Early Sales Advice

After an unexpected promotion to a sales role at one of my early employers, I was frozen with fear about what to do as a salesman. I didn’t ask to be in sales, and for certain, I had no idea what a sales guy was supposed to do. The full story of my entry into sales is detailed in this post.

One odd piece of advice my boss gave me on my first official day in sales was never hang out in movie theater or he’d fire me on the spot. He suggested hanging out in a bar all day was okay though. Time seemed to stop while I pondered why anyone would go to a movie during work hours. And what in the world did hanging out in a bar have to do with sales. Quietly hyperventilating while standing in front of my boss, he hit me with a question. He asked me, what does our company do? My mind was stuck in an odd slow-motion video watching myself sipping a beer at a local pub and looking totally out of place. He spared me further embarrassment and answered the question for me.

“You’ve got one shot to get this right and about 20 seconds or less to say it,”  he explained. Later, I learned what an elevator pitch was and how to quickly articulate what our company did.

The Importance of Sales Pitches

“What does your company do?” It’s a simple question. It often comes up in social settings like kids’ events, neighborhood gatherings, or church. There’s one thing I’ve learned over the years; you never know who you’ll meet or who could change the course of your career. 

Whether you’re a business owner, a salesperson, or anyone else, you’ve got one fleeting shot to hit the ball out of the park with your message. Yet, this simple question often causes us to stumble and fumble through a meandering blah blah blah of an answer. 

You know you’ve bombed the opportunity when the inquirer responds with a “huh, that’s interesting.” Let me interpret this response. It means “I’m confused, I don’t care, and please stop talking.” Sure, we can chalk up this failure to being just idle chitchat or just say who cares? Well, you’ll never know since the rotten egg you just laid fouled the air and any desire the person might have to learn more about your company or what you do. And yes, I’ve whiffed at these softballs many times. 

Where Elevator Pitches Go to Die

Mission statements, elevator pitches, and other company marketing schtick often get developed or restated when companies hire a new CEO or a new marketing leader. Significant time, money, and well-intended effort are put forth by all those involved. Some companies do effective education activities to trumpet the new direction and craft clever verbiage to describe the company through internal campaigns. But often, all this effort to define more precisely what an organization does dies a lonely death by neglect.  

No One-Size-Fits-All Sales Messaging

As salespeople, we’re granted a quasi-franchise to sell the company’s products and/or services. The firm may have an elegant way to describe what it does, or maybe it’s dreadful. 

None of this matters. 

We need a strong organization supporting us, but what we say and how we say it is up to us. Consider the expression, “all politics is local” as it relates to your message, your territory, and your relationships.

How does your company’s generic message relate to the VP of Operations at a discrete manufacturer? It likely doesn’t. Whether the chance to exercise your message comes through a meeting you set up or an impromptu encounter, you have to be ready.

The internet is filled with creative ways to develop the perfect sales pitch, so there’s no need to repeat these methods. But there are a few things to consider about tuning your sales message and being prepared to let it flow effortlessly from your lips.

A Sports Comparison

We all have our picture of what confidence looks like. For me, it’s watching my favorite pro basketball players like Stephen Curry during crushing pressure-filled situations. Imagine it’s the NBA finals and the game is on the line. Two free throws will win the game. If Curry is shooting the free throws and you’re the other team, you know you’re done. Everything about Curry exudes confidence. His body posture is relaxed while he chomps on his mouthguard. It’s not just about the countless hours of practice that developed his mountain high confidence. He’s performed this routine at an exceptional level in every game he’s played. 

Performing at a superior level whether it’s a game or selling requires constant practice. Shooting 500 free throws a day could be a way to improve your shooting technique. But what if you couldn’t leave the gym until you made 25 free throws in a row? The pressure is not the same as a real game but it gets you focused and it’s a better way to practice. It helps you fight through the tension that creeps into your shoulders. Muscle tension is a reaction caused by the doubt permeating in our brain. 

In the World of Selling

The real test of our ability to execute happens in front of clients. These repetitions are 100 times the value of practicing. No amount of practice can recreate the sting of failing in front of our clients. Sometimes our clients may not know we’ve failed but we know we didn’t get our message right.  

Here are a few tips to consider when developing your message and to continually improve.

• Start with a simple draft. Trying to get it right in one session won’t happen.
• The ideal duration should be 15 to 20 seconds.
• Write it on your daily to-do list and say it out loud (every day).
• Edit and edit some more.
• Try it out on your coworkers, spouse, friends, and family. Yes, this is always uncomfortable. Welcome to sales.
• How about a little peer pressure? Tell your colleagues or boss about your challenge. Ask them to surprise you with “the question.” 
• Ask for candid feedback. 

When you deliver your message for the first several times in a real-world situation it still won’t feel just right. But each time you do it, the message will morph a little and flow with less and less effort. You’ll notice your eyes connect with your client more often and you’ll feel the relaxed comfort in your body. 

Back at the Bar

In case you’re wondering, I did finally learn what my first sales boss was trying to tell me about being in a bar rather than at a movie theater. It turns out he was a great salesman. What I learned from him had a profound impact on my career. 

If you’re holed up in an office, your house, or God forbid, a movie theater, it’s almost a certainty that you aren’t selling anything. The need for face to face meetings is critical to taking that first step forward. Getting your message right will ensure you have a second conversation.