For many people, the best and easiest part of selling their product or service used to be when they would hand it to the potential retailer/buyer and say, “Here, touch it!” or “Taste it!” or “Slide on in and experience it.”
This is no longer possible.
What, then, to do?
Well, in addition to the tips offered in “Pitch (Zoom!) Perfect” here are a few specific do’s and don’ts for sellers of merchandise:
- Useless modifiers (e.g. “incredible,” “amazing,” “awesome”…) are always useless but now they are more useless than ever. What to do? Pick something—anything—more memorable. For example, if you are selling me a pair of athleisure sweatpants don’t describe them to me as “amazingly soft.” Instead, tell me they are “as soft as a kitten on a velvet cushion.” Now I’m intrigued.
- Think about what your potential buyer might have in their office that they can use as a reference. For example, if you are selling a super-lightweight pair of eyeglass frames tell them, “I checked and these weigh about as much as 10 paperclips. Do you have any paperclips handy?” Giving the person a way to get involved from a distance will keep them more involved.
- Interact with it/Put it on/Organize a Quaran-team Fashion Show. What keeps us involved in television is the constant motion. With this in mind, it might be time to add “model/spokesperson” to your job description – and/or get your quaran-team on board. Will you feel ridiculous? Possibly. Will you hold people’s attention far longer? Definitely.
- Be super-sensitive to objections/price-resistance. Lots of people like to say “no” before they say “yes” and now, more than ever people will have a lot of “no’s”. Should you encounter them, rather than saying, “Oh but I think you aren’t considering X, Y, Z” try countering with, “Tell me more about that.” Why? Because being someone who takes the time to listen builds a level of trust that will stand you in good stead with your customers long after the current circumstances are in your rear view mirror.
Again, should you have missed it, “Pitch (Zoom!) Perfect” is filled with ways to ensure you and your team are pitching your best selves.
