You had the perfect pitch ready; you had perfected it last week and it worked with that client like clockwork. You were only one-third of the way through yesterday’s meeting and you could tell you had lost your prospect’s attention. You stuck with your plan, but she cut the meeting short before you got to your clincher. What happened? Both prospects were in the same general business and had been doing business for about the same amount of time. The same pitch should have worked for both of them, right?
In a word, Wrong.
You knew that. Your gut told you, but your logic said everything would work fine. Just like it did last week. Why didn’t it?
Let’s look at the personality of business and talk about 3 ways you can be more successful in how you approach prospects.
- As we’ve discussed in other posts, people are people. Doesn’t that mean that the same approach should work for everyone? Well… no. What it does mean is that everyone wants to be considered as an individual; not one of the masses. If a busy person gave you some of their precious time, they expect you to take the time to recognize them as valuable. Does this mean that you can’t use a template? Of course not. After all, we’re forever hearing about working smarter not harder, right? It does mean digging deeper than simply changing the company and product names in your presentation, though. Add some personalization to your presentation and you will get much further.
- Targeted client base. Your clients may have similar businesses, but are their client bases similar? Determining how you can help your prospect help their clients will show that you have valued them and are truly interested in their business model and helping them succeed; not just in getting their business. What was their last customer triumph? What about their last failure with their clients? How can you help them with both of those situations? Demonstrating that you understand your prospect’s client base will give you an advantage.
- You’ve been around for a while, so you’ve heard a lot of scenarios. That doesn’t mean that you’ve heard this particular prospect’s concerns. Take time to listen to what’s important to him. What keeps her awake at night? What is the next big goal? By taking the time to listen, you have just positioned yourself to give some expert consultative advice based on that history you’ve had with your previous clients.
By taking time for these three steps, you can better tailor your presentation to your prospect’s needs and have a greater chance of landing that deal.
