
In this eye-opening episode of Pitch Me, Kayvon Kay exposes a sales tragedy that's happening in businesses everywhere. Meet Ilan, a college admissions consultant from Chile who has the skills to close 100% of his prospects - but he's been pitching to...
Loading summary
A
Welcome to Pitch the Podcast where real salespeople, entrepreneurs and business owners step into the spotlight to pitch their product or service and get unfiltered real time feedback from the 38 million dollar high ticket sales titan himself, Kayvon K. No fluff, no sugar coating, just brutal honesty, actionable insights and next level sales strategies to help you close bigger deals faster. If you want to pitch like a pro, dominate every sales conversation and and take your business to the next level, you're in the right place. This is Pitch Me. Let's get started. And here we are with the Pitch Me podcast. Another episode with another great guest. Super happy to have you here. Elan from Chile.
B
Great to have to be here. Really. Yeah. Awesome.
A
Elan, nice seeing you. Let me ask you Elan, tell us a little bit of what your product is, what your service is. If you have a business, who it serves. Let's get right into it.
B
Yeah. So I have a school community where we help students apply to college in the US it could be not only from the US itself, but also from other countries.
A
So you help students apply apply to US colleges.
B
So we help high school students in general because the process could be it encompasses all of high school and every single activity that you do between freshman year and senior year can account. So we help all high school students from any year.
A
Okay, and how long you been doing this for?
B
For like one year. And they have a partner. So yeah, we are two of, two of people working together on this.
A
And what I, I'm always interested what makes you the experts in this? Like have you got like how do you know how to apply? I know there's a process. What makes this different than a guidance counselor or you know, the traditional way.
B
Yeah, so this is quite different. The partnership itself is really interesting because she, my partner is the actual professional. She has over 25 years of experience working with students. She's actually studying at the University of Pennsylvania right now. She studied at Columbia too. She has experiences with all these colleges and she's helped like 600 students across her career. So she's really experienced and I actually was one of her students and told her that know we talked a little bit and I noticed that her business model of helping one to one all of her students isn't really scalable. So we started working together and we built this school community to make a way of teaching that's more one too many. And me, I just applied to college since I'm from Chile, from South America and I, I've got an acceptances and scholarships being from here. So Annabella is way ahead of the students, so she has a lot more information and I'm just one step ahead. And I do more of the handholding during the process and all of that help because I'm more like in the process right now.
A
Yeah, yeah. I love it. I love it. Okay, so. So you have a business partner who has the years of experience getting kids into getting children in and applying to these top schools. Yeah. And so let me ask you this. So when you're. You're on the call, I'm assuming this is over the phone, is that correct?
B
Our calls, the way we do this, are you speaking for the community, for the school community?
A
I'm talking about when you get someone, someone wants to. Well, tell me your sales process. What's the sales process?
B
Yeah, so our funnel. I'm thinking of making content. I was scripting for making YouTube content and social media, but I haven't started with that yet until now. It's being warm outreach. So I just text people that I know and also some cold outreach directly through school or DMS in Instagram. And with that I get some people to join the free community. And from there they take our start here course. They get some onboarding, a little bit of help, and then they book a call. So that call would be like a sales call, but it's presented as an application strategy call. So I build a strategy for them and I give them value. And right there I recommend them to bring their parents. Sometimes they don't, and that's a problem most of the time. And then I close the paid community and then they join. So. So that's how it works. And I do that through Google Meets. So they, through my computer, they join through a phone or bring their parents and then we talk about it.
A
Yeah, yeah. So in this process, you know, you're selling. Do you know who you're selling to?
B
I'm really selling to the parents and that's my main problem.
A
That's exactly right.
B
Yeah. And the student is the one attracted, the one that participates in the community. So that's why I incentivize them through the Start Hero course and the call to bring in their parents. And when they don't and they say they will bring them because it's like a requirement in there. But sometimes they just show up to the meeting and they are not there like their parents, even if they say they will bring them, they aren't there.
A
Yeah.
B
And honestly, I'm saying to the parents.
A
Yeah, so what do you do? If. If I so say I show up and I'm one of those students and I don't bring my parents there. What is it that you do?
