Ditch the Pitch Deck: Sell Like a Reality Makeover Show

Have you ever watched any reality makeover TV shows? Queer Eye, Restaurant Impossible, Extreme Makeover, Bar Rescue, or The Biggest Loser.

The host (aka the “expert(s)” or “consultant(s)”) is invited in. Those desiring to be “made over”, whether a restaurant, bar, or homeowner, have filled out a lead form on the show’s website.

The expert comes in, having done some homework ahead of time through the inquiry plus additional backgrounding. The participants have already been qualified.

The expert begins by aligning with the participant. “Here’s why I believe I’m here…but why am I here from your perspective?” They do a little discovery.

Next, the expert does a little disarming using authenticity and transparency.

Then the expert does a diagnosis. “You mentioned A & B as the problems, but do you realize that C, D, & E are also issues, making the problem worse than you might have thought?” They back their beliefs around C, D, & E up with data and either the cost of not fixing it, or the reward for doing something about them.

Finally, when the participant’s eyes are wide open to the true scope of the issue and their confidence in the expert is at its highest, the expert recommends the fix-it plan. The participant is all in.

At the end of every episode, they all cry with joy at the effort’s success and vow to be friends forever.

The expert never has to present slides on their credentials & history, areas of expertise, mission statement, or awards won.

They lead to their solutions instead of with them. They make the participant the hero, not themselves. It tells a great story.

Now, read this through the lens of your selling efforts.

I know it sounds nuts, but the formal messaging choreography program I teach is based on how reality makeover TV shows do it…:), but just pull up Netflix, search Queer Eye, and watch episode 1.

1. Align: They start by firmly aligning with what (your customer) believes is the reason why they’re investing the time in potentially doing something different than they are doing today.
2. Disarm: Then, and sometimes during alignment, they are authentically themselves and transparent around expectation setting. (Queer Eye – the “Fab Five” are authentically themselves…trying on the participant’s clothes, being “Fab”)
3. Diagnosis: Next, they ideate. They illuminate the true current state situation, showing (your customer) how their perspective of their status quo probably isn’t quite correct, and may be worse than they though.
4. Prove It!: Along with the diagnosis, they support it with data. (Restaurant Impossible will sometimes use reviews, but always has people come in to try the food…and it’s always worse than the owners thought)
5. Reward: To support the “Prove It!”, they inject the emotion involved in addressing the diagnosis, either through a potential reward, or (which I don’t recommend as much) a potential unavoidable problem or cost of doing nothing they’re not seeing.
6. Path Together: Finally, the reveal their recommendtion for how to move forward, solving for the issues.

It’s not difficult to do. It doesn’t require a new slide deck. It’s just a matter of reordering your formal messaging – to tell a great story, but also to better build consensus.

And, as Tom Jackson (RIP) here said to me in this CAMEO, it wasn’t about how great the Fab Five were on Queer Eye, they made it about how great Tom could be. You can do it, too!

My name is Todd Caponi, CSP® I’m a sales keynote speaker who also teaches revenue organizations how to leverage transparency and decision science to maximize their revenue capacity. It’s what I do…teach sellers, their leaders, well…entire revenue organizations how we as human beings make decisions, then how to use that knowledge for good (not evil) in their messaging (informal and formal), negotiations, and revenue leadership. I wrote a book Book Authority had listed as the 6th best sales book of all time (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦), and a second award-winning book (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳).

Reach out if you want to discuss The Transparency Sale sales methodology, or really…anything else (sales kickoffs, workshops, keynotes, the economy, history, etc.)! Email info@toddcaponi.com or call 847-999-0420.

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