You may love the rides or the auto show or the badass fried food at the State Fair of Texas. Me? I can’t wait to watch the guy sell Kitchen Craft skillets. And that’s where I sat last night for 30 minutes on a glorious October evening at the Fair.

My Kitchen Craft guy, Randy, knows what he’s doing. Kitchen Craft knows what they’re doing. They’ve been selling this stuff at the fair since 1906. These appliances are expensive. Their pitch works. People buy. Here’s how they do it.

1. Focus on buyer outcome, not on the product itself. Randy is not selling skillets. Randy is selling good health and longevity by eating healthy and preparing vitamin rich food. TIP: Focus your selling on benefits, not function.
2. Overcome Obstacles in Clever Way. Randy says to us, “An 84-year old woman came up to me yesterday after the demonstration and said, ‘I’m buying it all.’ ‘But, ma’am, excuse me for saying this, why would you want to buy all of this at this point in your life?’ ‘I’m tired of having mismatched pots and pans for my whole life.’ ‘But, don’t you have to get your husband’s sign off?’ ‘He’s not here’ ‘Oh, I’m sorry that he’s passed.’ ‘Oh, he’s still alive, he’s at the car show. I’m making this decision.’ ‘But this is expensive.’ ‘That’s ok. I want quality and it’s something my kids and grandkids will enjoy.’” TIP: Do you see what Randy is doing? He’s using a fictitious story to overcome our obstacles without being in your face. Think about the obstacles your buyers face and how you will overcome them.
3. Give Away Something for Free. We love give-aways! Randy’s pitch includes extra items depending on how much you buy. Plus, he gives us a sample of everything he cooks. (The steamed carrots were a nice contrast to the fried funnel cake bacon cheeseburger I’d just eaten…) TIP: What can you give away for free to your customers?
4. Tell a Story Using What You’re Selling. – Randy shows us a Time Magazine Cover proving that eating out of scratched up Teflon coated skillets increases your chance of Alzheimer’s. That’s a story we don’t want.
5. Provide Value Before Pricing. – Randy spends 98% of our time talking in a conversational manner about our health, our ability to prepare food in a healthy way, and our joy of eating clean food. TIP: Never, ever, talk $$ before talking value. Ever.
6. Know Your Audience. Randy is selling an American manufactured product to Americans in America. He waves the American flag during his pitch! Kitchen Craft wants to make us feel good about supporting our country. TIP: How can you tap into your audiences’ trigger points?
7. Provide Emotional Context. Randy uses humor by showing us examples of the worn out pots ‘n pans we have in our kitchens. TIP: Whenever you can make your listener laugh, you diffuse tension and increase retention of your info.

Your homework: Use these techniques in your sales pitches, in your board rooms, with your teams, and anywhere else you want to persuade other decision makers to buy your ideas/ventures/skillets.

© Karen Cortell Reisman, M.S., author of 3 books and President of Speak For Yourself®, works with decision makers on how to speak with gravitas. It’s all in how you speak for yourself. Karen also speaks about her cousin, Albert Einstein, in a message about hope, resilience and brassieres.

Read more at www.SpeakForYourself.com/blog.

Did you know that we also work 1:1 with decision makers on overcoming the fear of public speaking? Click here: https://www.karencortellreisman.com/seminar-what-i-didnt-say.html