What We Can Learn From Pitchmen.
I met television pitchman (OxyClean) Billy Mays at the Chicago IHH show this March. Even in person he was the consummate salesperson--- he was selling himself and looking for products for his reality show "The Pitchmen". His recent passing causes me to reflect on the art of the pitch, not because it will end with him, but how we might use his example for the future.
Mays brand of pitching was in your face, unbridled, capitalistic, with easy-to-understand facts that made you consider the product. His reality show was a peak behind the scenes into what makes a product "pitchable" and how some succeed while others are doomed.
Most manufacturers design packaging to help pitch the product--- details on how it is used or solves needs are bullet pointed on the box. This approach targets self-service shoppers but can make us lazy when people have questions or need info about the product. We sometimes forget the pitch that got us to stock the product when customers ask us for details… what was it the salesman said that convinced you to stock something?
The key to pitching success is to tell your pitch as a story with a beginning, middle and end. For a product like Aloha Chill'R (self-chilled serving bowls) the beginning might be: "We all have been at parties where the potato salad or shrimp cocktail is left out… flies buzz around and the food gets warm…" (the opening frames the problem as something we all have experienced) The middle part of the story: "Until now one solution was to put the food in a cooler or refrigerator and serve portions when needed… that is not convenient and the food is hidden…" (This puts one feasible solution out there but really doesn't sound too practical while keeping the listener interested) The ending (pitch) "Aloha Chill'R keeps your foods cold for up to three hours at picnics and buffets right on the table. The secret is Aloha Chill'R's unique clear covered serving bowl within an ice bin design that safely displays your salads, dips, salsas, sushi, veggies, egg and potato salads or any food you want to stay cold at your next party!" (inserting "your foods" into the pitch--- extends and invites ownership to your audience).
Aloha Chill'R is a real product and the inventor sold 30,000 units in his home state of Hawaii by using variations on this pitch at open-air markets (like the Atlantic City Boardwalk where Mays got his start). People can see products in your stores but they will sell faster with a good pitch.
Ron Jakubisin
See Aloha Chill'R:
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