The fortunate thing for Mani was that she sold a service for a very specific and well-known CRM software, called Salesforce. The advantage that she had was that at least if she was doing her elevator pitch to a prospect, they knew what Salesforce was.
The problem started when Mani was unable to concisely talk about the industry and the costly problem that she helped to solve. It took a lot of questioning to get Mani to think and talk about the problem that she solved in terms of a specific business result. For example, when I asked her the consequence of poor Salesforce software usage, she wasn’t able to definitively state “loss of business or loss of revenue or lawsuit”. She was naming a multitude of problems that could come up with a multitude of situations.
That’s very natural for a company who hasn’t done the strategic research work to determine the biggest industry target with the most expensive problem to solve in the area that they work. I mean, you’ve heard of the saying ‘Fish can’t see the water’? Well in a lot of cases where I’m fixing pitches, it’s a case of me showing businesses that they’ve been doing and saying things a certain way, but they can’t see that it’s generic and confusing to audiences. Worst of all, it’s a lost opportunity to waste the undivided attention of your prospect when you first meet them.
If you can’t tell them exactly how you’ll change their lives, they won’t want your card or an appointment. So, do the research and figure out what industry needs you the most to solve what horrendous problem.
If you thought what Mani went through was a great experience, email me at chala@repositioner.com to be my next guest. I welcome all your comments and also don’t forget to subscribe and rate our Podcast!
I welcome all your comments and also don’t forget to subscribe and rate the Polish My Pitch Podcast on any or all of our channels:
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