One of the fundamental philosophies underpinning Conversational Leadership is the need to stop talking at people and to start to talk with them. We need to give fewer presentations and convene more conversations. This philosophy applies to sales situations, whether we are trying to sell a product or service to a potential customer or an idea to our boss.
Ditch the pitch
The principle of talking with rather than at applies in many situations, including sales ones – especially when giving a so-called sales pitch.
The sales pitch is a baseball metaphor. In baseball, the pitcher throws or pitches a ball at the batter, while in a sales situation, the seller throws information at the potential customer.
The sales pitch is an unfortunate metaphor. The salesperson should be looking to have a conversation with their prospect, not throw stuff at them!
People don’t like to listen to monologues; they much prefer to be engaged in dialogue. A sales conversation is much more appropriate than a sales pitch.
So as a salesperson, you should be looking to participate in a conversation with your customer.
This approach is a very different process to a pitch. You cannot script a conversation as if you do; it is no longer a conversation.
Preparing for a conversation takes more effort as you need to create a collection of fragmentary material such as ideas, comments, and responses that you can draw on during the discussion at just the right moment.
| Sales Pitch | Sales Conversation |
| You deliver a pitch to your customer | You engage in a conversation with your customer |
| You script the pitch on your own | You co-create the conversation with your customer |
| You plan what you want to say to your customer | What you say unfolds as the conversation develops |
| You try to persuade and convince your customer | You work to build a relationship with your customer |
Sales Café
Transforming a pitch into a conversation works well in a one-to-one, face-to-face context, but many sales pitches take the form of a PowerPoint presentation to a small group of a customer’s staff, followed by a Q&A session.
In these cases, it is possible to take the conversational approach one step further by turning the conversation into a Sales Café.
Let’s look at the concept of the Sales Café through two short stories.
When we are “selling,” we need to stop trying to persuade someone to buy our product or idea and take the time to understand their needs and concerns.
To do this, we need to engage in a conversation with them. We need to ask good questions, listen, and to observe before we talk. The conversation should be about them, not about us.
Resources
- LinkedIn Pulse: A contextual conversation is better than a predefined meeting by Tim Denning
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