Several years ago I saw a salesperson work a room at a networking event booking meeting after meeting.
It was masterful.
The meeting he booked with me resulted in a $65k sale.
Here’s how he did it.
(Approaches.)
Ben: “Hi, I’m Ben.”
Me: “Hey Ben nice to meet you. So, what do you do?”
(Asks a Question to Determine to Provide Context)
Ben: “Thanks for asking. Quick question. Does your team or a team you know make cold calls?”
Me: “Yes. We have an SDR team doing outbound.”
(Asks a Question to Determine If I Can Relate to the Problem He Solves)
Ben: “Do you know how SDRs make cold calls for an hour and only have 1 or 2 live conversations because most people don’t pick up?”
Me: “Yeah.”
(Communicates How The Solution Helps Me Do Something Better)
Ben: “With ConnectandSell, reps click a button and have 7-8 live conversations in an hour instead of 1 or 2 so they can get more opps.”
Me: “How does that work?”
Ben: “Would it make sense ot carve out come time later this week so I can show you? Perhaps Thursday or Friday?”
Me: “Thursday works.”
Using the approach I saw Ben set about 11 meetings in a hour.
If Ben didn’t get a positive response to his first question he politely bowed out.
Why?
Because Ben has a room of 100 people to work in an hour.
Ben knows he’s not for everyone.
The lesson?
When people ask you what you do, what they’re secretly asking is, “What can you do for me?”
Ditch the pitch.
Context matters.
You might describe what you do differently based on the job your prospect wants to get done.
Solutions have no value without problems.