This 12-part series is all about standing out.
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It’s about being the ONE seller that buyers remember when it’s time to buy and don’t forget when it’s time to consider all the options.
Being memorable as a professional, personable resource gives you a competitive advantage. In each of the 12 posts, we’re describing how to be a memorable salesperson. Each of the ways we recommend is based on research with buyers and on field observations with successful sellers.
Related posts:
- Part 1: Create an Experience
- Part 2: Collaborate With Buyers
- Part 4: Be a Giver
- Part 5: Create Value
- Part 6: Take Risks
- Part 7: Encourage Your Buyers
- Part 8: Be Authentic
- Part 9: Follow Through
- Part 10: Ask Better Questions
- Part 11: Listen With Empathy
- Part 12: Answer Buyer Questions
How Will Personalizing My Pitch Help Me Be a More Memorable Salesperson?
Think about high school. Who do you remember most? Was it the class clown who always had people laughing with his outrageous antics? Or is it friend who knew you best and had deep conversations with you and about you?
The buyer/seller relationship (detailed in the video below) is no different than any other human-to-human relationship. When we allow the relationship to be defined by the transaction, we miss out on the person writing the check. And they miss out, too.
That’s not to say that every buyer needs to become your best friend. (Although, I must admit, several of my close friends were first buyers, so it could happen.) What you’re aiming for is to just act like you would in any other relationship.
Personalizing is one thing we do in relationships, even brand new ones. No one goes to a party and offers a canned, robotic introduction when they meet people. We don’t recite our best features when trying to get more time with someone. And we don’t open conversations with inane questions to determine who’s worth our time and who’s not.
In regular relationships, we show interest in the other person. We look for areas of mutual interest. We ask questions and listen to others’ responses. We don’t pounce at the first chance to talk about ourselves with some point that’s barely relevant.
When we’re talking to another person, it’s because we see them as a person. A human. We haven’t bucketed them into some generic category like suspect, prospect, target, sales-qualified lead, tire kicker, price shopper, or customer. We make no assumptions and we have no hidden agenda when we’re simply talking to another person.
Since we don’t have those agendas, assumptions, and labels in mind, we personalize. We get specific. We talk with a person, not a persona. We have once-in-a-lifetime conversations that neither of us will ever have again.
That’s what makes us memorable. Personalizing and being in the moment with another human is profound. If you’re leaving this out when you put on your selling self, you aren’t memorable.
What Can I Do to Personalize My Pitch for Every Buyer?
You can make yourself a more memorable salesperson by ditching the cookie-cutter approach and speaking to the individual. Here are seven ways to personalize your sales pitch:
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Be you. Give your buyer a chance to be himself or herself with you. Don’t race ahead to your assigned roles of buyer and seller. Just let it be two people when you’re talking to each other.
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Ask questions. Not the generic list of discovery or qualifying questions your company provided. Instead, asking questions that show your interest and invite sharing.
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Listen. Whatever you hear from this unique individual is the very best information you’ll ever receive for personalizing your pitch. When you play back someone else’s own words, it’s compelling.
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Eliminate impersonal branding statements, photos, and data from your proposal. If your standard proposal has an opening page or slide with your logo and a photo of your building, you’ve just signaled to the buyer who you consider most important in this relationship.
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Keep it relevant. Less is more. Most of your awesome features are irrelevant and uninteresting to every buyer. Take them out of your pitch. Your job is to know which ones matter to each buyer so you can personalize the pitch.
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Make links between your features and something specific the buyer said. Ex: “Because you told me you need _______, I wanted to point out our _______ which….”
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Stop talking. Your pitch should be a two-way conversation instead of a monologue. Pause and ask questions along the way.
How Can I Learn More About Human-to-Human (H2H) Selling?
For those who enjoy reading, I can heartily recommend two on this topic: Heart & Sell by Shari Levitin and Selling from the Heart by Larry Levine. Be sure to subscribe to this blog, too, because H2H connections is what CONNECT2Sell is all about!
If you prefer webinar presentations, head over to The Sales Experts Channel website and look at the ones listed under “Sales Competencies” in the archives. There are many to choose from, all from global sales experts.
And don’t forget to work on additional ways you can become more memorable, too.
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Stick with this series to read more about buyer research and field observations with sellers.
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Check out this video playlist on the People First PS YouTube Channel with more tips and research with buyers. There are 25 videos there, each one lasting just 3-5 minutes.
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Read the book that started it all. DISCOVER Questions® Get You Connected is packed with ways you can make yourself more memorable to buyers. It was ahead of its time in bringing research with buyers directly to sellers.
Whatever you decide to do, make a commitment to become more memorable. Standing out in a crowded sea of sellers is a surefire strategy for boosting your sales success.
