There’s a big difference between simply guessing your way through a sales pitch and knowing your sales pitch inside and out.
Sure, a natural-born speaker may be able to perform an impromptu sales pitch with ease. They can charm their audience with their quick-thinking and charisma and present their products and services as absolute must-haves to the crowd.
However, just because you’ve seen Don Draper improvise a sales pitch at the last minute and win doesn’t mean that you should too. In fact, failing to bridge that gap between winging your sales pitch and knowing it intimately can cost you time, prospects and even your business.
In this blog, I’m going to show you how to build a solid sales pitch that you can use to land more clients reliably without sacrificing personality or instinct.
Do you wing it to win it?
No one likes to be “sold to” – despite the sales process being critical in business success.
The reason why is because when a client feels like they are being propositioned, they tend to increase their resistance, as they don’t wish to feel like they are being coerced or they’re not in control.
For this reason, some business owners choose to wing their pitches as they believe this sets the tone for a seemingly casual and friendly interaction. Improvising the pitch can also give them a sense of confidence, especially if it’s worked for them in the past.
However, customers are getting smarter.
They’ve learned to sense if you are making your pitch up as you go, and if you’re not careful, they’ll call you out.
On the complete other hand, resorting to a highly-scripted pitch can leave customers feeling like there is no genuine connection. Every customer has different needs, and it’s difficult to meet these using a one size fits all approach.
So, what’s the best way to prepare your next sales pitch?
Step 1: Study your own business first
Before you can begin to craft your ideal sales pitch, it’s important that you go over the ins and outs of your business’ processes, products and services thoroughly.
Having this information fresh in your mind will help you build the right brand message that resonates with your customers, as well as allow you to confidently answer any questions they may have.
It’s also beneficial to create a market profile. This means identifying your ideal customers and their unique needs. By doing this, you can align your sales pitch to ensure that what you are selling is exactly what your customer needs in their eyes.
The key to this first step is knowledge. Know your business and know your customer.
Once you’re around the finer details, you can then begin to tailor your pitch accordingly.
Step 2: Solidify your sales pitch process
Most businesses have their own unique way of pitching to their prospects.
In order to land more clients, it pays to develop a system, or sales flow, that works for you.
Let me show you the stages that I believe will give your business the greatest chance of success when pitching to customers:
- Make initial contact
The initial contact is the first step of your sales pitch and involves reaching out to your prospect. Whether it’s a cold call, an appointment, or even an unplanned meeting in an elevator, this is your opportunity to bring your prospect around to the idea of hearing what you have to say.
- Establish rapport
Easing your prospect into the interaction with a friendly tone and nature can help them see you as less of a business owner and more of an acquaintance or friend that can offer them something of value.
- Qualify your prospect
While you’re establishing trust between yourself and your prospect, take the opportunity to gauge whether what you’re offering will be a good fit for them. Ask if they’ve come across similar products, whether they’re interested in hearing about yours, or anything else that you think might affect their decision to do business with you.
- Establish value
This is more than just listing your product or service features. This is your chance to explain the value that your business can provide to them. By the end, the prospect needs to understand and appreciate what they have to gain.
- Summarise
Reflect on your interaction. Is there anything you need to add? Did the prospect seem to clearly understand the benefits that your business offers? Use this opportunity to provide any additional information and clarification.
- Position your solution
Now show your prospect why your product or service is the best option for them. Demonstrate your value proposition, in line with their most pressing needs.
- Handle any objections
When faced with objections, it’s important to make sure that you don’t paint the prospects hesitation as wrong. Pushing your products or services on them instead of listening to and understanding their objections will end the discussion prematurely. Take this opportunity to ask questions in order to help you reframe your solution and proposition.
- Call to action
Before you end your pitch, it helps to try and gauge how your prospect is feeling. Do they seem to trust you enough to make a purchase? Do they look ready to close the deal? If the answer is yes, then great, close that deal.
However, while it’s important to close, if your prospect doesn’t seem ready, you can rephrase your call to action to leave the ball in their court and avoid adding undue pressure.
- Turn your prospect into a recurring customer and source of referrals
The end goal is not simply to close the deal. The objective here is to create trust and eventually convert your prospect into a recurring customer. This can also lead to a new avenue of referrals for your business thanks to the good word of mouth from your new client.
Step 3: Analyse the outcomes of your sales pitch process
Analysing the outcomes of your sales pitch will help you determine what areas of your sales process can be improved and how to go about improving them.
To ensure continual progress, ask yourself these questions:
- Does my sales pitch help me convert more clients?
- Does my sales process produce an acceptable conversion rate?
- Am I setting the right expectations for my business and our prospects?
Through ongoing analysis and constant tweaking of your sales pitch, you can build a process that gets you the results you’re after every time.
Do you need help mastering your sales pitch?
An effective sales pitch is essential for every business – that’s why it’s worth spending time getting it right.
As a Business Coach and Mentor, I work with business owners like you to develop effective sales pitch processes. This involves identifying the strengths and weaknesses within your current sales pitch process and working with you to guide you towards achieving your business goals.
Whether you want to master your sales pitch, revamp your current process or measure the effectiveness of your current sales pitch – I’m here to help.
Simply schedule an initial discovery call today with me.
Stephen O’Sullivan
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