… Sales: We are all in the business of selling

Pitching to customers or reporters - you need to be prepped and draft the story they will care about

We are all in the business of selling. In my last in-house job, I was challenged to also „literally“ sell to customers. To B2B customers non the less. Cold calling will never be my favorite exercise, but I did learn a lot as I prepped. Reading about the sales process really opened my eyes to the fact that we are all in the business of selling – if we like it or not. As a recruiter, we sell the company to possible candidates; as a founder, we need to sell it to investors; and as a communicator, we sell constantly: to internal audiences, to press, to influencers and to customers.

An HBR article about improving sales skills lead to an “aha” moment for me. With minimal edits, I would be able to use the tips and tricks described for the sales process, in prepping communicators in a media training. Speaking to reporters is not that different to pitching to potential customers after all. Take a look at the sales do / don’t list from the HBR piece:

„Do:

Your research. Figure out what’s important to your counterpart and what business problems they’re trying to solve.
Role-play your pitch with a trusted colleague and ask for feedback on ways to improve your presentation
Ask permission to move forward after your initial pitch by saying something like, “Are you ready to take the next step?”

Don’t:

Tense up. Relax your facial expressions and keep your body language loose.
Talk too much — and especially don’t brag. Focus on how you can help your counterpart.
Beat yourself up if you’re unsuccessful. Think big picture. Stay in touch and look for opportunities to try again.“