A few weeks ago while wrapping up at my sign shop I was approached by a very friendly Middle Eastern man who wanted to share his business with me. Working out at a flea market, people are always trying to sell me something but this guy's pitch was so amazing I just had to share it. Maybe, with any luck it will help some budding salesman out there.
Why it was awesome 1: He had a great opening
I was tidying up at the end of the day when he approached me. It had been a long, busy, Sunday but Mr. Salesman walked up briskly with a smile, handed me 2 business cards and said "Help keep us busy." Wow. I know that it's not much in the way of catchphrases as things go but the take away point is: a good opening is your foot in the door. If he'd come at me fumbling with his words, no eye contact or like he was going to go right into a lengthy pitch I would have slammed the figurative door in his face. Also his opening gave him a way out. Since he'd handed me a card, if I seemed uninterested he could thank me and leave without needing to explain further. He'd already told me he wanted by business in his greeting, the card would tell me what that business was and how to contact them if I ever needed or wanted to. His job would be done at that point if I hadn't given off vibes that I wanted to hear more...which of course I did.
Why it was awesome 2: He had visual aids
The business Mr. Salesman was trying to sell me on was pretty unusual...they sold tires, furniture, and were mechanics. The card he handed me was decorated with automotive stuff and had absolutely nothing to do with furniture. No problem, he had pictures. In just a few seconds he had his smart phone out and was showing me and a friend of mine pictures of the furniture. Granted they were just regular phone snap shots but they were easily accessible and organized into categories so if he was pitching to parents about kid's furniture it was an easy skip to the right set of pics. Handy and a time saver for both him and his customers.
Why it was awesome 3: He kept it brief
For as much as he showed my friend and I his pitch was around 7 minutes. The typical elevator speech is between 3-5 minutes but we did ask a couple of questions so I'll give him a break. Most people will give you 3 minutes if you talk fast, 5 if they're interested in your product. His quick speaking, just like his walk, didn't seem unnatural at all. On the contrary, it seemed appropriate. He was straight to the point. In. Out. Boom. Before you could really reach full annoyance (unless you were already having a bad day) he was wrapping it up and getting ready to leave. Customers are less likely to talk to you again if they didn't enjoy talking with you the first time.
I could go on and on about all the little things that made this a fairly effective pitch (not completely cause I haven't spent any money with the business yet) but I'd rather just refer you to a man who knows a lot more about speaking than I do. Ron Hoff. You can read the first pages of his most awesome book "I Can See You Naked" on Amazon...you can also buy it too!.
