Pitch Compass Cardinal Points

What is your Sales compass? The North Star of your Solution? The magnetic pull of your ambitions?

The famed four points of navigation have always been useful analogy.

Yet when pitching, ‘four’ often gets overlooked in favour of the deemed more suitable ‘three’.

It seems that extra point is not only overkill, but potential dangerous distraction.

Advice is typically that the triangular is the way to go.

But what if you genuinely (I stress, genuinely) have four totally separate pillars to your wares?

Ones that legitimately strike out in different directions?

What if you have your own North, East, South & West?

Your own “cardinal” points?

I was reminded of this during the (ever-longer) festive run-up. There’s apparently been a movement lately promoting the “four gift rule“. As one piece asked, “is this sensible, stingy or merely sanctimonious?“. As you might imagine, the web polarises. Yet the lack of its mainstream presence ought tell you the over-riding view.

The ‘rule’ implores that when handing out seasonal presents, not only should a simple quartet be enough, but even more, they should each tick a different box. Namely; want, need, wear, read.

Credit where credit’s due. I do not rate this as an idea. Yet their framing does have merit.

Not three, but four values.

Unusual, but then I thought about the classic bridal heed. To wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”.

Which has certainly stood the test of time.

Why do these pair both work?

Each value is wholly distinct. There’s rhyme and a lovely meter about them. Which is quite poetic.

if we can duly replicate this pleasant, hopefully helpful, effect, then our pitching is on to a winner.