B
So I've made a ton of mistakes with that. First of all, I would say that for the ones that bring their parents, it's really good, right? I actually have a 100% close rate with the parents, so I think I'm pretty good with that. But my main problem is the students that don't bring them. So what I was doing is that I just let them go, right? Like, what can I do? I said, yeah, just go talk with your parents. And you hit me up through the DMs again. And we can still keep talking, but most of the times they never send me a DM after the call. And what I've been thinking of doing and haven't had the opportunity yet is two options. So I have my Excel script and I have two options. One, either book another call right there with them. So I could ask them, okay, so call your parents right now and ask them when they have three times so we can book a call with them and in the meeting, right? In the, in the same meeting we have, we book another one or what? I was thinking the other option would be asking them, okay, how long would it take for you to talk to your parents and then you can come back with a meeting with them after. So if they say, I can do it tomorrow, okay, so in two days at 2pm we can connect together. Is that right? And maybe we can connect like that. Those are the two options that I'm having. I don't know which one would be better. I haven't tried it yet. Maybe they just don't care at all. But, yeah, that's how it's been going.
A
My feedback to you would be, number one is you got to create the authority right at the gate and instead of just telling them, so here's what we're going to do, here's what we're going to do. I would actually get a little bit more curious and ask them, why didn't they bring the parents? What did they miss in the marketing material and. Or in the, you know, the confirmation calls. And the confirmation material before the call where it says, bring your parents, I'd be curious, why didn't they bring their parents? Maybe they didn't bring their parents because they never told their parents. Maybe they didn't bring their parents because they're scared of their parents. Maybe they didn't bring their parents because they don't have parents. Maybe they Don't. They didn't bring their parents because they don't have a relationship with their parents. So instead of assuming they just didn't bring the parents, I would get more curious and go, just out of curiosity, why didn't you bring your parents and let them tell you? Because some of them might go, oh, I didn't know. Oblivious. I didn't know. No problem. You rebooked them. No problem. Yeah, these, these calls are actually more for your parents because I, I'm pretty sure you and your, your parents are going to need to have the sign off on here. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. So there's no point of talking to them. There's no point because you're just going to have to sell them twice. You're wasting time. Now. I'd be. Now, I know you said you push guys away and they don't come back. Well, did you push the ones away that maybe don't have parents? Maybe they haven't told their parents. Maybe they haven't. They don't have a relationship with their parents. Because there's options. I'm sure there's options for these guys. Hey, you don't have parents. Okay. So you're self funded. Yeah. Even taking care of yourself. Okay. Maybe there's a scholarship for them. I don't know.
B
Yes. So.
A
So I get a little curious there.
B
Absolutely. That's actually really good insight. And I will absolutely take note of that. And we'll be doing it the next meetings. So two things come up to mind. First of all, when they answer the form to book the call, there is an option of I'm self funded and one option for I'm gonna bring someone else, but I'm a responsible adult that would represent my parents. In this case, I have those options. But still, like I would when I told you I consider them like as parents for the purpose of the thing. But that's actually really good. And the other thing that comes up is that, well, I still want to help them. Right. So if they hop on the call and I tell them, yeah, no parents, goodbye, it could be good. But it may as well. I mean, it may even be something bad. You know what I mean?
A
Bad? No, I don't know what you mean. Please.
B
Yeah. So I'm thinking that if they hop on a call and it's not their parents and they aren't there, and the framing of the call is for me to help them, not just, you know, sell and pitch, then maybe they could get like a bad feeling about it or give me some bad Rep. Something like that, don't you think?
A
Well, I don't think so.
B
Maybe a chance.
