Have you ever been on the receiving end of a pitch and thought to yourself “uhh, it’s a huge waste of time”? This happens very often as a sales pitch can either make your deal or break it.
Two most common mistakes a lot of inexperienced sales reps make are 1) being unprepared and 2) not personalizing their pitch to a specific client.
To avoid these pitfalls and polish your sales pitch to the state of absolute perfection, we have created this sales pitch checklist that will touch upon such topics:
- What is a sales pitch?
- How long should a sales pitch be?
- Steps to making a sales pitch
- Pitch examples
- General tips to perfect your sales pitch: dos and don’ts
So let’s begin!
What is a Sales Pitch?
A sales pitch is a short presentation in which a sales representative shortly describes the main benefits and the nature of their business/product. Ideally, a sales pitch should last no longer than 2 minutes and cover the most essential and valuable features of your product or business.
There’s also a notion called an elevator pitch. The idea behind this name is that you need to condense your business/product presentation so that it lasts a single average elevator ride: no more, no less. Your presentation should be short, sweet, and narrative-driven.
Successful salespeople know how to deliver their pitch in a short time and be able to include all the crucial information that will strike a chord with the prospect. The future of the deal and the length of your conversation are both directly impacted by this.
Steps to Making a Sales Pitch
In order to create a true masterpiece and deliver your “pitch perfect”, you need to follow a specific agenda that will overlook every aspect of your presentation.
With the help of a robust framework, you will be able to build a great sales pitch from the introduction to the final note and tailor it for every customer in particular. After all, a little extra effort always goes a long way.
Step 1: Problem Outline
The first sentence of a pitch is arguably the most important part of your presentation. You can hit or miss, depending on which approach you choose.
You need to consider that this first sentence is the one that will grab your prospect’s attention for the entire presentation, and thus, nailing it is key to your success.
There are two main routes you can choose here:
- Start straight with the problem
- Start with an intriguing statistic
Both of these methods focus on your prospect’s most irritating pain points and bring up topics that resonate with them the most.
1. Starting off with the problem
To master the art of pitching, you need to become a master of storytelling. Good storytelling assumes a problem/solution approach where the problem is the focal point of your introduction.
⛔ Our company makes the best pesticides in the world. Are you interested?
✅ You know how pest infestation can cut your crops' production in half. Would you like to hear more about a product that can solve the pest problem and keep your crops healthy?
Which pitch would you be more interested in? The answer is obvious.
Naturally, if your business or product focuses on solving only one problem, and you have a very narrow niche, your pitches will look more or less the same.
However, if you have a versatile solution that you need to promote, we recommend conducting thorough preliminary research on every particular client and finding out their pain points. Later on, you’ll need to “press” on these points to get the best results.
Pro tips:
- Contextualize the problems you solve in a different way for the prospect starting with “you know how…”
- Slightly tease the product, just to give the prospect enough to go off.
- Engage with a question.
2. Another way to introduce the problem and spice your pitch up a little is to point out intriguing statistics. But not just any statistics. To hit the bull’s eye with this stat, make sure it resonates with your audience and offers stakes. Let’s go back to our crops:
⛔ Did you know that 50% of insects choose wheat as their main infestation victim?
✅ 50% of farmers choose ineffective pesticides due to safety and harvest quality concerns. This results in millions of dollars lost in revenue.
(These stats are completely made up, but you see the point)
Bonus tip:
If you want to improve your cold-calling pitch, start with a “blunt” and unexpected (but respectful) request. How to do it? Say something along these lines:
“Today we have a cold-calling/pitching contest at our company. Will you have a couple of seconds to listen to me and I promise you won’t regret it. Plus, you might help me win.”
A blunt intro like this will most likely leave your prospect unable to say no.
It might not work every time, but it’s definitely worth trying as their simple “yes” to this bizarre request will win you some time to deliver your well-thought-out pitch.
Step 2: Value Statement
Now that you’ve outlined a problem, it’s time to bring it all home. When you hear positive signals from the prospect and you’ve captured their attention, it’s time to proceed by introducing the most attractive value statement you can think of.
