It's not just business, it's personal

There’s a customer for every sales person. I got my first glimpse of this when I sold 14th-19th century books on the history of science and exploration and early maps to individual collectors and institutions. Some people knew what they wanted and looked for a deal, some people wanted to buy the most exquisite piece in the best condition, some people just wanted to be browbeaten into buying the highest priced item. Three maps or books might be identical in all respects other than the fact of price and sales person. Due to the vagaries of human nature each item found a home.

And this provides some insight into how crafting your personal powerful pitch must be personal first, in order to be truly powerful. If you’re not by nature someone who might be characterized as a hard selling type then there is no way that a hard sell pitch will ever be powerful coming from you – it will fall flat. The falseness will be all that anyone will hear. Designing both words and style that are most precisely about you and what you have to say is your first challenge.

To get more insight into how people who pitch for business on a regular basis operate, and to share what I discover with you, my readers, I decided to go out and start talking to people.

Last week, I caught some time with a very busy colleague who works in Private Banking at a well known Global Financial Institution. She had some interesting insights. Whether it’s a cold or warm call, “you have to rely on your instincts and maintain some control of the conversation. Be prepared, bring ideas and but let the client ask for what they want.” “Men,” she’s found “like firm recommendations.” Women on the other hand tend to be more conversational and want to hear a variety of perspectives. What sets my colleague apart? Well, she makes every contact personal. Not only does she keep in touch (that’s persistence, every needs that) she makes sure her contacts are not just about matters that are only financial. She is renowned for remembering small details about the whole person and is able to keep that connection growing in order to build an initial contact into a client.

I think this is a very important and interesting point. Keep it personal. The more you can make each client a human being with a real life, the more depth the relationship will have and over time that’s bound to be more satisfying and more beneficial for everyone.