This is the third installment of ‘The Crush 2020’ Series’, Sales Pitch Examples.
Part I: Examples Of SMART Sales Goals
Part II: Salesman Dress Tips To Stand Out From The Crowd
Here we have the final component of annihilating 2020 in door to door sales is fine-tuning your sales pitch.
You only have a small amount of time to connect with the prospect and demonstrate enough value for them to continue giving your time. In order the capture their attention and garner interest, you must make your pitch brief, relevant, and valuable. Give the prospect a reason to keep listening.
What are you going to say when you knock on a door and the homeowner answers to immediately pique their interest, establish yourself as a credible, reliable source, and ultimately close the deal?
This is the thought process needed when developing and critiquing your sales pitch.
Use Dialogue To Dominate At The Door
The unifier among all of us… we’re human! This single similarity provides us with the unique ability to communicate and connect with others through the use of words. As we build connections, we develop trust.
Simon Sinek taught us a lot about one of the six principles of persuasion, liking. He proved that people like to buy from, and do business with, people they like. It’s this type of rapport that strengthens and validates your credibility when making a recommendation to purchase a product or service.
The core elements of a sales pitch that are required in order to be successful:
- Connect with the person at the door [The Opener]
- Develop trust [The Presentation]
- Build credibility [The Presentation, continued]
- Make the recommendation [The Close]
Canvassers & Sales Reps Number One Mistake
The “opening” and “closing” components of sales are vastly different. They each require unique talents and techniques to become proficient in every aspect of your pitch. The biggest mistake canvassers and sales reps make is not setting the hook.
The amateur canvassers just think, “All I have to do is be myself and start a conversation at the door.” Rookie sales reps aren’t much different. They go in for the close without a plan thinking, “No sweat, I’ll just close them on the spot.”
You can’t walk up and just close the sale at the door, you first have to open the dialogue and lay the foundation for a future closing conversation. Because you can’t land that monster of a fish without setting the hook, this is the art that must first be mastered in canvassing.
Setting the hook at the door requires you to know your bait and what intrigues the needs and desires of the prospect. Remember that needs and desires have considerable differences.
Needs. Objective experience where there’s a required necessity for the product / service
Example) I need my tire changed because I have a flat tire on the side of the highway, and don’t have a spare
Desires. What drives the buying decision, typically emotional vs. objective
Example) I want (desire) someone to come to me and change my tire quickly and affordably, so I called roadside assistance
1. The Opener Sales Pitch Example – Connect
Building a true connection with someone starts with an introduction-type of dialogue that warms the prospect up to you and what you’re saying. Being 
genuine, friendly, nice, authentic and making it all about the person who answers the door, will help you engage quicker.
You’re being judged from the moment the door opens, and you only have 7 seconds to make a good first impression. In fact, 93% of the customer’s judgment of you will be based on non-verbal inputs.
55% of your communication effectiveness will be a result of your body language, making it exceptionally critical to avoid the 5 body language mistakes that can cost you the sale.
An additional 38% will come from the tone of your voice. This is a good thing because you can actually use tone to help close more sales.
The key is to always maintain a smile and act as if everything the consumer says is the most interesting thing you’ve ever heard. Of course, you have to be genuine throughout the conversation.
Openers To Make The Prospect More Receptive
The Extremely Simple Approach
“Good morning! How are you? (Pause and wait for response)
The Neighborly Approach
“Good afternoon! I was just at your neighbor {Insert Neighbor’s First Name} house and had a few minutes before my next appointment. I wanted to stop by to [Insert Free Service] at no charge to you.”
The Intrigue & Inquiry Approach
“If I told you that switching to solar could save you “$” per month, what would you do with the extra savings?”
The Unexpected Approach
“Hey there! I’m [Sales Rep’s First Name] with [Company Name] My CEO [CEO’s First Name] sent me here to offer you [Insert Free Offer].”
