The Challenger Sale

Never Put These Ten Words in Your Pitch Deck
Take a close look at your standard pitch deck, the “about us” section on
your corporate home page, or your PR material. Highlight every instance of
the words “leading,” “unique,” “solution,” or “innovative.” In particular, go
find all instances of the phrase “We work to understand our customers’
unique needs and then build custom solutions to meet those needs.” Then

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hit the delete key. Because every time you use one of those buzzwords, you
are telling your customers, “We are exactly the same as everyone else.”
Ironically, the more we try to play up our differences, the more things
sound the same. Public relations expert Adam Sherk recently analyzed the
terms used in company communications, and the results are devastating.
Here are the top ten:
BUZZWORD/MARKETING SPEAK/OVERUSED TERM
MENTIONS IN PRESS RELEASES
1.
Leader
161,000
2.
Leading
44,900
3.
Best
43,000
4.
Top
32,500
5.
Unique
30,400
6.
Great
28,600
7.
Solution
22,600
8.
Largest
21,900
9.
Innovative
21,800
10.
Innovator
21,400
By definition, there can be only one leader in any industry—and
161,000 companies each think they’re it. More than 75,000 companies think
they’re the “best” or the “top”; 30,400 think they’re “unique.” “Solution”
also makes an appearance at number seven—so if you think that calling
your offering a “solution” differentiates you, think again. If everyone’s
saying they offer the “leading solution,” what’s the customer to think? We
can tell you what their response will be: “Great—give me 10 percent off.”
In all of our time with members, we have never once met one who
doesn’t think her company’s value proposition beats the socks off the
competitors’. And it’s understandable. After all, why would we want to
work for a company whose product is second-rate—especially when our job

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is to sell that product? But what the utter sameness of language here tells us
is that, ironically, a strategy of more precisely describing our products’
advantages over the competition’s is destined to have the exact opposite
effect—we simply end up sounding like everyone else.
Our members’ customers told us the same thing: As great as your
products are, they’re not 
that 
much different from the competition. No
matter how much you tell customers, “We’re here to create quantifiable
business value,” keep in mind that the next sales rep through the door is
saying the exact same thing. We once spoke to a procurement executive at a
food company who told us, “Every time I hear the word ‘value,’ my
defenses go up, because that’s when I know they’re trying to sell me
something.” Just as a parent can tell twins apart in a way no one else can,
you can see your products’ nuances and their uniqueness—but your
customers probably can’t.
That said, it 
is
possible to differentiate yourself from the competition.
The trick is not to describe your differences, but to make customers value
them. And to do that, remember these two things: First, be memorable, not
agreeable. It’s nice to have a business conversation about profits and
capabilities, or a relationship conversation around sports and kids, but
unless you frame your conversation around an edgy or unique insight, the
customer will forget everything you said as soon as you walk out the door.
Being different sounds risky, but it’s better than being forgettable.
Second, build a pitch that leads 
to
your solution, not 
with
it. Before even
talking about your capabilities, teach customers about a problem they didn’t
even know they had—one that you can solve better than your competitors.
Only then should you lead into the details of your specific solution.