A
I think that you're projecting there. And the number one thing that a lot of salespeople do that wreck the sale or stop the sale from happening is they project their own values, their own emotions, their own thoughts, and then really their own BS onto the prospect. So you just, in that comment, you made it about what you feel. I feel that they're going to think this way as the moment you put yourself over the prospect, you lose. I always say this. If you put yourself first, you'll end up on the bottom. If you put your prospect first, you'll always end up on top. So you can still have a authoritative, constructive conversation without wasting time. You can still get them to know, like, and trust you without you wasting time. Because there is absolutely no point in selling the. The. The high school kid unless they. They're really. Unless they don't have parents and they are self funding themselves. Because the problem or the challenge you have in this offer is you are selling two people. You got to sell the ch. The. The high school kid's got to want to do this, but the parents are the ones that are paying for it. So the energy for the sales call should really be directed to the parents. Now, if, as I mentioned, if someone shows up, they don't have the parents. I'm not saying to be rude to them. I'm. I'm. I'm saying you. For you to actually be the opposite. Be curious. Hey, Elan, are your parents around? No. Oh, sorry. Did you get the notifications where we said this calls? We need to have your parents on this call. It's all good. Like, may I ask, like, do your parents know you're having this call? Did you tell your parents? No, I didn't. Oh, okay. That's. Oh, so tell me more about that. You didn't tell your parents. So it's just more of just wondering what this is all about. Okay, no problem. In a nutshell, this is what this is about. As you know, only one. So what is it? I don't know what the stat is. Have a stat for sure. I'm just going to say, as you know, only 7% of kids in America get into the universities of their dreams, let alone kids out of country. What we do is we make sure you're part of that 7% and we have a scientific way backed by 25 years of experience. So if you're actually really wanting to go to one of your dream schools, we're Going to show you how.
B
That's really good.
A
Now let me ask you this, Eli. What school is it? What's your top three.
B
For? Colleges?
A
Yes.
B
Which one I'm going to or.
A
No, your top three that you want. Your, Your. Your. Your dream.
B
Absolutely. So this is gonna sound really cliche and every person that asks me, my family or someone else or friends, they just ask me, yeah, what's your dream school? And I just say Harvard. I mean, it's really cliche, I know, but I think.
A
Okay, so your dream school is Harvard. Okay, that's great.
B
Absolutely.
A
What's your second one?
B
Dartmouth.
A
Dartmouth. Okay. And your third?
B
Yes, and my third one is Babson.
A
What? What?
B
Babson. I don't know if you know which one it is.
A
Babson. Okay. Okay. Ooh, those top two. Those are some IV schools there.
B
Yeah.
A
Now, just. Just out of curiosity, like, do you have the marks for those schools out.
B
Of the Ivy grades? Like a gpa?
A
Yeah, yeah, the. The marks. Yeah, the. The GPA for those.
B
I do have over the average of the gpa. Yeah.
A
Okay, great. Okay. So we already meet those criterias because guess what? They're not looking for marks anymore. The marks is only half the battle. It's all about the essay. It's all about the extracurricular activities, and it's about how we package you to these schools. Because everyone has the marks nowadays. They're not actually looking for marks. They're looking for unique individuals who are going to make their schools look great when they graduate. And there is a science behind how to apply. And that's what we do. Now, I'm sure your parents would love you if you went to Harvard. Is that correct?
B
Yes, absolutely.
A
So it'd be safe to say it's pretty important that we have a conversation with them to make sure that we can get you there.
B
It is. It would be.
A
Are they home right now?
B
Yes, she's in the other room. My mom? Yeah.
A
Okay, well, why don't you ask if she can come on the call?
B
I could.
A
You could or you should?
B
I should. Yes.
A
Okay, Well, I got five minutes and then just so you know, you would not be selling your. The. The. The parent there. You'd be introducing yourself, say, hey, act. Hey, I'm sorry, this kind of embarrassing myself here. Me and your son have been talking. What we do is we actually work with kids like your son and get them into some of the top schools in the nation. And we do that because we have 25 years back of experience doing that. Your son and I have been talking we were, we were supposed to set up a call with you and, and, and your significant other, but unfortunately there was a mismatch. I'd love if, if this is of interest to you, would you like to set up another call where we can discuss a little bit more about this?
B
That's.
A
What did you get away, what did you learn from this?
B
That I'm kind of scared of asking questions. Sometimes I feel like what you are saying of being curious and asking them why they didn't bring them. As you said, it's more of an emotional thing. I feel like it would be too much. I feel like it would be pushing too much into the personal. That's what I was feeling. And right now, as we roleplay this and you told me, I noticed that it's not that bad. It's actually pretty good that you're worrying about this stuff. Right. Because you're putting it in a way that it shows the student that the parent being there is important. And this also is making me question, not really the call itself because the sales call is really important, but also the preparation before maybe. And now that I think about it, I actually don't tell that much that they should bring their parents. I just say, yeah, book a call and in the start of your course it says that. And after they confirm it has a video that says bring your parents. But it doesn't say every single time. And it's shouldn't be really that much of bring your parents is have your parents here.
