Overview:
At the start of the 2017 movie, ‘The Founder’, Ray Kroc, the person who would go on to build McDonald’s, is seen in his early days to be making a sales pitch to a restraunt owner to get him to buy a multimixer, with no success. Here, we figured out the correct pitch that would have maximised his chances of making the sale, and also how to create such a pitch.
The Pitch:
“I know what you’re thinking, “What the heck do I need a five spindle for, When I barely sell enough milkshakes to justify my single spindle?” Right? Wrong. Are you familiar with the notion of the chicken and the egg, Mr. Griffith? I mention it, well, because I think it applies here. Do you not need the multi-mixer because, well heck you’re not selling enough milkshakes? Or are you not selling enough milkshakes because you don’t have a multi-mixer? I firmly believe it’s the latter. You see your customer comes in here and he knows if he orders a shake from your establishment, he’s in for a terrific wait. He’s done it before and he thinks to hismelf, “well by-golly, I’m not gonna make that mistake again.” But if you had the prince castle five spindle multi-mixer with patented direct-drive electric motor, well you greatly increase your ability to produce delicious, frosty milkshakes fast. Mark my words, dollars to donuts. You’ll be selling more of those *** than you can shake a stick at. You increase the supply, and the demand will follow. Increase supply, demand follows. Chicken-egg. Do you follow my logic? I know you do because you’re a bright forward-thinking guy who knows a good idea when he hears one. So, what do you say?”. Ray Kroc fails to make the sale here and proceeds to make the same pitch at numerous other restaurants, getting the same response.
Analysis of the pitch:
Although Kroc does realise the problem the prospect is facing and how his product can solve it, he isn’t able to make the sale because of how he presents the product.
The prospect doesn’t fell like he’s being helped, but sold to. Nobody likes being sold to. People naturally put their guard up whenever someone tries to solicit them into making a purchase.
The law of supply and demand referenced by Kroc was proven to be incorrect during the great depression. Supply follows demand, and not the other way round.
Here’s how he could have prepared a pitch that would have maximised his chances of making the sales:
Step 1- Research: The first and foremost step is to do research on the product and the target audience.
The product: The multi-mixer aims to provide the following benefits:-
-Increasing production
-Saving time
-Decreasing electrical costs.
The target audience: The target audience is mainly made up of restauraunt owners who have the following objectives:-
-Make more sales
-Decrease costs
Moreover, the restaurant owners are businessmen who want to know about the benefits of the products in numerical terms and their implications on profit, and make calculated decisions based on the information provided.
Step 2- Preparing the pitch: The best course of action after the research is to gather precise facts about the multi-mixer from the manufacturer and present them to the prospect.
The fixed pitch:
“Mr. Griffith, did you know that 88% of customers do not buy milkshakes at restaurants again after their first experience, just because how awfully long it takes to arrive, and not actually because they don’t like the milkshake? If you were able to solve that problem and sell milkshakes with your meals, you would be making a whopping 30% higher profit. But you won’t need to do that, because we’ve already done that for you. The prince castle five spindle multi-mixer with patented direct-drive electric motorwill help you make five milkshakes in the time of one. And, It not only solves your problem of production, but also saves you $300 in electrical costs per month that you would not have been able to if you were to use five single spindle mixers instead because of its efficient motor. You can enjoy all these benefits at the for a cheap price of $199. Actually, I’ll tell you what, I’m gonna give you two multi-mixers, you use them for a week, and if you like them, you can pay me and keep the mixers.”
Why this pitch works:
The pitch informs the prospect on the exact amount of customers he is losing on milkshakes because of his inability to produce enough in time.
The pitch is ‘consumer-focused’ and gives the impression that the prospect is being helped, and not just being sold to.
The prospect is informed about the exact amount of profit the multi-mixer is going to make for him, and how much it is going to save in electrical costs.
Lastly, Kroc offers to give free samples for a limited time to the prospect. The purpose of this is to make the prospect realise the benefits of the product first-hand, therefore maximising the chances of making the sale.