{"id":48841,"date":"2021-09-12T05:51:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T09:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=48841"},"modified":"2021-09-21T13:39:09","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T17:39:09","slug":"opening-sales-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Failproof Techniques for Opening a Sales Pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is the best way to open a sales pitch? How can a successful opening get you closer to closing? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A sales pitch opening is like a first impression in a social exchange: it determines how the rest of the interaction is going to unfold. A good opening will plant the seeds for a strong closing, giving you a much higher percentage of successful sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article, we&#8217;ll take a look at two opening techniques: 1) the &#8220;fair exchange&#8221; opening, and 2) the qualified opening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Open a Sales Pitch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what you are selling, you need to have a strong opening to your sales pitch. Both &#8220;the fair exchange&#8221; and &#8220;the qualifier&#8221; opening sales pitch techniques will get your customer to agree to give you an answer at the end of your pitch, preventing them from putting you off with a vague \u201cI\u2019ll have to think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>The Fair Exchange Opening<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>With this opening, you propose a <em>fair exchange<\/em>: \u201cThe only thing I\u2019d like to do today is show you why so many others in your industry have purchased this product and rave about it. <strong>All I ask is that you take a look at what I\u2019m going to show you, think it over with an open mind, and at the end of our conversation, let me know if you think it applies to your situation. <\/strong>Does that sound fair?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This technique does two things: First, it hints that other people have high opinions of your product, which appeals to the prospect\u2019s desire for social approval that we discussed earlier.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, it allows you to remind your prospect at the end of the presentation that she agreed to give you an answer. If she says, \u201cI have to think about it,\u201d you can say, \u201cI appreciate that, but you did promise to tell me if my product would or wouldn\u2019t help your situation.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can further follow up by saying, \u201cAfter what we discussed, it seems that my product answers your needs perfectly\u2014unless there\u2019s something I\u2019m not understanding properly.\u201d This kind of a statement will snap your customer out of her vagueness, and compel her to give you a reason for her hesitation. Once you have a specific objection, you can discuss it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>The Qualifier Opening<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>With the <em>qualifier<\/em> opening, you begin the meeting with a question that both emphasizes the primary benefit of your product and also <em>qualifies<\/em> your prospect, or evaluates whether or not she\u2019s able to make a purchase. For example, \u201cIf I show you the smartest investment on the market, are you able to invest $10,000?\u201d If your prospect replies that she is not able to invest that much right now, you can follow up with a lower number: \u201cWould you be able to invest $6,000?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This question changes the focus from, \u201cLet me show you something\u201d to \u201cAre you capable of reaping these benefits?\u201d<\/strong> It makes her try to qualify herself, and it gives you the ability to force your prospect to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/be-decisive\/\">make a decision<\/a> at the end of your meeting. She can\u2019t say she has to discuss your proposal with someone else because she\u2019s already admitted she can commit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also use this opening to weed out non-serious buyers. For example, if you ask your prospect if she is able to commit to purchasing a car after she\u2019s test driven a few, and she tells you that she just bought a new car that she\u2019s happy with, then you know not to spend any more time on trying to convince her of your product.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the best way to open a sales pitch? How can a successful opening get you closer to closing? A sales pitch opening is like a first impression in a social exchange: it determines how the rest of the interaction is going to unfold. A good opening will plant the seeds for a strong closing, giving you a much higher percentage of successful sales. In this article, we&#8217;ll take a look at two opening techniques: 1) the &#8220;fair exchange&#8221; opening, and 2) the qualified opening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,103],"tags":[473],"class_list":["post-48841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-sales","tag-the-psychology-of-selling","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2 Failproof Techniques for Opening a Sales Pitch - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your sales pitch opening determines how the rest of the interaction will unfold. 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In this post, we&#039;ll take a look at two opening techniques.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-12T09:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-21T17:39:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/salesman_in_suit.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1143\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"2 Failproof Techniques for Opening a Sales Pitch\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-12T09:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-21T17:39:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/\"},\"wordCount\":618,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/salesman_in_suit.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Psychology of Selling\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Sales\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/\",\"name\":\"2 Failproof Techniques for Opening a Sales Pitch - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/opening-sales-pitch\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/salesman_in_suit.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-12T09:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-21T17:39:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"Your sales pitch opening determines how the rest of the interaction will unfold. 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