A
Your parents must be. Yeah, one of the requirements is having your parents here like and that should be throughout the entire funnel. That should be up in all the, the follow up, the notifications, even the 24 hours. You have 24 hours. Make sure your parents are available. If there's any reason why they're not going to be, please let us know. Now we can always rebook. Number one. I, I think there's a deeper issue here. And again you just said it makes you feel uncomfortable. So let's try to talk about that quickly. I said it earlier. Stop projecting your own insecurities. And it's okay. Cause a lot of salespeople do that, right? We project our own insecurities, our own thoughts, our own limiting beliefs onto the prospect. That's number one. Number two is, is it rude to ask somebody and to be absolutely curious so that you can support them and help them? Because the more information you have, the more powerful you become. And the problem that we see in this world is a lot of salespeople stay on the Surface level. They're too afraid to go to the personal level. But the personal level is where the transformation is. The personal level is actually where the sales happen. And if you authentically care about getting these people into their dream schools and care about putting them in the best possible position to get in these schools, then it isn't something you're doing to manipulate them. You're not doing this because you're trying to push them. You're doing this because you're trying to transform them. You're doing this because you're trying to support them. And if you're coming from that type of conviction and certainty and clarity, it isn't pushing, it's guiding. Does that make sense?
B
Absolutely.
A
And you can't guide us if you don't know where they are. And you can't guide them if you definitely don't know where they're going. It is your job to actually get personal and really understand some of those motivations. Notice how I asked the question. I said, ooh, Harvard, Dartmouth. So pretty big schools. Do you have the grades for that? Because if you don't even have the grades for that, there's nothing anybody can do.
B
That's true.
A
So now you're setting up what. You're setting up yourself for failure. You're not going to close that. If I. If I have a. If I have Cs, and I'm calling you, I'm like, I need you to get me to Harvard, but all my grades are seeds, are you going to close me? Are you going to say, yeah, we can do that?
B
No, I'm not going to lie about it.
A
I hope not.
B
Yeah, absolutely not. Yeah.
A
But you're going to say, I'm happy you called because I think we got to get really clear on how we're going to help you. And one of them is, let's getting realistic expectations.
B
Right? And I do talk about expectations. I just haven't really done what you're saying. And mainly it's, you know, you have to have the grades and you have to have this. But I never really ask them what their situation is at the moment. It's more like, what year are you in? And I don't ask them out of their past. Their grades, their SAT scores, maybe everything else that they've already.
A
You need to ask all of that, what's your extracurricular activities? Especially in the call, what are your extracurricular activities? What communities are you part of? What leadership stuff have you done? You if, you know, I know this because we actually worked on an Offer like this. So I know this offer very well. If you're wondering why I knew some of this stuff. But like, we know why. You notice how I said grades are half the battle? Because that's true.
B
It is true.
A
Then they look at character and they look at what your essay is. How do you stand out in the essay is massively important. It is early submissions, massively important. Getting. Making sure that you look good on paper. And the only way to look good on paper is to be in communities, to be in extracurricular activities, to be on sports teams, to show that you're, you're in leadership. So we got to know this. We're going to build a case for you. We got to know everything about you, especially if you're going to go to Harvard. Harvard has what, an 8% acceptance rate? I think it is 7. Something like that?
B
3%.
A
It's 3% now. 3% of applications. 3%.
B
Yeah, it is. And that's why there's a reason for that.
A
But it's okay because we know exactly what is involved to get you there.
B
One thing that I struggled with apart from this is that all these people want guarantees. And one thing that we can't give is guarantees. At some point, it's really random. So how would you tackle that when they say, okay, we know the process to get you there, but then they ask, okay, will I get there if I follow your steps? And the answer is probably no. Like statistically, because sometimes Harvard is looking for something and you are not that something. So how would I tackle. If we know the process, but it still can't guarantee your acceptance. What could I say about that?
