For the final meeting of a three-month sales pitch, the CEO brought in Ben, a knowledgeable vice president and rising star, to close the deal.
The prospect’s senior executive listened politely as Ben talked for 40 minutes about the company’s technical services. When Ben finished, she turned to his CEO with a smile. “I
appreciate how skilled you are in this area,” she said. “It’s just not something we plan to do.”
Not surprisingly, the deal didn’t happen.
Like many capable technical professionals, Ben did his best to educate the prospect by focusing on his subject matter expertise. He completely missed the most important point of his presentation: The prospect didn’t care how interested Ben was in his work. She wanted Ben to show interest in her work.
Unintentionally, Ben bored her, and the deal, to death.
Want to avoid Ben’s fate? Here’s a post–mortem list of the Boring Five to watch for in your next pitch meeting.
Don’t ignore your prospect’s style cues // Like it or not, your appearance creates your first impression. A sales rule of thumb is to dress one level up from your prospect’s attire—not to upstage them, but to show respect. The prospect team wore traditional business suits. Ben’s choice of jeans, sneakers and a suit jacket might work for informal networking but was not the best choice for this high-stakes meeting.
Don’t speak in techno-terms // Ben’s presentation was littered with lingo, and his prospect simply tuned him out. To a nontechnical executive, techno-terms can be off-putting and difficult to understand. Unless you’re talking to an equally technical colleague, speak in terms of the business impact of the technology. Techno-babble can be boring, unless you’re watching “Star Trek.”
Don’t let your verbal delivery get sloppy // Speaking with a prospect team requires a different style than speaking with friends over happy hour. Ben began almost every sentence with “so,” repeatedly said “kinda” and ended almost every sentence with question inflection. Practice your delivery ahead of time, get candid feedback, and don’t assume that one style of delivery fits all situations.
Don’t skip questions // At the end of his presentation, Ben asked his prospect one question: Did she have any questions? Not asking questions is one of the fastest ways to kill a business relationship. You can’t maintain a dialogue without questions based on a sincere interest in the prospect’s business. Skip the questions, and you risk the deal.
Don’t try to be the smartest person in the room // The purpose of a sales pitch is not to show what you know. It’s to use what you know to benefit your prospect. You can’t engage in a meaningful, helpful conversation if you assume that you have all the answers—which is why asking questions is so important.
A sales pitch is a chance for you and your prospect to discover options together. Don’t let the Boring Five get in your way.