But don’t say something generic, – always personalize your value statement based on your prior company research.
For example, if the agricultural firm specializes in wheat, say that your pesticide is 100% effective against wheat pests. If they have the highest production quality standards, bring up the fact that your pesticide is 100% organic, safe and compliant with all safety regulations + it gets rid of pests.
Pro tip: Be creative. Think out of the box. Think of what your competitors might say, and phrase it differently.
Step 3: Proof of Value
“But don’t just take our word for it.”
Words can be powerful, but they are nothing without proof. At this point, you need to deploy all your most powerful “weapons.” If you have some product performance stats that you’ve been able to track, bring them in.
If you have some “big names” as your clients, bring them in.
Also, explain how you helped these companies overcome their challenges and how your product improved their bottom line.
Pro tip: Make this part short and sweet, don’t try to oversell.
Step 4: Finish on a High Note
By now our pesticide expert’s pitch looks like this:
- Hi, my name is X from Y. Today we have a cold-calling contest at our company. Will you have a couple of seconds to listen to me and I promise you won’t regret it. Plus, you might help me win.
- Sure, go ahead.
- You know how pest infestation can cut your crops' harvest in half. Would you like to hear more about a product that can solve the pest problem and keep your crops healthy?
- Yes, shoot away.
- Our pesticide is 100% organic and safe to use, plus it gets rid of pests effectively. We work with XY, and they reported a 30% increase in yearly revenue after using our product without losing in quality of crops.
So what’s missing? That’s right – a call to action. A good CTA can turn the entire pitch around. In this particular case, our pesticide expert would say something like this:
- Would you like to book a meeting with our industry expert to talk about our offer in more detail?
- Sounds great, book me in.
You determine the end goal of your pitch yourself, that’s why your call to action can take any shape or form. A good CTA can make any pitch sound strong and confident.
Pro tip:
In a perfect world, a prospect is always willing to listen and gets swept off of their feet after your first sentence. However, in reality, you will encounter some objections you will need to address wisely. To do so, read our comprehensive objection handling guide to soak in the knowledge from experienced sales reps.
General Tips To Polish Your Sales Pitch: Dos and Don’ts
Bring up relevant facts
If you try to pitch to someone you’ve met or talked to before, try to bring up some details or pain points they mentioned during your previous meeting. This will increase the effectiveness of your pitch, and show them that you know their specific use case very well.
Keep it short and to the point
Again, don’t describe each particular feature of your product or services in detail. Focus on a couple of the most relevant product perks that will effectively solve your client’s challenges.
Even if your prospect has endless patience, they wouldn’t enjoy having to listen to you for 30 minutes.
Create a FOMO effect
How to create urgency in a sales pitch? Tap into the fear of missing out.
Mention the fact that many competitors of your prospect’s company use your services to boost their revenue and do so with flying colors.
Practice your pitch
When you’re not confident about what to say next or need time to remember facts and stats, the prospect will notice this hesitation and most likely lose interest. That’s why always practice your sales pitch beforehand to sound knowledgeable and confident.
Be the thought leader they look up to.
- Know the industry.
- Know your product.
- Know your client.
These three points will elevate you in the eyes of a prospect and make you a thought leader with unique know-how.
Don’t use metaphors and pretentious statements
Always be clear about everything you say. Don’t use metaphors, ifs, and maybes. Bring only facts and logical conclusions. This will earn you some trust and respect from the client.
Don’t oversell
Don’t try to impose your services on a client. Remember that your pitch’s main purpose is to bring value and solve clients’ pain points.
Pitch Perfect is Your Key to Prospects’ Hearts
At Unique, we always pay extra attention to delivering a perfect sales pitch because we know what our product is capable of, and we want to share it with the world.
If you also have this confidence and pride in your product, your sales pitch will most definitely reflect it. However, to polish it to the state of perfection, follow these simple guidelines and start attracting more leads from day one!