Pitch Anything Book Review Part 1

by Julie Broad

$20 minutes to mroe money\$ The phone rings. When you pick it up there's a pause and then someone asks for "Mr. or Mrs. Penook" (or whatever badly pronounced version of your last name they come up with).

Immediately you feel yourself bristle. I equate it to when hackles go up on a dog. Somebody is in your territory and they want something from you.

That bristling; that immediate resistance you feel the second you realize the phone call is from a telemarketer and not a friend or family member, is the same feeling the private lender, the joint venture partner, and even the home seller feels when you're sitting down to meet with them. Even though they've agreed to meet with you, they have anxiety as they are wondering what you want, how much time you're going to take and whether they should trust you or fear you.

It's a lot to overcome right from the start. And getting over the initial resistance that is present is a bigger subject than we're going to cover today, but what I am going to share will help. It is my own personal application of a 20 minute pitch that Oren Klaff presents in his brand new kick butt sales book: Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading and Winning the Deal.

First of all, calm your own anxiety when you feel the prospects tension. Remind yourself that you have already done something right because they agreed to meet with you and then start putting the 20 minute pitch to work immediately. Oren suggests you avoid small talk. It does nothing for the anxiety and can even give the person you're meeting with power and control over the meeting. Instead begin your meeting with something like this:

"Let's get started. If I spend about 20 minutes giving you the essential details of what we do then we'll have a bit of time to talk it over before I have to leave for another meeting."

Something like this puts your prospect at ease because you've just let them know that you're not going to take all day, you know exactly what you need to say and you are busy/in demand (If it looks like you have nothing else going on they aren't going to want to do business with you - kind of like nobody wants to eat in the empty restaurant they'd rather wait in line at the busy one).

So how's your 20 minute pitch look? Here's the outline:

Introduce yourself & the big idea (the reason for the meeting) - 5 minutes

Explain WHY (depending on what your meeting is about you are getting into WHY you, WHY this offer or this deal, and WHY now) - 10 minutes

Make your offer - 2 minutes

Stack the 'frames' for a hot cognition - 3 minutes

You really need to read Oren's book to get a good grasp on frames and how to control the frame in a conversation but simply explained frames are basically our own perspectives and how we try to control a conversation. Some will have an analytical frame, others a power frame and some others will be busy and have a frame around time. Regardless, you need to identify the frames that are coming at you, and learn how to respond in order to have YOUR frame be in charge of the meeting.

If I am applying the 20 minute pitch principles to a joint venture partnership presentation here's how it's going to look:

Phase 1: Introduction

In less than 60 seconds I'll explain our big wins. In our case I would emphasize our recent award from Canadian Real Estate Magazine as Best Investor and Best Investing Website, our consistent results in providing our JV partners about a 15% per year return on their investment, and our Better Business Bureau top rating. For fun, I might also mention the fact that a local news reporter that interviewed Dave recently, called him the Donald Trump of Vancouver Island. That's it. I could say a lot more about our depth of experience, education and even the related jobs we've held. But, I won't.

In your case, highlight your greatest real estate related accomplishment and your greatest strength. Resist the urge to go on and on about yourself.

Next, move onto the deal or concept you're presenting (if you don't have a specific deal). Address the unspoken questions about whether real estate is a good investment, why you are the person to do this with, and why it's important NOW. At this point I would also remind them that the reason for the meeting is to explore whether they are a good fit for what you offer. Remind them that they need to prove themselves to you.