Brian Basilico: The Pitch Fork…The Devil Is In The Details

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Making The Pitch

All day long we are bombarded with ads…in emails, on social media and especially on those quizzes (I should live in Hawaii by the way). If you attend webinars, you know it’s coming. People don’t go through all that effort for grins and giggles. At some point they are going to try to sell you something.

If you are the one holding the webinar, you have time at the end of the session where you present an offer. You hope that all of the great content you presented was enough to convince your audience to jump at your offer. As a teacher, I have no problem delivering killer content, but when I get to the pitch, I turn into a ball of mush. I stumble, stutter and have a hard time keeping my focus. Why? Because I have been to so many webinars where I have been tempted to whip out my credit card, but I hesitated to pull the trigger.

The Fork In The Road

There is that moment of truth where a decision has to be made. Will this purchase make a difference to me and my business? Do I really need this? Is this the best deal I can find? There is the fork in the road where you can choose to leave the webinar, continue to listen a little longer for another pitch or pull out your credit card and make a purchase. That decision rests on certain criteria…Am I buying something that will be a dud? Do I know, like and trust this person or company making the offer? Can I visualize the return on investment? Can I afford it or can I afford not to?

I get something in the pit of my stomach, something similar to when I am buying a car and the salesman brings over his manager to say…”What do we have to do to make this deal today?” “How much do you want to spend a month?” “I have another couple interested and it will be gone later this afternoon!” I have walked out many a time when they start going into the ‘pitching a close’ mode.

What Your Audience Wants

Put yourself in their shoes. Is what you are selling speaking to them in a new way that they have not heard before? Can you prove that it’s worth the price of admission? Will they see the return on investment and have you proven it to them?

What your audience wants is for you and your product or service to be an answer to the problems they are having and questions they have been asking…you have to define the problem, ask the questions and give them compelling answers, so when they get to the fork in the road, they are willing to jump on board!

1. I Hurt – Can you find what pains your potential audience? It could be a lack of time, knowledge or both. Sometimes it’s just that they “Don’t know what they don’t know.” Is what you have to offer more like a Vicodin than an aspirin? It can’t just mask the pain, it has to remove it. As business owners, we may not even know that we are hurting. We are so busy washing the bottles, that we never do any heavy lifting. Sometimes you have to show your audience the pain. Once they are conscious of it, you may get another pass at them to sell them the pain killer!
2. WIIFM – You know your audience is asking “What’s In It For Me!” You can’t just identify a problem, you have to show that your solution not only cures the pain, but makes their life or business better. If you spend a dollar and make a dollar, that is money laundering. If you spend a dollar and make a hundred dollars, now you are talking. People are growing numb to promises of the six or seven figure solution. You have to provide some solid data and testimonials that support your claims. Even better if that person or company is willing to provide the data or testimonials on audio or video for credibility.
3. Free vs Fee – Why would people want to pay you good money to get something that is available for free on the internet? That one is simple…it’s you. Google offers tons of free stuff, but if you need assistance from them good luck getting it. If you are spending hundreds or thousands on ads a month, they call you. If not, feel free to search their help system. Create a customer support system to assist your clients when they need you, and they will get it and pay you for your product/knowledge. Being responsive to emails and social media is a great place to begin. Creating closed groups on both Facebook and LinkedIn are great ideas!

Devil Is In The Details

Last week I taught a webinar. The audio had an echo when it was presented and recorded, because I had a second mic that I did not realize was live during the session. I went back and painstakingly re-recorded the audio, before I posted the replay. Why? Because the internet is forever, and I had a second chance to make a great first impression to those who had not attended live.

Not only is the quality of what you present under scrutiny, but HOW you present it is too. If you want to create a great impression of the quality of what you have to offer, you also have to impress while you are presenting. Quality counts. It will show how you plan to deliver and support what you are selling. It could be a graphic, podcast, video or post to social media, but quality counts. We learn while we teach what we’ve learned. Give it your best.

Did this resonate with you? How do you feel about webinars? Do you like them, avoid them or what?