Right at the intersection that exists between persuasive communication and assertive communication we find the promotional presentation, including persuasive presentations such as a commercial pitch, but not only that, but presentations in which in general we have to promote or position a product, service, person or idea.
What that means is that, in order to make an effective promotional presentation that truly leads people to make a purchase decision, or a decision to take action focused on supporting, buying or consuming your product or service or adopting an idea, it is essential that your communication be more focused on the persuasive aspect than on the aspect of making information available.
In fact, many salespeople, executives or novice entrepreneurs can make the mistake of drowning the prospect or audience in information, which can result in the person not buying, not because they don't have the need or because they don't like the product, but because they are overwhelmed with so much information.
Studies over the past 50 years have documented with a high level of certainty that, for a person to make a purchase decision quickly, what they need is not more options, but more specific options and that these options be designed around their real needs. And, above all, that these options be communicated with assertiveness and practicality.
On the other hand, inexperienced salespeople (in any industry) can fall into the widespread confusion that a commercial pitch has to be a presentation based on empathy. Now, I don't want what I'm saying to be misunderstood. I'm not trying to convince you to make your commercial pitch standing in selfishness. It has nothing to do with that. In fact, empathy is fundamental to having good communication and good business relationships. The question is when and at what point empathy should be used.
To clarify that question, let's study the work of Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, who in their book The Challenger Sale give us the conclusions of a study that analyzed the sales patterns of an important database, specifically focused on behavioral analysis and the way of communicating of the so-called Top Performers.
The findings of this study are very interesting. The authors classify the most common salespeople into five large groups.
The first group is what we're going to call the disciplined one. The disciplined one is that salesman who bets on numbers. He knows that if he makes 100% of calls, he will probably have 15% of positive responses, and that of that 15%, perhaps 5% or 10% of sales will close. (These numbers are examples; they should not be taken under any circumstance as a real parameter of how a sales funnel should work. Each product is different, each brand has its considerations, and each sales team should have its own projections.)
So, what the disciplined one does is look at past data, and from those cases, draw his own conclusions. Let's say he has a very specific floor and his expectations are also, in a way, limited to previous results.
We're going to call the second group the problem solver, which is that person who has the belief that, in order for him to be bought from, he must first solve all of the prospect's problems. It is an attentive person, of active listening, and who is capable of anticipating customer needs. Sometimes, the problem solver can come to prioritize trying to solve the problem more than the sale itself, although on many occasions that attitude of service can help him create meaningful relationships with his prospects, which is also good.
We're going to call the third group the lone wolves. We've all met a salesman who fits that category. It is that person who, because of their skills and experience, has good results selling, but doesn't like working in a team, doesn't like following processes, and it will be a thorn in the side to follow up with them to update information in the CRM.
The lone wolf has a lot of self-confidence and projects a lot of credibility. That confidence and credibility are derived from the good results he has had in the past, and he is seen as that person who, although he doesn't always follow the processes, in general is going to bring sales. That's the lone wolf.
We're going to call the fourth group the relationship builder. And this is the group of empathetic salespeople. In active listening they score 10 out of 10. They are those people who can spend a lot of time understanding the customer's situation and making them see that they are understood. Deep down, for that person it can be equally or even more satisfying to have built a deep relationship with the prospect, even if that relationship did not result in the sale closing.
It's very clear to me that the current paradigm of sales leans heavily on the concept of empathy. There is the idea that a good salesman is an empathetic salesman. And although this may be true from a certain point of view, we have to open our eyes and be aware that a salesman who prioritizes empathy does not prioritize the sale. Because we can't hunt two rabbits at the same time: either we're doing one thing, or we're doing the other. Either we're building relationships, or we're closing the sale.
The results of the study presented in the book The Challenger Sale support this point of view. According to that case, 25% of salespeople who may fit in the Top Performers category follow the behavioral profile of the lone wolf. 17% adheres to the disciplined behavior profile, 12% can be classified as problem solver, and only a small 7% can be identified as a relationship builder.
If we extrapolate these figures, it can be said with confidence that, of the 100% of excellent salespeople, only 7% will achieve it through an empathetic conversation.
If that were true, we can conclude that empathy does not always play a crucial role when making a commercial pitch.
There should be something else. What will that "something else" be?
The same study reveals that there is a fifth type of salespeople, and 39% of salespeople who are Top Performers fit in this classification. We're going to call this type of salesman the challenger, or Challenger in English.
