Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch)

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Oct 22, 2023

April Dunford, best-selling author and VP of Marketing, dives into effective sales pitching strategies with rich insights from her books. She explores the importance of storytelling in pitches, emphasizing how to connect with customer pain points. April reveals a structured framework for crafting pitches that stand out and successfully navigate buyer indecision. Listeners learn to combat objections, the value of collaboration between teams, and why avoiding FOMO in sales is crucial for success. A wealth of practical tips awaits!

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INSIGHT

Indecision in B2B Purchases

Many B2B purchase processes end without a decision, not because the old solution is better.
The inability to confidently choose a solution often leads to delays.

ANECDOTE

Help Scout's Transformation

April Dunford helped Help Scout improve their sales pitch by focusing on value, not just features.
This helped customers understand Help Scout's unique position in the market.

ADVICE

Structuring Sales Pitches

Structure sales pitches with a setup phase and a follow-through phase.
The setup focuses on market insights and alternative solutions.

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The JOLT Effect

How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision

Ted McKenna

Matthew Dixon

The JOLT Effect, written by Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna, addresses the vital problem of customer indecision in sales. Drawing from a study of over 2.5 million sales conversations, the book reveals that high-performing sales reps succeed by addressing the customer’s fear of failure. It offers a counterintuitive playbook that turns conventional sales wisdom on its head, providing robust data, insights, and practical guidance to close the gap between customer intent and action.

Positioning

The Battle for Your Mind

Al Ries

Jack Trout

This book introduces the concept of positioning as a crucial strategy in marketing. It explains how to effectively communicate with a skeptical and media-blitzed public by creating a position in the prospect's mind that reflects the company's strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors. The authors provide valuable case histories and analyses of successful and failed advertising campaigns, emphasizing the importance of simplicity, consistency, and understanding how people think and evaluate information. The book also discusses strategies such as making and positioning an industry leader, occupying a niche, and repositioning competitors to create a unique market position.

The Challenger Sale

Taking Control of the Customer Conversation

Brent Adamson

Matthew Dixon

Based on an extensive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries, 'The Challenger Sale' argues that classic relationship building is less effective, especially in complex business-to-business sales. The authors identify five distinct sales profiles, with the 'Challenger' being the highest performer. Challengers approach customers with unique insights, tailor their message to the customer's needs, and assertively take control of the sale. The book provides a framework for identifying and training sales reps to adopt the Challenger approach, which can lead to higher customer loyalty and greater growth.

Be Useful

Seven Tools for Life

Arnold Schwarzenegger

In 'Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life,' Arnold Schwarzenegger shares his insights on how to live a fulfilling life through seven key tools: establishing a clear vision, thinking big, embracing hard work, fostering effective communication, cultivating resilience in problem-solving, remaining open-minded and attentive, and committing to social responsibility. The book is written in Schwarzenegger's unique voice and includes compelling personal stories of his successes and failures from his career as a bodybuilder, movie star, and politician. It emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility, giving back, and the role of others in one's success.

The Challenger Customer

Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results

Brent Adamson

Nick Toman

Pat Spenner

Matthew Dixon

This book builds on the authors' previous work, 'The Challenger Sale', by focusing on the challenges of selling to a group of buyers with different goals and priorities. It identifies seven profiles of B2B buyers, distinguishing 'Talkers' from 'Mobilizers', who have the credibility and persuasive skills to drive consensus within the customer organization. The authors provide research-based tools and a blueprint for finding, engaging, and equipping these Mobilizers to effectively challenge their own organization and push deals to completion.

Inside the Tornado

Geoffrey A. Moore

Sales Pitch

April Dunford