You may be a freelancer/ an entrepreneur/ or your company’s sales representative. In either of these roles, you have to put forth an image of an offer which your customer cannot refuse to buy! You are always in the hunt for a hack to ace at making an irresistible sales pitch.
But most of us know that it is easier said than done! How do we ascertain our credibility? With numbers? Stats? Market analytics? Or how about stories? Ever tried telling one?
Stories help bridging the gap between credible data and winning the much anticipated confidence of your prospective clients.
Okay so now it just got more complicated! As if performance and sales pressure wasn’t enough, now you got to be a storyteller too?
It might not be as difficult as you think! Just make sure that your pitch passes the Sinatra Test!
The intricacies of the jargon will be revealed soon, but let me tell you a story first!
Safe-express, India based family-owned shipping business, wanted to make a difference in the existing “shipping & delivery” market which was highly competitive and price sensitive.
While the other shipping companies offered low fares, but no guarantee of goods delivery, Safe-express assured its customers of safe and on-time delivery of their shipments.
International companies operating in India, immediately accepted Safe-express with open arms for they were used to Fed-ex services. But it was yet to make inroads with the Indian companies.
Rubal Jain, from Safe-express, determined to change this, approached a famous Bollywood studio proposing that Safe-express would distribute the studio’s films.
His claim was met with stupefied horror! Was he kidding?
The skepticism was justified, for Piracy is a major concern in the film business, making distribution – mission critical! If the films got misplaced, pirated CDs of the film would end up in the street corners in no time…
It was a risk, the studio couldn’t take.
But Rubal had his pitch ready! Safexpress had deftly handled a very complicated delivery already! They were the ones who delivered the 5th Harry Potter book in every bookstore in India.
This was an insanely complicated delivery: all the books had to reach by 8:00 AM in stores across the country. Not too early, not too late! The Potter books needed the same piracy protections as the studio’s films—there could be no leaks.
After telling the Potter story, Jain had another one in his arsenal.
He said to the studio executive who he knew had a brother giving the board exams, “By the way, we also safely delivered the examination papers for your brother’s boards and carried the return answer sheets.”
Two months later, the deal was signed.
Both of Jain’s stories passed the Sinatra Test.
The phrase is derived from Frank Sinatra’s classic “New York, New York,” where he sings about starting a new life in New York City, and the chorus declares, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”
A sales pitch passes the Sinatra Test when the examples cited establishes the company/service’s credibility in a given domain. For example, if you have written blogs for Freakonomics, you can write for any finance blog out there! Or if you have animated for a Disney movie, you can pitch for any animation studio in the world!
Rubal Jain could have used statistics instead of stories – “98.84% of our deliveries arrive on time.”
Or
He could have drawn on an external source of credibility, such as a testimonial from the CEO of a multinational company.
But, there’s nothing more extraordinary than being the company that successfully delivered board exams papers and the latest Harry Potter book. These stories make you think, “If Safexpress can make it there, they can make it anywhere.”
Isn’t this what you want your clients to think about your offerings too? Next time Ace at making a sales pitch, make sure you tell the right story and that it passes the Sinatra Test!
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About Idea Toasters
Idea Toasters is a platform where we share ideas and practices to boost innovation and creativity. Our goal is to build the science of innovation and creativity.
An engineer with an MS in Insurance by education, a content specialist by profession and a lover of words forever. Has worked with one of the biggest private general insurers of India. MICA Alumni.