elevator pitch – Domain Cost Club Blog

Working in sales, there are a number of activities which should never be considered “complete”, and should be continuously worked on. The following practices will help you grow and perfect your talent in sales, and in turn close more deals. Putting time and effort into lifelong skill sets will garner you lifelong returns – no matter what it is you are selling.

Are you consistently working on these practices in order to increase your effectiveness?

1. Networking

The most important parts of sales are talking, making connections, and building relationships. Whether you’re selling a product or service, promoting a business, building up an affiliate network, or the like, having a large network of friends, acquaintances and business associates will always benefit you.

2. Building Your Pipeline

Researching exactly who you target audience is, where they are, and what has been working in the past in order to turn prospects into clients or customers is step one in keeping your sales funnel full. Once you know whom you are going after, and what has worked on similar prospects, you can begin to target those in your network that may have interest in your product. Remember, sales cycles vary extensively. Depending on your sales proposition, someone may need to be in the pipeline for two years. So, continuously moving people from stage to stage through the pipeline, and getting new prospects into the pipeline will ensure you always have a target to be working on.

3. Providing Value

You can’t continue selling the same thing for years, to the same people, and never make any changes to the value they are getting out of it. Figure out how exactly your product or service actually benefits people, and think of ways to add onto or augment that. Is what you’re selling going to earn that person more money? Is it going to make their life easier in some way? Keep your business relationships strong by making sure your product continues to benefit your customers, and creates value for new customers.

4. Educating

This practice refers to educating yourself and educating others. Never stop reading, observing, and listening to information regarding your industry, customers, and product or service. Learn from those around you who are having success in your business. Depending on what you are selling, make sure your customer understands the product, and continues to learn about that product, and new products your business may develop. Perhaps your product or service has some difficult to understand features, or financial intricacies – blogs and videos are a fantastic way to educate your audience.

5. Honing Your Pitch

Every time you complete a pitch, you should be making notes on what resonated with your audience, how that audience may have been different than another, and what changes you should make. The more times you practice and give your pitch, the more natural it will become. Sometimes however, your pitch should be altered to be more of a networking conversation than the quintessential “elevator pitch” to a customer or investor. Work on different ways to get your point across to various audiences. Over time you will become a master of owning the room, and winning someone over no matter what their starting viewpoint.

6. Garnering Feedback

You can’t always rely on yourself alone to figure out what went right and what went wrong during a pitch. Ask your family, friends, customers or clients that are now advocates what it was that reeled them in, and what almost lost them! Simple tips here and there from peers, your role models in the industry, and even friends and family will help you perfect your sales techniques.

After reading through the tips, it should make total sense why these activities should be ongoing for your entire sales career. There will never be a time that you have finished learning or networking, for example. The more focus and emphasis you put on these activities, the more you will see the benefits of them.

Did we miss anything? What are some sales practices that you continue to build upon day after day and year after year in order to make you a better salesman? Share in the comment section!

Learn How To Make Money Online as a DCC Affiliate!

If you are in sales, have worked for a startup, or are an entrepreneur, then you have definitely heard the term “elevator pitch.” For those of you that don’t know, an elevator pitch refers to the ability to sell your product or service to someone, and hopefully pique their interest in it, within the time it takes to ride in an elevator with them (less than a minute). The elevator pitch, which is obviously not always going to happen in an elevator, is useful when explaining your business to an investor, a potential client or customer, or a potential partner.

The truth is, having an elevator pitch prepared when people ask, “what do you do?” is crucial for any person working at any business. You never know when a casual conversation could turn into a business deal, so being prepared when the time comes will most certainly benefit you.

The following 9 tips will help you to convey your “pitch” clearly and concisely, without coming across as a “salesman.”

1. Short and Sweet

As mentioned above, this description of your business needs to be under a minute long, while still being clear about what it is you are offering. Don’t use jargon related to your industry – assume this person knows nothing about your business and spoon-feed them the idea.

For example, if you’re an online marketing agency, don’t say “we have expertise in SEO.” Instead, say “we help businesses get their websites on the first page of Google’s search results.”

2. Clear Benefit

Speak in terms of what this product or service will do for THEM. You will have to tailor this to your audience; whether it is a potential customer or client, a potential partner, or an investor. Regardless, let them know how this product or service will make their life easier, better, or solve a problem for them. Explain this right away in simple terms.

For example, let’s say you are an affiliate marketer for Domain Cost Club, and you are trying to get a potential new member to join. You would want to let them know about the flexibility of working from home, the exponential earning value, and of course the overall value of the DCC membership in terms of discounted domains.

3. Differentiation

So you’ve explained the benefit of the product or service, now it’s time to integrate your unique selling proposition into the pitch and explain why this person should want to buy from or invest in YOU instead of your competitors.

Going back to our example above, there are many companies that offer affiliate marketing programs. You would want to explain why DCC is the best place to become an affiliate marketer. Perhaps you would want to mention how easy it is to get started, the stellar support offered in building your network, or the top-notch level of the actual product you are selling.

4. Greed Factor

Everyone wants to make money, and everything relates back to ROI – it’s as simple as that. Quickly explain how your product or service will either make or save this person money. If your business doesn’t directly do that, figure out an indirect way to integrate this concept.

Someone who is potentially interested in an affiliate marketing opportunity, for example, will be most interested in the possibility of, ease of, and length of time it will take to start making money.

5. Credentials

Explain who you are, and your affiliation with this product or service. What do you do for the company and why are you qualified to be speaking about or selling it? This would also be a great time to include some recent success stats.

If you earned $15,000 in your first quarter as an affiliate marketer, that would be a great selling point to a potential new member you are trying to close. Relate to them and let them know you have been where they are.

6. Easy to Join

No one wants to go through a long, overdrawn process to get involved with or join something. If all they have to do is fill out a simple form, some short paperwork, or view a 10-minute slideshow to get started – point that out.

7. Leave them Wanting More

Remember, this first encounter is just a door opener to a more in depth conversation. Keep the upper hand in the conversation and pique their interest just enough for them to want to learn more. The more you talk, the less interest your garner. Stop when you know they seem interested, and then suggest getting together another time to go more in depth or show them more facts and figures.

8. Be Conversational

No one – I repeat, NO ONE – likes to be “sold to”. Do not sell your product, service, or yourself to this other person. Keep it casual and conversational – this works great in a social setting. Get your point across, and don’t push.

9. Practice, Practice, Practice…

You already know practice makes perfect! Practice this elevator pitch on your family and friends. Do they automatically understand the points you’re trying to get across? Would it make them interested in learning more? The more you repeat your key points, the more casual it will come across when this moment occurs in a natural setting.

Including the factors above in your elevator pitch will not guarantee that you get your investment, or close the sale – it is only meant to open the door to a secondary conversation.

With a large focus on #7 and #8, you give yourself the upper hand in this sales-driven conversation. Acting natural, as though you would be helping THEM achieve success by allowing them to participate in your offer will help draw the other person in, and give you leverage to hopefully close the deal in the secondary meeting you are bound to set up!