Notice that all of these approaches are specifically about the potential customer. They’re outwardly focused and not about you making the sale, but rather, friendly and engaging. These examples are about building rapport with the prospect by starting a conversation that encourage them to join.
Master 2 or 3 opening lines before moving onto the actual opener that plays off what the prospect says, and how he or she responds to your opener. Because this is relative to each buyer, your response could change. Below is a complete opening example to help create yours.
The Complete Opener
“Good morning. I’m Zeus from ZYX Tree Service. I stopped by because I noticed that one of the limbs on your Oak tree is on top of your garage and really long and bushy. Does it prevent you from seeing when you back out of your garage? (Pause, let the potential customer answer.) Well, here are some pruning tips to fix that before it becomes really costly.”
By offering a couple pruning tips, you’re educating the customer and presenting yourself as a tree expert. This instantly builds credibility and trust while offering something free to the person at the door.
Tips to Master Your Opener
- Take time to prepare your opener by writing it out.
- Practice, practice and practice some more.
2. The Elevator Pitch Example – Make Your Point, Quickly
This is where short and sweet comes into play. An elevator pitch provides your listener with the information they need about who you are, what you’re selling, and how you can help solve their pain. All within 20 – 30 seconds.
Tips to Master Your Elevator Pitch
Brief. You don’t need to convey your entire objective. You just need to offer a sampling of key information from each of your main points above (introduction, why you’re there, how you can help).
Intriguing. Find key sentences that will resonate; make your pitch stick. What can you say to make them wanting more?
Know Your Audience. To make your point valuable, you need to know who you’re talking to. What’s their role? What might their pain point(s) be? Address relevant issues and your prospects will keep that door open.
3. The Storyteller Sales Pitch Example – Develop Trust And Build Credibility
Once you’ve made your connection at the door, you need to continue developing trust and credibility with the potential customer. Kenny Brooks gave one of the best sales pitches ever, and was a great storyteller.
Storytelling provides a non-invasive approach that helps you relate to the person at the door by sharing a real-life example about your product or service that solves their biggest needs.
The Storytelling Tradition: Oral storytelling goes back to ancient times where a presenter would engage an audience through words, usually in a physically close setting. As the presenter spoke and the story unfolded, he or she would choose certain words and situations that resonated with the audience. This created a personal bond between presenter and audience.
How Storytelling & Door to Door Sales are Alike
You’re the presenter (aka storyteller)
You’re physically close to the potential customer because you’re standing at their door
Once someone is at their door, they become your audience
At this point, you have the power to choose exactly what words you’re going to say to tell a real-life story about your service or product that solves one or more of the potential customer’s problems.
The outcome is you provide a viable solution that helps someone, developing instant trust. Plus, a real story relevant to the prospect’s needs builds credibility to help you identify with him or her.
Storytelling Sales Pitch Example
“I was over at your neighbor Bob’s house the other day and I was talking with him about how going solar would save him money on his energy bill. He agreed and told me that his cousin had ABC Solar panels installed on his home a year ago and ended up saving $2400! He used the extra money to treat his family to a summer vacation. This made me so proud to represent ABC Solar and help people save money.”
Notice the story doesn’t attempt to sell the prospect. Instead, it builds trust and credibility using the “TOE” method:
- Telling a real-life situation that could actually happen to the prospect
- Offering the salesperson’s product as the solution
- Establishing the salesperson as an expert by name-dropping their company
Tips To Mastering Your Story
Tell a real-life success story where your product or service played the hero.
Make the story resonate with the prospect.
Allow your “audience” to interact and respond during the story.
4. The Pain-Based Sales Pitch Example – Get Your Prospect Involved
Don’t make the amateur mistake of only talking about your product or services features & benefits. This is the quickest way to get someone to tune out and start thinking about the chores they have to get done around the house.
Ask questions to uncover how they are taking care of their situation now and how that’s working out for them, what they would change and why.
It sounds much easier than it is to execute at a high level but hey, you have to start somewhere.
