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How To Sell Without A Single Pitch

Author: Charlie Cook   |   October 14th, 2008

The best sales presentation I’ve ever seen wasn’t a sales pitch, but when it was over I was sold for life.

Wouldn’t you like to be able to do the same with your marketing, sell clients for life without a single sales pitch?

I was in high school, attending a mandatory assembly about safe driving. We students were polite, but mostly inattentive until we saw the speaker toss an egg to a volunteer on the stage. By the time we heard “splat!” and saw the egg dripping from his hand, the speaker had our attention.

“That egg is you in a car crash, without a seat belt,” the speaker said. “Its simple physics: when a fragile object in motion stops suddenly, the energy has to go somewhere.”

“Now, let’s see what happens when we protect the egg,” he said, placing another in an empty dozen-size carton. The speaker flung the carton half way back into the auditorium, where a student caught it. On instruction from the speaker he opened the carton, removed the unbroken egg and held it aloft.

We were sold. The benefits of wearing a seat belt were etched permanently on our brains, as my recollection of the moment many years later attests.

Want to sell more of your prospects? Get started here >>

Everybody’s selling something…

The speaker may have been throwing, but he wasn’t pitching. As the egg story shows, there’s more than one-way to sell.

Think you don’t have to sell? Think again.

Everybody sells something – products, services or ideas. The speaker was selling an idea, and we bought it because of the power of his demonstration.

Good selling isn’t about high pressure and fast talk. It’s about providing information that enables buyers to make informed decisions. It’s about presenting  ideas in a way that grab their attention, eliminate their objections and demonstrate value. A canned sales pitch is seldom the best way to do that. In other words, you can win without pitching.

Interested? Want to know the secrets to winning without pitching? Start by using this link >>

That being the case, you need to know how to go about communicating with your prospects and clients. First, it helps to start thinking like your clients.  Here are four basic guidelines to help you market from your client’s perspective:

*No one likes to be sold, but nearly everyone loves to buy.

*People do things for their own reasons, not yours.

*People buy from you because they know you, like you and trust you.

*People make buying decisions based on emotions, not facts.

With those thoughts as a frame of reference, let’s consider what you should do to help people buy. These suggestions apply to on-line and off-line businesses equally.

*Be a problem solver. Establish your expert credentials by providing high-quality information that helps people solve their problems.

*Use stories and testimonials. People love stories. They help us understand context and let us relate better to a product or service.  Testimonials are short stories told about you by your clients. Prospective clients often find  it easier to relate to you through the positive experiences of others.

*Be patient. Selling is a lot like dating (yes, we’re all selling something). You wouldn’t think of planting a passionate kiss on someone at the beginning of a first date. It makes no more sense to try to close a product sale too soon. Provide information, build trust.

*Tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Keep in mind a quick search of the Internet probably will provide more than enough factual information to debunk any false claims.

*Use a variety of tools. We’ve already discussed the power of a good demonstration. It doesn’t have to be live – you can do a video demo on YouTube or your own Website. No matter what kind of business you have, a good Website should be a big part of your marketing mix.

Providing useful information helps customers gain confidence in you, which is essential to establishing trust. But at some point you have to close the sale. If you’ve provided good information that leads the customer logically from information consumer to eager buyer, closing the sale should be the natural end result.

If you’d like to attract more clients and generate more sales, discover how much more you could be making by winning without pitching. Take action today >>

To your success,

Charlie

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One Response to “How To Sell Without A Single Pitch”

  1. Mark "The Marketing Professional" Brown Says:

    Hi Charlie,

    Professionalism in marketing is crucial so I appreciated the info. presented in winning without pitching.

    Thanks,

    Mark “The Marketing Professional” Brown

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