A Surprisingly Effective Alternative to Elevator Pitches: Provocative Questions!

Elevator pitches are sadly boring and ineffective. Here’s a story that led to a new way to catalyze sales conversations!

 

Many years ago (in a Silicon Valley far, far away), I joined a local group of salespeople, each from separate businesses. We met monthly to share challenges, ideas, and solutions. At the start of each meeting, we would all present our elevator pitches.

 

Everybody’s pitches followed the same formula: “I help organizations improve/fix/save/gain/ avoid/etc. ____” With 20ish salespeople in the room, we’d hear this same formulaic response 20ish times. It was excruciatingly boring, particularly when I heard myself offering the same weary phrasing, “I help B-to-B software companies improve their demos…”

 

So, I started experimenting. Each month I tried a new approach and carefully watched and listened to the responses from the group. One small improvement was to add a bit more color and a twist: “I help B-to-B software companies make their demos surprisingly compelling…”

 

Another iteration was, “I help B-to-B software companies put the ‘WOW!’ in their demos…”

 

After several meetings, I had a flash of insight: I realized that by asking a question, a response is required. That’s when I came up with, “Have you ever seen a bad software demo?”

 

At the next meeting, when it came to my turn, I gave it a try, asking “Have you ever seen a bad software demonstration?” The responses were intriguing…! Smiles, sad sighs, and people said things like, “Oh, hundreds…!” and “I’ve definitely done many myself…!”

 

I then followed with, “Well, my job is to make that problem go away. I help B-to-B software companies make their demos crisp, effective, and surprisingly compelling…”

 

And the Provocative Question method was born!

 

Now it’s your turn: What do you do?

 

 

Learn more about the value of Provocative Questions on page 253 in Doing Discovery: https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

If you missed some of these knowledge nuggets, you’ll find more patiently waiting for you at https://greatdemo.com/blog/.

 

AND you’ll find 35 additional story gems in my new book, “Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned)” here: https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy