One Sentence That Makes Your Pitch More Believable

Good Morning. France plays Spain in the World Cup semifinal today, with the winner moving on to face the winner of England vs Argentina in the final. And there’s a lot more than bragging rights on the line. The winner gets $51M, the runner-up gets $34M, 3rd place gets $30M, and 4th place gets $28M. It’s basically the World Cup version of a comp plan: the further you make it, the bigger your commission check. Now let’s get into today’s follow up. (:

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In 2009, Domino's ran focus groups and found out that their customers thought their pizza tasted more like the cardboard box it came in than actual pizza.

They also came in dead last in taste compared to the Big 3 pizza chains. 

I’ve met some product teams that would’ve buried that research while they quietly made the pizza taste less like cardboard. Then launch a campaign hyping up their “new and improved” product.

Domino's decided to film the focus groups, put real customer complaints in a national ad campaign, and tell America their pizza was bad, but they made a change to the recipe that was worth trying again. 

That means they spent real advertising money (aka, millions of dollars) to tell the world that they knew their last product sucked. 

In Q1 2010, same-store sales jumped 14.3% YoY, and their stock shot up 44% that month. Domino’s later credited that ad with creating years’ worth of positive momentum for them.

Admitting they had a big flaw made their customers trust them more. 

You can use this same technique to make your prospects trust you more. Here’s how…

In 1966, psychologist Elliot Aronson ran an experiment where he had a group of college students watch a tape of a guy trying out for the College Quiz Competition team. 

The guy answered 92% of the questions correctly and said he was an honors student. So he made it clear that he was competent. In one version of the tape, he spilled coffee all over himself. And in another version, he didn’t. 

As you might guess at this point, when the guy spilled coffee on himself, he was rated as more likable. 

The researchers call this the Pratfall Effect. 

A small, visible mistake makes a competent person more likeable because it makes them feel more human. But there is a caveat to this… in the same study, when a guy who was viewed as average (not as competent) spilled the coffee, he became less likable. 

So the effect only works when someone views you as competent.

If they think you’re inexperienced or dumb, admitting you made a mistake will actually work against you. 

71% of B2B buyers say it's very important to understand a product's cons before buying. Seems fair… 

But only 36% felt the vendor they chose was upfront about their limitations. 

There’s an opportunity in that gap.

When you say something like, "We're the best option for X and Y, but if Z is your top priority, we're probably not the strongest fit," your prospects will drop their guard.

You told the truth without being asked, and showed that you have honest intentions.

You’re a salesperson, so obviously, you want to sell someone your product. But above that, your job is to make sure they buy the right product for their situation. 

A 2018 study on sales messaging found that salespeople who used a two-sided pitch, mentioning both advantages and limitations, were trusted more than those who only talked about the positives. 

Honesty will earn you trust when you use it at the right times.

When you’re going to admit a flaw, make sure it’s specific, relevant, and real. 

Saying “Our implementation usually takes 6 to 8 weeks. So if you absolutely need to be live this month, we’re probably not your best option.” is a strategic admission.

But saying "Honestly, our product is kind of buggy right now" is just bad selling.

The admission has to feel voluntary, and it should come after you've demonstrated competence or a fix, not before. 

Avis understood this in 1962 when their "We're #2, so we try harder" campaign openly admitted they weren't the market leader. Within a year, Avis went from losing $3.2 million to earning $1.2 million. 

The admission made their effort feel more genuine.

Today’s newsletter was written by Nic Conley