{"id":20329,"date":"2011-10-24T13:12:52","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T18:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=20329"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:28:58","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T02:28:58","slug":"15-deal-breakers-to-avoid-when-pitching-an-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/money-wealth\/career\/15-deal-breakers-to-avoid-when-pitching-an-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Deal Breakers to Avoid When Pitching an Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vintage
\nYou\u2019ve finally gotten a meeting with the people who can turn your dream into a reality. You can\u2019t wait to walk into that room and sell them your idea. You’ve read up on the first part of this two-part series which covered the nuts and bolts of making a pitch<\/a>, and you feel pretty prepared.<\/p>\n

Awesome. But here\u2019s one of the most important things you need to know: The buyer is not looking to say yes. They\u2019re looking to say no.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is hard for the seller to understand. You feel like the buyer is just waiting to hear your world-changing idea. You\u2019re one guy, with one idea, and you\u2019ve been working on that idea for years. It\u2019s all you think about.<\/p>\n

But the buyer sees dozens, hundreds, even thousands of guys just like you every year. You\u2019re a dime a dozen. For them, saying no is the easiest option. Saying yes involves risk \u2014 of their money and reputation — and it involves time, hassle, and responsibility. Saying no simplifies their life and lets them get on with their day. Basically, buyers are looking for any reason to turn you down.<\/p>\n

Because of the number of pitches they get, all buyers develop ways of slotting sellers into yes and no categories. Your train can be chugging right along, but if you raise a deal breaker red flag \u2014 they’ll throw the switch and put you on the no track. These flags can be really small things, but they\u2019ve probably found that 8 out of 10 people who exhibit those traits end up being a nightmare to work with. And they\u2019re not willing to gamble that you\u2019re one of the two who are exceptions to the rule.<\/p>\n

Sure, buyers\u2019 deal breakers aren\u2019t fair \u2014 not at all. Your idea might be truly fantastic, but you’re having a terrible day and thus blow the pitch. But buyers can\u2019t give every pitch the same attention and thus develop a sorting system by necessity.<\/p>\n

Even though buyers\u2019 deal breakers aren\u2019t fair, they are happily pretty easy to avoid. Here are 15 pitching pitfalls to avoid stepping into, as gleaned from Stephanie Palmer’s Good in Room<\/em><\/a> (as an executive at MGM, she ruined many a screenwriter’s day) and my personal experience on both sides of the desk.<\/p>\n

1. Arriving late.<\/strong> Showing up late demonstrates that you don\u2019t respect the buyers\u2019 time. Here\u2019s a good maxim to live by: \u201cIf you\u2019re on time, you\u2019re late.\u201d There are always going to be unexpected obstacles to getting into that meeting room \u2014 there\u2019s surprisingly heavy traffic on the way there, you have to park a few blocks away, you have to go through a security check in the lobby, the office is on the 50th<\/sup> floor, and all the elevators are full. So you should plan on pulling into the general vicinity of the meeting place 15 minutes ahead of time. If you don\u2019t encounter any of the obstacles just mentioned, then when you get to the office early, tell the receptionist you\u2019re there, but that there\u2019s no need to announce you until 5 minutes prior to the meeting time. Then just take a seat in the waiting area and review your notes.<\/p>\n

2. Dressing inappropriately.<\/strong> Dress in line with the standard of the company you\u2019re pitching to. If they\u2019re a traditional, conservative business, wear a suit. If they\u2019re a modern and casual business, wear khakis and a sport coat. Consider wearing something blue, as this color engenders a feeling of trust.<\/p>\n

3. Taking the wrong seat.<\/strong> People are strangely territorial about their seats. Just try sitting in the wrong pew at a small church (families actually used to \u201crent\u201d a pew back in the 18th<\/sup> century for the privilege of having their name emblazoned on it).<\/p>\n

Sit in the wrong seat at a pitch meeting, and someone may have to awkwardly say, \u201cThat\u2019s my seat.\u201d Or they may say nothing, but sit through the meeting feeling a bit put out by your perceived presumptuousness.<\/p>\n

Where they\u2019d like you to plant your kiester may be obvious \u2014 but if it\u2019s not, then simply ask, \u201cWhere would you like me to sit?\u201d when you walk in.<\/p>\n

4. Getting their name wrong.<\/strong> Everyone loves the sound of their own name, which is why using someone\u2019s name is one of the easiest ways to build rapport. Conversely, getting someone\u2019s name wrong<\/em> is one of the quickest ways to stop rapport-building dead in its tracks.<\/p>\n

This might seem like a no-brainer, but I can\u2019t tell you how many emails we get addressed to \u201cBrent<\/em> and Kay<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you get someone\u2019s name wrong, you show you really don\u2019t know much about the company you\u2019re pitching to or that you\u2019re inattentive to details. It can also make you seem highly disingenuous if you follow your name-blunder with, \u201cI\u2019m such a big fan of yours!\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Not addressing the pitch to everyone in the room<\/strong>. If both the president and the VP are sitting in on the meeting, don\u2019t only address your remarks to the president, and slight the veep. Talk and make eye contact with everyone in the room, from the lowliest note taker to the head honcho.<\/p>\n

