Interactive Pitch Techniques

Picture this: You’re cold calling for Goodshuffle. You’ve got a pitch lined up that you’re sure will blow their mind. So, you explain: “We have the best rental software. It tracks inventory, eliminates double-bookings, and keeps your business running like a well-oiled machine!” They say something like, “Thanks, we’re good with what we’ve got.” Click. Here’s the thing: Explaining doesn’t give the other person a chance to think. Asking does. Instead, imagine this: You call and ask,: “When managing your rentals, are you using a custom-built system, tracking inventory in Google Docs—or do you have something that makes it easy to see what’s available and avoids double-bookings automatically?” Now, they’re thinking about their process. Maybe they do use Google Docs. Maybe they’ve dealt with the nightmare of double-bookings. Either way, they’re engaging with the question. Suddenly it’s a dialogue, not a monologue. Why It Works 1. Asking feels collaborative, not pushy. It puts the focus on them, not you. 2. People are more persuaded by what they discover. Asking doesn’t have to be stiff or robotic. Be human. Be curious. Like this: “When’s the last time you had to scramble because two people rented the Bertha Bridal Tent on the same day?” Now you’re not just a salesperson—you’re someone who gets it. So, next time you’re cold calling, ditch the pitch and poke the bear. You might be surprised how far curiosity can take you.

Small tweaks in your sales script can turn “no thanks” into qualified sales calls. We reviewed a client’s outbound calls, made five key adjustments, and saw a 20% boost in engagement. Here’s what worked: 1. Start with a Permission-Based Opener Jumping straight into the pitch made prospects feel cornered, often leading to resistance. What We Changed: We switched to a permission-based opener like, “Hey, this is (name) from (company), we haven’t spoken before, I’m calling you out of the blue, but it'll take me 30 seconds to tell you why I called and then you can tell me if you even want to keep talking after that, does that sound fair” This gave prospects control and set a respectful tone. Prospects felt more comfortable and engaged when they had the option to continue, leading to smoother, more productive conversations. 2. Use “You” Instead of “We” The scripts were too brand-focused with “we” and “our” statements, making it sound impersonal. Shifting to “you” language made a huge difference. Instead of “We offer the best solution,” we said, “You deserve a solution that actually fits.” Prospects felt the call was about them, not us. 3. Add Specific Social Proof Generic claims weren’t cutting it. Instead of “We’ve helped hundreds,” we got specific: “Last quarter, we helped [X industry] achieve [result].” Specifics boosted credibility and helped prospects see the potential value for themselves. 4. Ask Open-Ended Questions Closed questions led to dead-ends. We replaced “Do you struggle with [problem]?” with “What challenges are you facing with [problem]?” This invited prospects to share more, making the conversation richer and helping us respond better. 5. Frame Price with Value Mentioning price early often scared people off. Instead, we tied price to benefits: “With an investment of $X, you can achieve [result].” Positioning price in correlation to perceived value kept the conversation moving forward. These small changes led to big improvements in qualified booked appointments. ___________________________________ Follow Dylan Rich for more tips on scaling your sales team

Last week I met with a director of Biz Dev in Tech, who is new to his role. He had some huge meetings coming up with his CEO and customers, and wanted to “up his game” on executive presence. We addressed relationship-building and pitching, and we PRACTICED together. As a former athletics coach, it’s ingrained in me that while mental practice is helpful, physical practice is queen. Yes, we can and should “think our way into new behaviors,” and at some point we have to just DO them. Here are some tips: 1. Prep to BUILD RELATIONSHIPS: In addition to the requisite research to learn about a potential customer’s business, we talked about the importance of forming relationships and the research needed for that. Look beyond a customer’s LI to turn “common” commonalities to “uncommon” ones. Common: you both worked at Microsoft in your past, or you have 2-3 people in common on LI. Uncommon commonalities delight people and are more memorable, like: you both traveled to Croatia in the past couple of years or you both went to a small liberal arts school. 2. Make the “formal” presentation more informal (aka more CONVERSATIONAL): When you are pitching something — whether you are a sales person or not — the more you can be in a conversation, the better. I am not big on slides; perhaps, instead, hand a paper (yep!) “script” to leaders in the room. Further, the nature of the “presentation/pitch” should be not one-sided. It’s YOUR job to make the audience comfortable and engage them with questions interspersed with your content. So after you make a few content points, check in with these type questions: a. Does this hit the mark so far? b. What other details can I provide? c. What avenue do you want more info on? d. What clicks for you so far? This gives space for folks in the room to comment as well as ask questions of their own. This gives YOU feedback as to where they’re heads are at regarding potentially green-lighting something. My client and I practiced this. He made a few content points and asked a check-in question. As he practiced he became more fluid. He took to the “what other details can I provide….?” question the most, but knows he also has the others in his back pocket. 3. CURVE BALLS: We also practiced “thinking on your feet.” I peppered him with some curve ball (surprise) questions. After a couple rounds of practice, he felt more comfortable because he relied on: a. Transitional statements: “Thanks for the question, Geetha. Appreciate it.” This gives you 5-10 seconds to think of your response. b. Enumeration (1, 2, 3): “I have two ideas for you on that. One……, Two……; what else can I fill in?” Readers: what do you have to add? —— Executive presence is the number one topic Ethan Evans and I get asked about. Want to discuss more real-work examples? Join us for “Cracking the C-Suite,” Oct 18-19. Best discount (15%) during Prime Days, July 7-11. Wait list: https://lnkd.in/gZGVccdA