The Sales Pitch

Today we had a chance to sit through a sales presentation for a Marriott timeshare. Having been in sales, sales management and sales strategy my entire career I really enjoy seeing new approaches and strategies. Of course going into a sales presentation knowing you are not buying makes it very unfair for the sales person but nonetheless very educational.

We were lured into the presentation with a $150 gift certificate to be used on the island we were staying at. One might say $150 is a lot of money but this is a very low cost for a face to face sales presentation with someone who is a qualified buyer. The one area they forgot to ask is, were we interested. In order for someone to be a buyer they have to have 2 requirements they have to be interested and qualified. You will not complete a sale if either of these requirements is not met. As we walked into the presentation we signed up and were given a number. The number was in a 5x7 picture frame so it was not something you could hide. The room we were asked to sit in was also set up for sales one small loveseat with a single chair directly across (couple vs. sales person). After all of the numbers where handed out the sharks were released. You began to see sales people scurrying through the rooms looking for their assigned numbers. Then our sales person approached us and asked if we could follow her as she took us into a small sales room. The presentation was as expected, directional selling letting people say yes as much as possible. The presentation lacked the pressure I was expecting. The sales person had broken English but I guess this could be expected since we were in a foreign country but this was mistake #1 in the sales process. Mistake #2 was she did not gauge our interest if we wanted to buy from the beginning. There is no need to try to sell someone something they do not need or do not want. Mistake #3 once she confirmed we were not going to buy she became less than professional and swiftly moved us out the door to our $150 gift certificate.

Although we had no intention on buying I would have to say the overall sales presentation was good. I actually left the meeting with a good understanding of their product line as well as a good sense of the sales person’s ability. We were presented an option that actually would have met all of our needs if we were going to buy and for that I commend the sales person. After all she really did listen to what we had to say and tried to make the best recommendation possible. If you are in sales make sure your customer is interested and qualified and you will save a lot of time and energy.