World's 2nd worst sales pitch

Today, I heard the world's 2nd worst sales pitch: "Can help me out and buy this?"

Of course I didn't want to "help him out" - there was nothing in it for me!

(The world's worst sales pitch is, "Want to buy this? I'm trying to get rid of it.")

 Saying "can you help me out" is just about guaranteed to fail. People buy because there's something in it for THEM. That's why the old list of "features and benefits" has BENEFITS listed - today, I heard the world's 2nd worst sales pitch: "Can help me out and buy this?"

Of course I didn't want to "help him out" - there was nothing in it for me!

(The world's worst sales pitch is, "Want to buy this? I'm trying to get rid of it.")

Saying "can you help me out" is just about guaranteed to fail. People buy because there's something in it for THEM. That's why the old list of  "features and benefits" has BENEFITS listed - benefits for the buyer, not for the seller.

Now for the really bad news: YOU have been doing just this - saying "can you help me out and buy this," without even knowing it!

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: What you say isn't as important as how you say it. Guess what - when you cold call, you're saying all the wrong things, no matter what the words happen to be!

At least half of communication is non-verbal. That means the words you say only
account for half of the real message you're communicating to prospects. Your other, non-verbal communication consists of obvious things like your body language and voice tone, but there's another biggie that most people don't consider: The context in which you deliver your message.

Regardless of the words you use in a cold call, the fact that you're cold calling in the first place sub-communicates the idea of, "I really need to make a sale," which is roughly equivalent to, "Want to help me out and buy this?"

In other words, when you make a cold call, what you're really communicating is that you're there to TAKE something from them.

The successful salesperson doesn't TAKE anything. The successful salesperson
GIVES VALUE FIRST, before even thinking about trying to "get" anything from the prospect. And in the real world, if you give value first, there is no "taking" at all. The prospect willingly buys from you because they see that there's something in it for them.

Let me say that again: The ONLY reason people buy is because there's something in it for them. That's where the acronym "WIIFM" came from - it stands for "What's in It For Me?".

Cold calling removes the WIIFM from the equation and sends a message that you're there for YOUR benefit, not theirs. They won't see value, they won't trust you, and they won't buy.

No one will ever buy to help you out. They'll only buy because they see a gain in
buying from you. So always strive to give value first. And remember that no matter how much value you can offer a prospect, if your approach is via a typical cold call, the context of your delivery will kill your chances every time.

So stop cold calling, start giving value first!