So, who is the challenger? The challenger is that salesman who makes his pitch from the consultative point of view. At the beginning of the sale, he is going to ask the right questions and is going to use empathy as a research tool to gain intelligence and market insight.
But then, at the moment of making the pitch, he is going to take off the research hat and put on the hat of assertive communication.
As we have seen in previous pages, from the point of view of our quadrant, assertive communication is the opposite of empathetic communication.
Empathetic communication is person-centered communication.
Assertive communication is message-centered communication.
Assertive communication means using specific words to communicate the message clearly and precisely.
And that's why the challenger is called a challenger: because it is that person who is able to propose to the client a disruptive solution, even when that solution is different from what the person was expecting.
A relationship builder (to whom only 7% of probability of being a Top Performer is attributed, according to the sample analyzed) will lead with empathy, but has less chance of closing the sale.
While a challenger will lead with assertiveness and has much more chance of becoming a Top Performer, according to this study.
That seems interesting to me, and also seems countercultural, because: We live in times when we want to be so nice, so polite and so politically correct, that we believe empathy is the key to everything. But when it comes to leadership, empathy is not always the solution.
Let me share a personal story with you: last weekend, we visited relatives to have a barbecue. We all gathered around the grill and I started cooking for the guests.
Among the guests were my in-laws, my mom, family friends and other guests. And of course, my wife and my daughters were also there.
My oldest daughter (who is about to turn four years old) was hungry and was getting desperate because the meat was taking a long time to come off the grill.
And then something happened: my mom asked her to calm down, and my daughter responded with a rude outburst, one of those typical of children her age.
I got her attention and told her she was grounded and to go to her room. The girl didn't obey me, so the conversation escalated.
She responded to me in a defiant tone: "No". So I left what I was doing at the grill, took her to the room, where I got her attention more energetically, and reminded her of the importance of not being rude to anyone. And she stayed grounded.
Upon returning, a friend of my mother-in-law (who was present) applauded me symbolically, recognizing that I had been firm in the education of my daughter.
We spoke briefly about how, in new generations, it seems almost as if it were a sin or a crime to call children's attention or punish them, because it would seem as if the education of children had to be 100% empathetic.
My in-laws' friend is a woman of a certain age, who is already a grandmother, and has seen how child education has evolved over the decades.
This anecdote led us to reflect on the importance of leadership, and that, although in education with children (as well as in any type of communication with people) one should never be rude or violent, one should learn to be firm when needed.
Because empathetic communication is not always the key.
Sometimes something more is needed.
That "something more" is what the challenger salesman understands.
And that "something more" is, precisely, assertive communication.
Common Mistakes
One of the most common mistakes seen in commercial pitches (both of products and services, whether in person, by phone, by email or via WhatsApp) is the mistake of, having the idea that you have to be very empathetic with the other person, we end up losing assertiveness.
Let's remember that if we are in a position where we have to make a commercial pitch, it's because, from the start, the person has recognized that they have a pain point or a need and is open to the possibility that our solution could provide them with something positive in solving the problem they are experiencing.
And then we have to ask ourselves: what do we require from the people who lead us in life?
Because you, as a salesman, that's what you're doing: you're leading your prospect through a decision-making process to select the best alternative to solve their problem. So you, as a salesman, are leading. And we, as consumers, have to ask ourselves what we expect from the leaders around us.
Let's go to the definition of leadership: leadership is moving a person from one place to another.
There are certain attributes that greatly facilitate the conception of leadership, including confidence, intelligence and experience, but without a doubt, one of the skills that contributes most to us becoming better leaders is the ability of certainty, conviction, or the ability to create certainty in others.
Leadership applied in sales means that I must have the ability to make the person feel certain that they are making the best decision they could be making at that moment.
I'm not going to achieve that unless I do it with a much more assertive language.
As I have said, that doesn't mean there's no room for empathy in the business process. But empathy comes first: when we greet, when we ask, when we are researching.
But when the time has come to make the commercial pitch, it must be done from a place of great certainty and using the language
more assertive than possible for you.
Very much in line with this idea, I'm going to tell you what is one of the most important challenges I have seen when training groups of salespeople.
At Leaderlix, we are specialists in impactful communication, and many times we are hired to train commercial agents, consultative sellers or consultants who have to position products or services in people's minds at different stages of the funnel. Across the board, one of the most frequent problems I see arises when the salesperson doesn't believe what they are selling.
This happens for multiple reasons, including product quality, supply chain challenges, delays in the technological innovation path, and many, many other reasons a salesperson might have for not being 100% confident in their product's attributes.
