I’m 26 years old – no longer the youngest guy in the room in Silicon Valley. I feel my age is an advantage though; sure, it doesn’t get me the 18-year-old with a start-up press, but investors, potential hires, and my current team take me more seriously because I’m older.
But it’s a whole different story when I attend conferences and trade-shows for the restaurant franchise industry. At 26, not only am I the youngest guy in the room, but the median age runs somewhere around 42. Because I need to close deals with these professionals, my age can at time become a disadvantage with these target clients.
Nevertheless, I have closed deals with some of the largest brands in the US.
What age-barrier?
The following are my techniques to overcome the age-barrier and close deals with professionals that are twice my age.
Embrace your age/look for the advantage
When I’m meeting with 50 year old professionals, I don’t try to hold a conversation about opening a restaurant franchise – that just isn’t my area of expertise. I therefore look to steer the conversation towards a topic that I am an expert in – new technology.
I’ve learned that professionals outside of Silicon Valley are completely fascinated about Silicon Valley. I take control of the conversation from the very beginning by telling professionals about all the new start-ups that they can expect to play with soon. Stories like Instagram’s $1 billion acquisition are also fun to talk about.
Best approach: humble confidence
No one likes arrogance. Sure, I understand the appeal of arrogance because it makes you look like a no-nonsense kind of guy who is looking to make business deals. But when you’re the young guy, arrogance is a big turn off.
Instead, go with the humble confidence approach. You are an expert in your field, and are looking to share this expertise with others; at the same time, you understand that the people you’re meeting with are experts in their own fields and you’re looking to learn from them.
People want to do business with a winner
1. Dress the part: the obvious is business professional attire. Nowadays, I have upped my dress with a nice watch, clean shoes, and a fake-leather laptop bag. A professional with a nice watch indirectly signals that he’s successful with his business. If you are successful with your business, then your potential target will feel that they will be successful with you as well.
2. Hand-out materials: I used to make presentations with a keynote presentation, then email the presentation to my potential clients afterwards. I have found my presentation is much more effective when I have printed material to hand out at the end of my presentation. Professionals are busy and like to procrastinate when possible. Printed materials sitting on their desk are a constant reminder of your presentation, which can increase the decision-making process.
3. A killer presentation: I love to “wing” my presentation. I’m a capable public speaker to begin with, and I know my product better than anyone else – I’ve therefore been able to close deals by walking into meetings and simply presenting with no actual preset plan.
However, I’ve recently started to fully prepare for my presentations a whole 2 days ahead of time and also make a custom slide deck just for the potential client. And I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in my ability to close deals.
Because I practice ahead of time, my presentation is more direct, better put together, and there are less “um’s” and tangents during the meeting. I’m able to better control the pace of the meeting and direct it in the direction that I want.
Even if you’re a spectacular public speaker and you know your product very well, I encourage you to prepare for your pitches at least 2 days ahead of time. I promise that your close rates will greatly increase.
Author:
Jun Loayza is the Co-Founder of RewardMe, a digital rewards program for restaurants and retailers. In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levi’s, LG, and Activision. Jun currently lives in Mountain View, CA with his girlfriend and startup team.
