You Need a Better Elevator Pitch
The truth about how good or bad elevator pitches are really comes out at trade shows. Dreamforce is over, and with over 17,000 attendees, it’s become a massive event. What stood out for me was how different everybody’s pitches were when you were walking around the expo center floor. I think we can all get a little better at the sales pitch.
Over the course of a couple days, I probably heard hundreds of pitches at Dreamforce. Some of them were okay, some of them were bad.
Vote For The Best Pitch At Dreamforce
I started to pay attention to people’s pitches as the days went on, and I used my camera to gather about 15 of them.
You can give your feedback here on all these sales pitches I collected:
There’s only one day left before the contest is over, and we are giving away $50 and $25 Amazon gift cards in the #Playmakers Facebook Sales Community.
So go ahead, give your vote and make somebody happy.
Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Your Sales Pitch
Here are some of my thoughts on pitching. There were three things that really stood out to me on the floor at Dreamforce, and it’s something I think you always want to watch out for at a trade show.
If you hear these three things, you’re probably going to run like hell and get out of there as fast as you can.
The ‘Me’ Monster
If you haven’t heard of the comedian Brian Regan, you need to go check him out. He’s so funny, and truthfully the great thing about it is it’s not super dirty, he keeps it clean. He came up with this term “the Me Monster,” and it can be applied to the sales conversation very well.
It’s when a conversation turns into a ‘me, me, me’ exchange that goes on and on.
I asked somebody at Dreamforce what they do, and I swear he said, “I started my career 25 years ago.” Then, continued to tell me more or less his whole life story. I think I cut him off at about seven to 10 minutes.
Mr. Old School
This happened to me at other trade shows. This will be someone who will start by saying: “My grandfather started this company a hundred years ago…”
They’ve got this pioneer heritage that they need to make sure you understand. So, watch out for the grandpa line: “We started this company 50 years ago…” When you hear it, you know a ramble is about to begin.
Mr. Complex
The third approach that I saw many times at Dreamforce was when people were stressing the complexity of what they do. I ask somebody what they do, and they start to say: “Well, it’s complex…”
That’s when your hair stands on your neck and you know you’re in for a long story, that doesn’t really make a lot of sense.
It’s a huge waste of time.
How to Create a Great Sales Pitch
Having all these experiences fresh in my mind, I must stress that we all should get better at our sales pitch. It’s not that hard. A pitch is just a one-liner, a mission statement. It’s what you do in under 60 seconds.
Some people call it “the elevator pitch”, that’s probably the more common term, others “the what statement”. I just call it an absolute necessity. Sadly, not many leaders take the time to have every single person in their entire organization know what their one-liner.
Great leaders take the time to do this. They make sure everybody from CEO to the guy mowing the lawn, everybody knows how to explain what the company does in under 60 seconds.
Listen to the Playmakers Podcast to learn:
- The four elements of a successful sales pitch
- Some learning resources about sales pitch models
- Tips and tricks to create the best pitch possible
Links and Resources Related to This Episode:
Inbound to ABM w/Fes Askari @Strategic IC
The AI Sales Revolution: How to Become a #Playmaker @Dreamforce 2017
AI-Powered Sales w/Dave Boyce @XANT
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