A
Well, there's. I mean, if they ask for a guarantee, you just say, how do you know there's no real guarantees in life here. But what I can guarantee you, you doing this on your own, it's probably not going to get you in Harvard. Us working with you and showing you the step by steps and showing you exactly what Harvard's looking for. Because we have people all over the nation at these schools telling us and showing us what the emissions is looking for. So we're doing the research and knowing what in those years, every year they look for something else. We have that competitive advantage to help you build that. So I can guarantee you the chances of you getting to school, going through our program is much higher than doing it alone.
B
Makes sense.
A
But what we can guarantee you is we get you into university. So let's talk about that. There's your reach schools, which is Harvard, right? What about your safety schools. What are your safety schools?
B
And that's exactly how it works. Yeah.
A
Give me your safety schools. Okay. And I forgot what the middle ground schools are, but there's something in the middle ground schools.
B
Target schools or middle grounds.
A
Yeah, yeah. Target. Yeah. So what's your reach, what's your target, and what's your safety schools? Okay, but let me ask you this. Can you guarantee me that John's going to show up on our sessions? Can you guarantee me when we tell John to write the essay, he's going to write the essay and not just use AI? Can you guarantee me that John's going to continue his GPAs?
B
It depends on him.
A
Can you tell. Can you guarantee me that if we tell John that he has to go and actually get a leadership position and. Or join this community and. Or join this extracurricular activity or join whatever the school system, whatever it is, is he going to do that? Is he going to have time for that? Do you want him doing that? Are you. Are you going to guarantee you guys are willing to do whatever it takes to get into school, even if it means doing things you don't want to do? Because it might require that.
B
That's right.
A
You don't have to feel alone, though. We're here to support you.
B
That's good. You even sold me on my own product. That's awesome.
A
That's my job.
B
That's great. All right, I have one more question before. Before we end, because I know we are short on time. I just want to ask you. Is it worth it to have a script? Because it can go really different ways with very different people.
A
Absolutely. I want to make sure everybody hears this. If you are on phone calls, no matter what you are selling and you do not follow a script, you are lost. Now, here is my thoughts behind the scripts. It's not about just following the script word for word. It's making sure you understand the framework of why there is the script there and the framework of what the script is actually trying to achieve and you understand the spirit of it. So I will tell you this. The whole pitch me concept is the framework. And the framework is very simple. There is a problem that they have. These people have a problem. What is their problem? They don't know how to get Johnny into Harvard. Go deeper. What's the problem? Well, what happens if they don't get Johnny and Harvard? He's going to lose confidence. He's going to lose what? The parents are not going to be able to go to the cocktail parties and tell them how great their child is. Okay, what's deeper than that? As a parent, you feel like what? You let your kid down. That's a problem. Another big problem is only Harvard only allows in these schools. IVs allow on average 7% applicants in the school. That's a massive problem. Okay, what's the consequence? Step two is what's the consequence of that problem? Well, what happens if we don't get in Harvard? What happens if we don't set up Johnny properly, Get him early admissions, get him the right essay, get him all those things. What happens? What are the chances of him getting into Harvard? Then what? He goes to a safety school? Is he going to be happy at a safety school? Is he going to get the jobs he needs coming out of a safety school? Is he going to be hanging around the top A players that don't go to safety schools? Consequences of not going to Harvard. Okay, now there's dreamland. What's the dreamland? Suppose. Suppose he goes to Harvard. What happens next? What does that look like? How does that make you feel? How proud would you be? Are you guys able to afford it? Four years at Harvard, not going to be cheap. Okay, now he graduates from Harvard, what do you think that happens for him? Get them dreaming about what Harvard is, dreaming about what the outcome is, dreaming about their child going to Harvard, graduating, all of that stuff. And then you got to get commitment. How committed are you not to your product? The commitment is commitment to the change. So how committed are you to making sure that you're doing everything you can supporting your child to get in the top schools of his dreams? How committed is he? Committed. Okay, so now what do we have? Let's break this down. We have a problem. We understand what the problem is. We know what the consequences and we know what the dreamland is now. They've just committed to it. That's when you do your presentation. Because anything less, it comes down to only two things, value or money. Because they just committed to it. So it can't be. I need to think about it. It can't be. Oh, I'm not sure if this is the right fit for me. It can't be. This is the right time because you just committed to it. So you eliminated every objection. And the only objection you may get is money. And they can't afford not to invest.
