How to be a Cliff Notes Salesperson
Jun 09
Did you ever refer to or use Cliff Notes when you were in school?
Cliff Notes are officially classified as “student guides to literature”. However, many students used these greatly abbreviated versions of books to understand an entire book in a fraction of the time.
Most salespeople could use this approach and concept especially when dealing with corporate executives.
I recently heard the CEO of a company say, “I have ADD so you have about eight seconds to get my attention.” Pretty harsh words but let’s look at things from their perspective for a minute.
Decision makers are exceptionally busy and assuming you can catch their attention; you also need to deliver the rest of your presentation in a clear, concise manner.
Forget about discussing every aspect of your solution or offering.
These people have no patience to sit through a lengthy sales pitch particularly if the solution is not relevant to their situation. Highlight the key points and discuss the rest of the information only if requested.
Stand out from your competition by delivering a Cliff Notes version of your solution.
If you are in sales today, the chances you “used” Cliff Notes to save time and make up for procrastinating when you were a student is about 100%!
Good piece Kelley-
Mike