A saying from Sandler Sales Training states that “No Pain, No Sale”
Here’s some great questions to get you started on having good dialogue with your new potential customer to further build rapport and understand what they are doing now:
“How have you been handling your tree trimming needs up to now?”
“What measures do you currently have in place to make sure your house is safe when you’re not here?”
“Do you feel that your current electricity bill is higher than it should be?
“What have you done to try and fix that situation?”
“How has that worked for you up to now?”
“What’s your frustration level with it on 1 – 10 with 1 being I don’t care and 10 being my head is about to explode?”
If you can get them talking about their frustrations with their current situation that your product or service can address then moving on to the Close will be a breeze and a natural next step.
5. The Close Sales Pitch Example – Make The Recommendation
You’ve done your due diligence by connecting and building trust at the door. Since you’re practically family now, it’s time to make a recommendation and assume the sale.
This is when the customer will be most receptive to pricing conversations. Be sure the transition from story to recommendation is clear, natural and smooth. It should be relatively easy if you’ve set yourself up for a successful close throughout the presentation. Make sure to present the close from the prospect’s perspective to keep the dialogue customer-focused.
How To Start The Sales Pitch Close
“Companies rely on us to…”
“People count on us to …”
Both of these demonstrate that others trust the company you’re representing to fulfill a certain need and/or solve a specific problem. Add your recommendation and you’ve got yourself a powerful close.
Closing Sales Pitch Example
“People have relied on us for 20 years to protect them, their family, their home and their possessions. Based on the size of your home, I recommend the ‘Silver Plan’ as a starting point for you. Today, it’s only $29.95/month for the next 12 months, and we have a promotion running today that includes an additional alarm control box for free. It usually goes for $150, but as our way of saying ‘thank you for choosing Armadillo Safety,’ we’re giving it to you for free. What day and time works best for us to come do the install this week?”
This close remains customer-focused by recommending the solution most relevant to the customer. It presents the solution, states the cost and even offers a free gift prior to asking for the sale, further persuading the person to say “yes.”
Perhaps the most important aspect of closing is your final line. By asking the best day to schedule the install, you’re assuming the sale. This technique is critical to remember. Most sales reps can give an amazing pitch, but chicken out when it’s time to close.
They ask the prospect if they’re ready to buy, giving prospects more time to reconsider the offer. If the customer doesn’t want to make a purchase, they’ll tell you, guaranteed. Don’t give the option, have confidence you crushed it by assuming the sale.
Tips To Master Your Close
Recommend the product or service that meets the prospect’s specific needs.
Assume the sale by scheduling installation or asking for payment information.
Build value throughout the entire presentation, including the close. End with a question that progresses the sale and “puts the ball in their court”.
We hope you enjoyed the latest installment, Sales Pitch Examples, of our 3 part series on how to ‘Crush 2020’ and found some useful information to have your best year ever. The SPOTIO team looks forward to your continued contributions. Help us by sharing this series on social media!
Make sure and check out Part I and II:
Part I: Examples Of SMART Sales Goals
Part II: Salesman Dress Tips To Stand Out From The Crowd
BONUS: 17 Keys To Writing The Perfect Sales Pitch
- Actively listen to the prospect’s pains, wants and vocal cues
- Be customer-centric by focusing on their problems at all times
- Be clear and concise
- Present yourself as an industry expert in your introduction
- Be specific in your ask
- Have precise timing when presenting pricing and asking for the sale
- Communicate the uniqueness of your product or service
- Sell for the right reason: to help the customer solve a problem
- Build in pauses to allow the prospect the opportunity to answer and respond
- Don’t be overly aggressive or pushy – This makes you appear desperate
- Be authentic and genuine at the door
- Use “cost” or “price,” not “fee” when discussing pricing
- Always ask for and assume the sale
- Become your company’s product expert
- Know your company’s competitive advantage
- Understand all of the pains your product or service solves
- Describe the “must-knows” of your product or service
The number one rule around the perfect sales pitch: The conversation at the door needs to be customer-focused, not “you-focused.”
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