B
Because it's so good.
A
That's the pitch me framework. But you have to understand the nuance of that and you need to follow it. And if you do, you'll be able to make more sales, connect to more people and change lives.
B
That was really Eli from Chile. Yeah.
A
Thank you for being here. Appreciate you inviting me. Just before we leave, give us one key takeaway. You got what is one key takeaway from this call?
B
So the main takeaway is that I have to completely redo my script because it was made for the students and even though I knew who I was selling to, I wasn't really preparing to sell to them. That's the main takeaway?
A
That's correct. Awesome. Thank you so much. That's another episode Pitch Me and you've just listened to Pitch Me with kayvon K, the podcast where sales are redefined, objections are destroyed, and high ticket closers are born. Want to take your pitch to the next level? Subscribe now, leave a review and join the Pitch Me community. And if you're brave enough to pitch live on this show, head over to www.pitchmepodcast.com and apply today. Until next time, keep pitching, keep closing, and keep connecting.
Episode Summary: "Perfect Pitch, Wrong Audience" – Pitch Me Podcast with Elan from Chile
Release Date: June 11, 2025
In this compelling episode of the Pitch Me Podcast, host Kayvon Kay, a seasoned high-ticket sales expert with a track record of closing $38 million in deals, welcomes Elan from Chile. The episode, aptly titled "Perfect Pitch, Wrong Audience," delves into the intricacies of pitching a service aimed at helping high school students gain admission to prestigious U.S. colleges. Elan presents his business model, while Kayvon provides real-time, unfiltered feedback to refine his approach.
Elan introduces his venture, a school community designed to aid high school students—both domestic and international—in navigating the complex process of applying to U.S. colleges.
Target Audience: High school students from freshman to senior year, encompassing all activities that bolster college applications.
Elan [01:07]: "We help high school students in general because the process encompasses all of high school and every single activity that you do between freshman year and senior year can account."
Partnership Model: Elan collaborates with his partner, Annabella, a professional with over 25 years of experience in college admissions consulting. Together, they transitioned from a one-on-one model to a scalable community-based approach.
Elan [02:49]: "We built this school community to make a way of teaching that's more one to many."
Personal Experience: As an international student from Chile who successfully secured university admissions and scholarships, Elan adds practical insights into the service.
Elan outlines his current sales funnel, which relies heavily on warm and cold outreach via texts, direct messages on social media, and direct school contacts.
Initial Outreach: Engaging potential clients through personal networks and social media platforms like Instagram.
Elan [03:23]: "I just text people that I know and also some cold outreach directly through school or DMs in Instagram."
Free Community and Onboarding: Interested students join a free community and access the “Start Here” course, followed by an onboarding process.
Strategy Call: A pivotal sales call framed as an "application strategy call," where Elan provides value and discusses the paid community option.
Elan [04:13]: "This call would be like a sales call, but it's presented as an application strategy call."
Primary Challenge: Convincing students to involve their parents in these strategy calls, as parents are the primary decision-makers and funders.
Elan [04:19]: "I'm really selling to the parents and that's my main problem."
Elan discusses the recurring issue of students not bringing their parents to the scheduled calls, which hampers the conversion process.
Failed Attempts: Often, students agree to involve parents but fail to do so, leading to lost opportunities.
Elan [04:44]: "Sometimes they don't, and they say they will bring them because it's like a requirement in there."
Potential Solutions: Elan considers booking follow-up calls immediately or scheduling meetings after the student has spoken with their parents.
Elan [05:23]: "I was thinking the other option would be asking them, okay, how long would it take for you to talk to your parents and then you can come back with a meeting with them after."
Emotional Barrier: Elan expresses fear of overstepping personal boundaries by probing too deeply into why parents are absent.
Elan [09:07]: "I feel like it would be too much. I feel like it would be pushing too much into the personal."
Kayvon Kay offers Elan strategic advice to overcome the challenge of engaging parents effectively.
Establish Authority Early:
Cultivate Curiosity:
Instead of making assumptions, actively inquire why parents aren't present.