The mistake occurs when that salesperson receives an objection… and the salesperson themselves —even though they can't accept it— agrees with that objection.
This is where the most common mistake and the most important problem after delivering a sales pitch begins.
The Coco-Wash
Let me give you an example. Imagine that you are a salesperson and you are trying to position in the minds of a group of decision makers. Let's say you are trying to position to a group of dermatologists a new solution for a certain type of skin inflammation that generates both aesthetic problems and future health problems.
And so, since you're in the industry, you more or less know what the characteristics and attributes are not only of your product, but also of your competitors' products. And you find out that recently the competition has developed a scientific innovation that has allowed them to create a better product at a lower price.
If you are a salesperson and you find yourself in that situation, very soon your prospects are going to start presenting you with that objection.
And here, as a salesperson, you have two options.
The first option is to listen to the objection and empathize with the customer, which will inevitably lead you to agreeing with them, because the customer is speaking the truth to you.
The second option is offered to us by the way of thinking of assertive language.
This is: instead of focusing on that problem that the customer is bringing me (and which is probably a real problem), and before asking myself if I empathize with that customer or not, I have to develop the ability to believe in the product I am selling.
I can tell you with great confidence that, of the thousands of salespeople we have trained, those who become excellent salespeople do so because they develop mastery in the following behavior pattern:
Just like every morning you wake up and brush your teeth, in the same way every morning you have to wake up and do the coco-wash that the product or service you are selling is the best alternative for the market it is aimed at.
This doesn't mean deceiving yourself or lying to others. Rather, it has to do with learning to ask yourself:
From what angle and from what point of view is the product I sell better than the products or services of my competition?
Many of the challenges at the commercial level originate from the way salespeople, commercial managers (including sales directors) see marketing efforts.
A salesperson often sees marketing efforts as uninformed, insufficient and not based in reality.
What salespeople need to do to improve their results is that, before being so quick to judge marketing efforts, they need to understand why the company is investing in pushing a particular product or service to a particular market.
The average salesperson will think that the strategic decision made in marketing (to use that message for that market) is an incorrect decision.
The Top Performer will be able to connect the dots and understand what the reason is, at the level of market intelligence, to make the decision to push that product or service with that message in that market.
What this means is that a bad salesperson abuses empathy and puts themselves in the customer's shoes when the customer cannot or does not want to make the purchase decision.
When that happens, commercial results remain stable… or they can even decline.
What this also means is that a good salesperson knows where to temporarily set aside empathy with the customer in order to take on a leadership role, which —with assertive communication— allows them to lead by closing the sale.
If you have any doubt about this point of view, I want you to imagine going to the gym to strengthen your body or lose weight. And you can choose two coaches: the one empathetic to your current situation, the reasons why you've gained weight and your habits, or the assertive one, who although can understand you, sees themselves as a facilitator of a result: that of helping you achieve your goal of improving your condition.
Which of the two would you go with? Which of the two has more chances of giving you results?
Best Practices
We must be very careful to remember that the sales pitch is not the only part of the sale.
In fact, a consultative salesperson who is much more complete and has more tools will know how to move across all four quadrants.
A good salesperson will know when to empathize and when not to empathize, when to inspire and when to lead, when to talk about the product and when to talk about the prospect's problems.
Above all, a good salesperson will be in control of their own emotions and will have the ability not to get hooked in a business conversation.
Let me share a story with you.
Recently I worked with a group of Top Performers at a financial institution, and at some point we talked about the importance of not getting emotionally hooked when someone on the other end of the phone is being unreasonable or rude.
For me it was interesting to present this idea to them and to listen, and to realize, how many of them even took pride in talking about how difficult it was for them not to get hooked.
Even for the best salespeople, it is a matter of pride to know how to defend themselves from a prospect when they consider it necessary.
But what distinguishes good salespeople from excellent and reliable salespeople is that they are in control of their emotions at all times.
There are industries that do this with greater or lesser regularity or confidence. For example, in the tourism-hotel sector, the same profile of people who enter to work in those companies means they don't get hooked as easily as in other industries, such as telecommunications, financial institutions and others.
In short, the point here is not to define for whom it is harder or easier work, but that regardless of the industry, regardless of the product and regardless of experience, the best salespeople take responsibility for their emotions and take control of how they communicate with others.
Where to Start?
You can use this script as a first step, and adapt it to your personal needs.
Bibliography
Dixon, M., & Adamson, B. (2011). The challenger sale: Taking control of the customer conversation. Portfolio.