…… “stick to the pitch” DOES NOT mean “just read a piece of paper like a telemarketer from a call center…”
Again and again and again I state: a pitch is a foundation to work from to ensure you sell benefit and fully explain in glowing details the product… however, it is entirely up to the sales person to “sell” the prospective client.
There is no way, I would have succeeded as a salesman if I had just read a piece of paper.
This past Friday, Sophie (our COO) was invited to present naseba to a group of 3 analysts from a major french bank in Paris.
We knw about the meeting for several weeks and although there was no money being raised and no deal being done, it was still a very important meeting — and Sophie was brilliantly fluid when she did her presentaion to the analysts because she had written a pitch and practiced and practiced her presentation so she knew what she was saying like the back of her hand.
I flew up to Paris Friday afternoon to meet her for dinner and spend the weekend in Paris…Sophie laughingly told me over dinner that she had learned from my last three blogs because she “raised objections” for the analysts before they asked them…and even if they did not mention an objection, she raised it anyways to ensure that if they thought of it later they would understand …her presentation was perfect.
Any company (not just naseba) that has meetings with banks, analysts and/or potential investors uses a prepared presentation “slides” on what the company does, benefits, objections, financials, etc…..the presentation serves exactly like a written pitch except it is more detailed - and the people you are meeting have a copy of your presentation in front of them.
Normal analyst lunches last an hour … Sophie’s presentation last 2.5 hours because her presentation was smooth, interactive and passionate. I am sure it came down to that her pitch/presentation was much better than most of the presentations these analysts see each week.
On Saturday, We had a meeting with our financial communication company to review Sophie’s meeting and the partner from the company, matthieu pointed out how “smooth” sophie is with her presentation.
Sophie replied without laughing, “I just stick to the pitch.”
Furthermore…
Sophie and I are buying an apartment in Paris so we spent saturday afternoon looking…we met several agents, but decided on the one that was the smoothest and most professional — he was not the most charming; he was not the best looking …. he did not “ummm” he did not try to “chat us up”…he didnt tell me how much he liked my shoes….. he just explained perfectly all the benefits and objections to the area of Paris we are buying - in the end he was the most professional.
On my flight last night from Paris to Dubai, I read an email from one of my old friends that still works for my previous company…
this old friend commented that most people in the my previous company know about my blog and he jokingly “thanked” me for helping him re-train his teams…..
because many of our competitors read my blog essentially, I am “re-training” our competition….
of course I understand this … and to be honest, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy to know many of my competition, many people that I have never met read my blog.
I do not mind re-training and giving my input to my competition.
…. if people from companies like jacob fleming/gulf fleming/ fleming gulf have to steal event ideas from naseba to succeed …. they surely need all the help they can get when it comes to learning how to sell.
however……………
having a sales pitch is not the secret…..
the secret is sticking to it…
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2 Responses to “sticking to the pitch in Paris”
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March 31st, 2008 at 7:50 pm
A very well put post that was interactive with lots of references from personal experiences managing and interacting and maintaining focus with various nationalities over years?
Slightly on the ?new age personal guru + sales man pride + reflection? trait showing immediate relationships learning the foundation of his advice i.e. internal circle and also the external circle (i.e. employees).
Fully Aware of how his blog is adding value. Understand the nature of ?tacit information?s need for philanthropy” signifies excellent leadership qualities.
An ?entrepreneur and leader? as opposed to an ?investor owner?
Knowing you may not post this up so be it. It?s a personal complement on leadership quality one of many I am assuming to you !
March 31st, 2008 at 8:33 pm
for those readers that post very positive comments - please do not feel slighted when we do not post them
although i am grateful for all the positive comments (esp. from my old friends at M.E.) normally i do not agree for Liam to post them because promoting myself is not the goal of this blog.
i agreed to post this one because dhs’s comment… is interesting and this reply is not directed to dhs…
my blog (and this reply) is directed towards anyone that is talented…wants to be successful, but often forgets that the man at the top did not stumble or fall there.
my blog is directed towards all those that are a good guy/gal at heart but a few deals and success has allowed them to become a spoiled baby (like I once had become with my previous boss.)
i strongly suggest that we must reflect on our mistakes. as well as reflect on what/who has helped us achieve — so to ideally, climb higher.
I do not pretend to be “a new age guru” … i do not pretend to be a motivational speaker… and as mentioned, I am far from where I want to go..so I am not boasting about anything…
at the end of the day… whether you like me or not. whether you think this blog is great or absolute shit ….
just fucking sell…