6. Acting nervous.<\/strong> Maybe your idea is great, you prepared for the presentation like a champ, and the nervousness you\u2019re exhibiting is simply from a fear of public speaking. But there\u2019s no way around it: nervousness translates as incompetence and weakness. The buyer will wonder if you didn\u2019t prep enough or if your idea is so risky that even you don\u2019t have full confidence in it. Either way, you\u2019ve just made your job ten times harder. And you\u2019ve made their job more difficult as well; they might like your idea, but feel like they can\u2019t introduce you to the higher-ups.<\/p>\n

Nervousness can be manifested through fumbling with materials, technical glitches, excessive “ummms” and “uhhhs,”<\/a> and super sweaty pits. If the latter is a problem for you, wear a jacket and\/or wear a clinical strength deodorant.<\/p>\n

7. Starting with an apology.<\/strong> Whether for your lateness, your nervousness, or something, else, this is quite possibly the weakest opening you can give your pitch. Let the first words out of your mouth be a show of strength and confidence.<\/p>\n

8. Giving your own opinion of your work<\/strong>. Don\u2019t say, \u201cThis is an awesome idea that is going to change the world.\u201d Let the idea speak for itself.<\/p>\n

9. Telling the buyer how they\u2019re going to feel.<\/strong> Don\u2019t say, \u201cYou\u2019re going to love this” or \u201cI have an idea that\u2019s perfect for you.\u201d People hate being told what they think or how they\u2019re going to feel.<\/p>\n

10. Jumping into your pitch too soon.<\/strong> The first thing you want to do is build rapport with the buyer. Jumping into your pitch before you build that rapport is like trying to dive down a Slip ‘n Slide before you\u2019ve turned on the water.<\/p>\n

11. Talking money too soon.<\/strong> If you\u2019re looking for a big investment, and you talk about that nut too soon, the buyer is going to feel immediate trepidation and view the rest of your presentation through the lens of, \u201cThis better be good to warrant that amount of money!\u201d It heightens their expectations considerably. But if you dazzle them with your presentation, by the time you get to talking money, they\u2019ll see the number through the lens of, \u201cWhatever it is, we\u2019ll make it work. We have to make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

12. Offering phony flattery.<\/strong> A company recently made me a pitch. They began their Powerpoint presentation with a slide that said, \u201cThe Art of Manliness: World’s Best Online Magazine for Men.\u201d A spreadsheet they sent us was entitled: \u201cArt of Manliness World’s Best Data.\u201d Did I mention that the meeting reminder they sent called the meeting \u201cArt of Manliness+World’s Best\u201d and the password was \u201cTheBest?\u201d<\/p>\n

To me this came off as desperate and over-the-top. A little flattery is good and builds rapport. But too much comes off as insincere and desperate \u2014 as it will make the buyer feel like what you\u2019re selling needs to be unduly padded.<\/p>\n

To flatter with class, compliment the buyer on something specific they\u2019ve done that you liked, especially something that the average joe who doesn\u2019t know a lot about the company wouldn\u2019t be aware of.<\/p>\n

13. Not giving enough context.<\/strong> In the book Made to Stick<\/em><\/a>, Chip and Dan Heath discuss what they call \u201cThe Curse of Knowledge.\u201d The Curse of Knowledge describes the fact that when you\u2019re steeped in a subject, you can easily forget that others are not as familiar with it as you are. Something may seem so basic to you that it doesn\u2019t even warrant mentioning, but for someone else, it can be a brand new idea. By assuming that the buyers know things that they don\u2019t, you may omit key facts from your presentation. The buyers’ resulting confusion will then lead to writing you off.<\/p>\n

If there are spots in your pitch where you’re not sure if you and the buyer are on the same page, simply say, “Are you familiar with X?” before launching into your next point. This also keeps you from boring the buyer with information they already know.<\/p>\n

14. Using terminology the buyer isn\u2019t familiar with.<\/strong> This is related to the point above. We had a television\/film agent who would talk to us with lots of Hollywood lingo that a couple of Oklahomans could not follow. And that\u2019s part of the reason we switched to another agent.<\/p>\n

15. Saying just \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/strong> Instead say, \u201cI don\u2019t know. But I will find that out for you and send you an email with the information later today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve finally gotten a meeting with the people who can turn your dream into a reality. You can\u2019t wait to walk into that room and sell them your idea. You’ve read up on the first part of this two-part series which covered the nuts and bolts of making a pitch, and you feel pretty prepared. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[424,6,42279],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-20329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-featured","category-money-wealth"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/10\/pitch-400x280.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/10\/pitch-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/10\/pitch-320x249.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20329"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127115,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20329\/revisions\/127115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20329"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}