Elevator pitches are used everywhere, from sales presentations to job interviews. They’re around 75 words and take about 30 to 60 seconds to deliver. But are they useful or relevant to roofing distribution?

John DeRosa, director of contractor training at SRS Distribution, says yes, but not in the way you might think.

Get Sophisticated With Your Sales!

Elevator pitches, such as quickly explaining why it’s important for a customer to buy from you, are important. However, there is more that goes into sealing the deal. John DeRosa, director of contractor training at SRS Distribution, shares how you can elevate your discourse with customers.

“When we do sales training, I would almost never want to endorse that as a strategy, because I think what it does is it sort of sets up that ‘show up and throw up’ mindset,” he said. “What I would encourage reps to do is to think about that. I mean, if somebody were to say to you, ‘Why should I buy from your company?’ How would you respond in a short, concise statement?”

DeRosa believes not many people would be sufficiently prepared, which is why he is encouraging sales reps to arm themselves with not just a pitch but a strategy to support it.

“We need to be prepared to be able to sell the reasons why we're better,” he says.

In that regard, DeRosa offers his tried-and-true strategy: ensure reps are facilitating conversations and asking questions that focus on what the contractor needs and problems they’re looking to solve. He cites the observation that people want to buy but they don’t want to feel like they’re being sold something.

“Our customers think of us [distributors] as all sort of being the same, and they know the services that we provide and they’re sort of setting their expectations based on the limitations of what it is that we think that we can do for them,” he said. “What I would encourage reps to do is to not necessarily focus on those elements exclusively.

“I'm not saying you don't ignore them. If they have a problem, you want to help them take care of it. But I would suggest that rather than focusing on what it is that they want, start asking questions and trying to take a deep dive into the things that they really care about most.”

For more details on this strategy, watch the full video or download the podcast version of the episode.