before.

How? By encouraging you to attempt to force replies from your
listener, by requiring you to follow a bunch of predetermined
hoops to get your listener to jump through (which they probably
don't want to do) and by encouraging you to move them towards a
close. People aren't stupid. They will notice your efforts to
'close' them even if your closing process is merely parroting
back to them what they liked about your offer, then doing some
lame alternate choice close.

You just destroyed your credibility and created unnecessary
resistance.

That's why I decided to look for something that's just as
effective but less mentally taxing -- for me and for the
client. What I found isn't a single selling system. It's a
combination of two. Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (available at
http://www.unlockthegame.com) and SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
(available through http://Amazon.com).

The SPIN Selling model is easier to use than Xerox model
because there are only four elements to focus on: situation,
problem, implication, needs. This simplifies the needs-based
selling model.

To give an idea how simple it is, I use Microsoft One Note to
separate each of the S.P.I.N. elements into four individual
tabs. Basically each tab contains one or more questions to help
me understand the client's interests and needs, and whether or
not there's a match for what they want and what I do. This is
NOT a collection of those lame sales closing gimmicks.

SPIN Selling confirmed what I had discovered on my own...
listening and asking sincere questions is far more effective
than using lame brained canned sales pitches. Trying to push
people to do stuff they don't want to do is just plain stupid.
It doesn't work in professional selling environments and it's
mentally draining on you and the person you're speaking with.

As effective and simple as SPIN Selling is, it's isn't strong
enough on its own for today's sophisticated market either. Just
like the Xerox model, the SPIN Selling method has holes too.
Reverse Selling plugs those holes.

The underlying focus of Spin Selling is similar to that of the
Xerox model: closing.

"Sharpening Your Skills" (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook)
with the aim of preparing a bunch of features and benefits in
advance and then 'vomiting' that noise onto a client is a
disaster for consultative selling. That type of selling is the
main cause of unnecessary skepticism and objections in a sales
call. Don't do it.

Reverse Selling forces your attention away from closing and
back where it belongs... determining if you and the client are
a true match for each other or not. And if not you simply say
so and thank them for their time. The focus is NOT closing.
It's helping people.

That's what's missing from the SPIN Selling and the Xerox
model.

That's why I recommend using Spin Selling only to give
structure to your sales call. But for what to say or ask during
a sales call, I merge the Reverse Selling "no sales pitch"
approach into the four elements: situation, problem,
implication, needs. I recommend you take these steps too.

There are several benefits of focusing on the needs of the
person you're speaking with instead of your needs:

1) you'll eliminate all selling pressure from you and your
listener
2) instead of reflecting an untrustworthy 'always be closing'
mentality, your sincere concern and willingness to help will
shine through
3) you'll develop a selling structure that presents you as a
concerned and competent professional

And best of all� by tossing out the archaic "old school" sales
pitches, you make it easy, even a joy for others to pick up the
phone and talk with you.

About The Author: Andre Bell is an author and business growth
strategist. Andre is committed to helping people in business
discover what it takes to maximize profits from every marketing
communication and effort. Visit his site at
http://www.AndreBell.com for fresh marketing tips and
resources.

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