Kayvon [06:18]: "I would get more curious and ask them, why didn't they bring the parents?"
Possible reasons might include lack of communication, relationship issues, or financial constraints.
Deep Dive into Client Profiles:
Move beyond basic information like current school year.
Gather comprehensive data on grades, extracurricular activities, leadership roles, and personal motivations.
Kayvon [18:55]: "What are your extracurricular activities? What communities are you part of? What leadership stuff have you done?"
Use a Structured Script Framework:
Develop a flexible script that serves as a guideline rather than a rigid dialogue.
Ensure the script addresses the client's problems, consequences of inaction, and envisions the desired outcomes.
Kayvon [21:26]: "It's not about just following the script word for word. It's making sure you understand the framework of why there is the script there."
Handling Guarantees:
Acknowledge that absolute guarantees are impossible.
Instead, focus on the enhanced likelihood of success through the program.
Kayvon [20:46]: "I can guarantee you the chances of getting to school, going through our program is much higher than doing it alone."
Kayvon emphasizes the importance of setting realistic expectations and securing client commitment early in the sales process.
Transparency: Clearly communicate the competitive nature of top-tier universities and the no-guarantee reality.
Elan [20:12]: "But we can't give guarantees. At some point, it's really random."
Commitment Before Presentation: Ensure that the client is committed to the process, making them more receptive to the solutions presented.
Balancing Empathy and Authority: Maintain a balance between genuinely caring for the client's success and asserting authority over the subject matter.
Kayvon discusses the significance of using a structured script framework to guide sales conversations effectively.
Framework Over Rigid Scripts: Understand the underlying structure and purpose of the script to allow flexibility during conversations.
Kayvon [21:26]: "It's not about just following the script word for word. It's making sure you understand the framework of why there is the script there."
Pitch Me Framework Steps:
Kayvon [26:35]: "That's the pitch me framework. But you have to understand the nuance of that and you need to follow it."
Empowerment Through Questions: Use probing questions to uncover deeper client needs and motivations, enhancing the ability to offer tailored solutions.
As the episode wraps up, Elan reflects on the insights gained from the feedback session.
Elan’s Main Takeaway:
Elan [27:10]: "So the main takeaway is that I have to completely redo my script because it was made for the students and even though I knew who I was selling to, I wasn't really preparing to sell to them."
Kayvon’s Closing Remarks: Reinforce the importance of structured frameworks and authentic engagement in sales, encouraging listeners to adopt these strategies to enhance their pitching effectiveness.
Kayvon [26:56]: "If you do, you'll be able to make more sales, connect to more people and change lives."
Elan [01:07]: "We help high school students in general because the process encompasses all of high school and every single activity that you do between freshman year and senior year can account."
Kayvon [06:18]: "I would get more curious and ask them, why didn't they bring the parents?"
Kayvon [18:55]: "What are your extracurricular activities? What communities are you part of? What leadership stuff have you done."
Kayvon [21:26]: "It's not about just following the script word for word. It's making sure you understand the framework of why there is the script there."
Elan [27:10]: "So the main takeaway is that I have to completely redo my script because it was made for the students and even though I knew who I was selling to, I wasn't really preparing to sell to them."
Identify and Target Decision-Makers: Understanding who holds the purchasing power (in this case, the parents) is crucial for effective sales.
Authentic Curiosity Builds Trust: Asking genuine questions about why parents aren't present can uncover barriers and foster trust.
Structured Framework Enhances Flexibility: Utilizing a structured sales framework allows for adaptability while ensuring all critical points are addressed.
Commitment is Key: Securing the client’s commitment early in the process makes subsequent solution presentations more impactful.
Balance Empathy with Authority: Showing genuine care for the client's success while maintaining authoritative knowledge builds a strong salesperson-client relationship.
"Perfect Pitch, Wrong Audience" offers valuable insights into the challenges of high-stakes pitching within the educational consultancy sector. Through Elan's experience and Kayvon's expert feedback, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the importance of targeting the right audience, cultivating authentic relationships, and employing structured frameworks to enhance sales effectiveness. This episode serves as a practical guide for entrepreneurs seeking to refine their pitching techniques and achieve greater success in closing high-ticket deals.