Coach First, Sell Later
Instead of pitching a product, try educating potential customers. The lesson for service providers is to put yourself in your audience's shoes and instead of walking into your next sales meeting armed with your company history and capabilities teed up on a PowerPoint, try coaching the client/prospect on the challenges facing their industry and how various technologies can meet those challenges.
A client recently asked me to make a presentation on their behalf at an industry event. I said I would do it, but told my client that I didn’t want to talk about the company or the product. In my opinion, the best use of his company’s time on stage would be spent talking about what is going on in the industry and identifying strategies for successfully navigating the rapidly changing environment. The client was...
