4 Tips To Perfect Your Sales/Business Pitch

Walking into a conference room and telling someone your biggest dream in hopes they don’t laugh in your face will always be a professional’s worst nightmare. As a young professional myself, I have had my fare share of pitching ideas to bosses and coworkers that ended in laughter. But, each and every rejection I have ever had has taught me something about myself and how to better my pitches. I am here to tell you a few tips I have learned that I can’t promise you will land you that business deal you dreamed of, but will help you lay the foundation for every pitch you will ever get to give.

First, what even is a pitch? A pitch is a short conversation to convince someone of your ideas. A pitch gives the listener a quick explanation for why they should act, either they should hire you, buy from you or join you. There are multiple types of pitches such as an elevator pitch, a sales pitch or a business pitch, but they all have the same fundamentals. You will most likely have a elevator pitch in your back pocket when you meet someone for the first time, and you want them to remember you. Creating an elevator pitch will save your life multiple times in your career. You might also need a pitch to make a sale. If your in the business of selling, having a great spiel with great tactics will only make getting your sales that much easier. Lastly, to all the entrepreneurs out there, you might use a pitch to convince someone to sign on with you for the next best invention or even a new business you’ve always wanted to open.

 

So, without further ado, Here are some tips to help better your pitch.

 

 

1. Build a relationship with your listener first before you get into the pitch.

The very first goal you should have when you begin your pitch is to grab the listener’s attention within the first 30 seconds or else you’ve lost them and there’s no point continuing. Joshua Conran from Inc.com even cuts it down to eight seconds to grab someone’s attention. Starting out with the usual “Hi my name is…,” or the typical “ Today I will be talking about…,” is a sure fire way to bomb your pitch. Your listener needs to be woken up and given a reason to put their phone away to listen to you. Some tips to get you started include:

• Start with a personal story to create a relationship with the listener
• Encourage social media following
• Start with a bold statement
• Start with a question to the listener to make them start thinking deeply

 

2. Create action-oriented/ realistic goals.

Once, you’ve met your listener it’s time to craft your pitch. Just like any other writing, creating a pitch is going to take a couple rewrites. What I have found that helps me to get started is to ask myself, “ What do I want my listener to do”? Based on that answer, I can create action-oriented goals. If you don’t know what you want from the listener, then you should reconsider why you’re giving the pitch. Knowing your goals, formats the pitch to let your listener know what is expected of them. They should know at the end of the presentation what the offer is on the table. Some action-oriented goals might be

• Invest money
• Buy a product
• Co-work on a campaign

 

3. Make it a dialogue not a monologue.

When writing, it is good to keep in mind that no one wants to hear a presentation read from a script. Keeping the pitch open for discussion, allows the listener to chime in and be apart of the presentation. When the listener can engage, they can add helpful ideas or fresh perspectives that you had not thought of before. Allowing the pitch to be conversational also keeps it from sounding like a story with run on sentences. Anett Grant discusses this in her own blog on Fast Company. She states,“[ When telling stories ] your words may be different, but your sentences all sound the same. But, when you tell stories with dialogue, you disrupt this pattern. Your sentences are ever-changing and unique, and your narrative becomes much more engaging.” You are not telling a story during a pitch instead you are discussing a business plan so, don’t bore your listener with a story-like monologue.

 

4. Be confident, but open to criticism.

Confidence is power. Confidence not only makes people believe in you, but makes you believe in yourself. If you don’t have confidence when you walk into the room, you will fall flat before you even get started. Speaking with confidence shows that you are a personal with clear goals and on a mission. Mindtools also states to use your USP or unique selling proposition to build upon your confidence. Your USP gives you a perspective, skill, attitude or vision that stands out from everyone else. Capitalizing on this in your pitch will make you stand out from the rest of the crowd. I always remind myself to keep my head up and be confident, but to take criticism because I can always improve in some way. Nobody likes to face their inadequacies, but it’s how you handle the criticism that will reflect in your career. There are going to be people out there to tear you down, but in most cases getting any type of criticisms from a former colleague or another professional will only make you a better person and further your career. Having confidence, but being able to handle criticism can make the difference between a yes or no to your pitch.

 

Whether you are looking to master your first pitch or looking to improve your current pitch grabbing your listener’s attention, creating action-oriented goals, speaking with a dialogue and having confidence with the ability to take criticism will lay the foundation down for you. Thank you for reading and feel free to add comments or ask questions:)

 

Until next time,

H.L