Turn Every Presentation into a Conversation that Matters

to Your Customers

Complete the exercises in this workbook as you progress through the Ditch the Pitch Sales Practice Program to apply the insights

and tools to your customer conversations.

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Conversations that Matter

A monologue is not an effective way to get your customers to believe in you

To create compelling customer beliefs, engage your customers in conversations that matter to them

Human beings were born to improvise “Improvisation is the art of not knowing what you’re going to

do or say next and being completely okay with that.”

—Mick Napier Founder, Annoyance Theater &

Author of Improvise

Turn every presentation into a conversation that matters.

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The Ditch the Pitch Habits

Figure Out What’s Going On

Habit 1: Think Input Before Output

Habit 2: Size Up the Scene

Go with the Flow

Habit 3: Create a Series of “Yeses”

Habit 4: Explore and Heighten

Let a Shared Story Emerge

Habit 5: Focus the Conversation on Your Customer

Habit 6: Don’t Rush the Story

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Figure Out What’s Going On

Habit 1 Think Input Before Output

In customer conversations, let everything you say or do be informed by what you hear and observe.

PRACTICE • Be alert • Say less to notice more • Turn down your analytic brain

Exercise At the start of a meeting with a prospect, what can you learn in 60 seconds of intense listening that could help you better understand how to persuade them to become a customer?

Think About It When are you most alert, and when are you most distracted?

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Figure Out What’s Going On

Habit 2 Size Up the Scene

As you listen and observe, take stock of your customer’s character and situation to understand what this particular

customer's reasons for saying “yes” might be.

PRACTICE • Know who you are with • Understand the context of your conversation • Listen for the game •

Exercise Identify three customers with different relevant personality characteristics and describe those characteristics:

Think About It How might learning what’s going on “behind the scenes” with a customer help you understand what’s really going on?

Customer A Customer B Customer C

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Go with the Flow

Habit 3 Create a Series of “Yeses”

A conversation only moves forward if both parties continually agree to let it move forward. At its core, a conversation is a series of “yeses.”

PRACTICE • Say, “Yes, and…” • Work with what you are given • Ensure your customer keeps saying yes •

Think About It Think of an instance, during a customer conversation, when you have to say “no.” How do you avoid saying the word “no” in a way that could break the conversational momentum?

Exercise What are some “yes or no” questions you might ask in a customer conversation? How could you rephrase them?

“Yes or No” Questions Open-Ended Questions

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Go with the Flow

Habit 4 Explore and Heighten

As you engage your customer, look for ways to take your conversation to a higher level. Explore to find what your customer really cares about and

then heighten by discussing why these things are important.

PRACTICE • Find your customer’s path • Get rid of your but • Make accidents work •

Exercise What are the most important, higher-level, things a customer might care about that you can address?

Think About It How can understanding what a particular customer cares about, at a higher level, differentiate you from your competitors?

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Let a Shared Story Emerge

Habit 5 Focus the Conversation on Your Customer

Resist the temptation to talk too much about your company or your products. Instead, have a conversation that is

mostly about your customer.

PRACTICE • Make 95% of the conversation about your customer • Obey the one-paragraph rule • Weave your stories together •

Exercise Choose a topic, related to your product or service offerings, that is complicated to explain. Work with a colleague or friend to practice explaining it without speaking more than one paragraph at a time.

Think About It What are some examples of particular customer situations into which you can weave elements of your story?

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Let a Shared Story Emerge

Habit 6 Don’t Rush the Story

Your customer won’t be ready to hear your ideas as fast as you come up with them. Let the story emerge through your conversation at a pace

your customer can accept.

PRACTICE • Don’t load the slingshot • Leave things in your pocket • Create callbacks •

Think About It What signals from your customer can tell you that they may be ready to hear new information?

Exercise What are examples of certain topics you often feel tempted to tell all customers, that only some customers are interested in?

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Putting the Habits into Practice Below, rank yourself 1-6, with “1” representing your best skills,

or reference your Pre-Program Self Evaluation score.

The Ditch the Pitch Habits My Rankings Habit 1: Think Input Before Output

Habit 2: Size Up the Scene

Habit 3: Create a Series of “Yeses”

Habit 4: Explore and Heighten

Habit 5: Focus the Conversation on Your Customer

Habit 6: Don’t Rush the Story

Action Plan What can you do to improve the way you create engaging conversations that matter with your customers?

Action Plan What signs will indicate that you are succeeding in improving your Ditch the Pitch Habits?