By Dr Banabasi Marambire

Food For Thought;

You must know how to sell your company in order to win business. Especially when penetrating knew markets. You need to know your story.

Recently, I was in Lesotho Pitching for business to a big client. These were people who had never dealt with us, and our duty was to convince them that we were the right company for the job.

In this setup, your first 3 minutes of the meeting are very crucial. It will determine how long the meeting will last and also the outcome of the meeting. This first stage of the meeting is always categorised by questions. Answer the questions as brief as you can and don’t lie. Don’t stammer or give too much information than requested.

Listen, be careful, and don’t rush to respond. Don’t interrupt when your client is still speaking. Always answer in a very respectful manner even when the question asked is provoking.

The things that you should avoid are;
1). Try to prove that you know famous people such as politicians or other popular business people. A lot of people mess up by trying to reveal that they know people in the higher offices. Knowing people in the higher offices might be regarded as a corrupt attitude. Invest your time in revealing how much you know your product and how competitive you are in the market. Show the client that you are the best choice among others.

2). Don’t show off and behave like you know better than the client. Don’t impose your ideas on the client. Always ask questions and give solutions to the problems that the client is facing. Only review your previous deals when necessary as a way of giving confidence.

3). Share your experience and the advantage of your product or services in the market. Don’t talk bad about your competitors or other products. You don’t accelerate your product by talking bad about other products or services.

There is a video that once circulated on social media of a great man who was trying to strike a deal, but he messed up by mentioning big names, heeee I know this, heee I can call the president, heeeee I have link to this one and that one. Big people are not happy when they find out that you are using their names to get mileage. Ride on your own experience. If you doubt your own experience to be enough, then the other person will not be convinced of your services.

The most important fact is to know your story. Tell it in a convincing manner such that the other person can easily buy your story. Don’t exaggerate your presentation. Be real and correct.

The C.E.O, Dr