June 2015

3 Corporate Pitch Deck Tips: Maximizing Board Room Pitches

Posted on June 26, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Presenting to executives and other high-powered decision makers can have unbelievably high stakes. Corporate pitches of this significance can be absolutely nerve-wracking. You should expect no less from a possible career or life-changing opportunity.

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Achieving success here isn’t a Herculean task. Use these three tips to become a more confident and effective presenter for when it most counts:

Put the Spotlight on Your Core Message

Executives and board members are busy individuals who have no time to do long conversations. Simplify your pitch and break down your message so that it’s easily digestible.

Keep your discussion on the right track.

Avoid using industry-specific jargon and focus on explaining and expounding on your core message. If you have too much important data that clutters up your deck, put them in an accompanying report or handout.

This doesn’t mean your deck has to be plain and bare. Engage your viewers’ eyes with the right visuals. Despite their status, executives are people too, and would appreciate a good pitch that stands out from the numerous other pitches they encounter daily.

Rely on Evidence and Actual Data

Rhetoric tools are still useful in this situation, but the higher-ups need actionable data based on tangible evidence. You can’t expect them to make high-risk decisions based on unconvincing or misleading information.

This is where research comes in handy. Conduct a thorough and comprehensive study on the subject of your current report. If you can’t do it alone, try mobilizing other departments in your company and ask for help.

At the same time, according to entrepreneur John Rampton, you can also outsource and tap into other references to access the information you need. This may even save you the time and cost.

In terms of deck design, don’t saturate your slides with content. Minimize the amount of text to streamline your corporate pitch deck. If your data relies on showing numbers, then explain them in visual ways like charts, graphs, and diagrams.

Rehearse the Nerves Away

These are high-stake affairs, so your preparation should correspond to the predicted benefit of succeeding.

Be self-critical of your own pitch, determine possible weaknesses in your arguments and prepare for your audience’s possible concerns. Consider the proper clothing choices to match your purpose and the occasion.

Opt for an attire that’s not too flashy or formal. Go for something that won’t throw your audience off but give them a memorable impression of you.

It’s natural to feel more nervous than usual but you can get rid of your fears with constant practice. Practice breathing techniques and a few warm-up exercises to put you in the right state of mind during your pitch. You’ll want to be at the top of your game in front of this crowd, after all.

Conclusion

Getting through and impressing the big leagues requires an even bigger amount of preparation.

Fortunately, sticking close to your message, relying on hard data, and dedicated practice prove vital in getting the best out of your pitch. Keep these tips in mind for when that big break comes.

For these opportunities, you need to be at your best. Get a corporate pitch deck to match the occasion with pitchdeck.com. Contact us for a free quote.

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References

Rampton, John. “How Outsourcing Can Save You Money.” John Chow Dot Com. Accessed June 26, 2015.

An Effective Probing Strategy for Your Sales Pitch

Posted on June 25, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Lack of probing questions can be one reason why sales proposals are often rejected by clients.

Many presenters forget that throwing open-ended questions such as “How are you doing?” or “What are you up to?” successfully convinces your clients to share the information you need to meet their needs.

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First, build rapport and connect with them to get their attention and establish trust.

Briefly introduce yourself to highlight your pitch’s importance. This compels clients to answer your questions without question.

Why Probing is Important

In sales pitches, your main goal is to persuade your clients to take action.

Study your clients’ objectives and how they should be met. Know their needs and wants to craft an attention-grabbing pitch. Doing so makes them realize that you’ve made thorough research about their company, showing them that you’re just as interested in them as you want them to be interested in your proposal.

More than presenting your products and services’ features, advantages and benefits, make your clients feel that you care about them by meeting their expectations. Satisfying their needs makes them see that you value them above anyone else. This gives them reasons to listen and share their side of the story once you ask them probing questions.

When to Probe

A good sales pitch and ample presentation skills can make an effective sales proposal, but probing is an equally important technique. Your clients look for products and services that satisfy their company’s needs.

Probing is important when relating their needs with what you’re offering. Knowing their concerns prepares you to connect them with your products and services’ benefits, making them think that your idea can achieve their desired outcome.

Start by asking open-ended questions such as, “What are your plans for reaching your objectives for this area?” and “What strategies are you going to implement to make this happen?” to delve into more details.

When you notice that your clients have objections, ask whether they understand what you’re trying to emphasize. This can help clarify some concerns before they make their decision.

How Probing Becomes Effective

Probing encourages your clients to talk more, convincing them to share their thoughts and give you more information that can help you motivate them.

The “who, what, when, where, why and how” questions tell you more about your client’s concerns, letting you better understand their needs by asking:

“Who will…”
“What, specifically…”
“When will…”
“Where, exactly…”
“Why does…”
“How does…”

Know whether you’re asking appropriate questions or not. Be careful not to overdo it by asking more questions than necessary. Going overboard results in data that might not be relevant at all to your proposal, wasting both your time and theirs.

Prepare possible questions to quickly address any issues they might have, preventing them from delaying their decisions.

Conclusion

Applying this sales pitch technique makes clients more likely to approve your proposal. Once they realize how much you’re interested, how much you care about meeting their concerns, and how much you’re helping them achieve their expectations, you’ll convince them that your offering best suits their organization needs.

Knowing what and how to ask makes your sales pitch effective. This is because clients will see that you understand how probing helps satisfy their needs, showing that you’re serious and dedicated about what you do.

Clients are more confident to hire somebody who goes out of their way to give them a satisfying experience. Be the person that your client would never hesitate to go to for solutions to their needs.

pitchdeck.com can help you make your sales pitches more effective!

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References

“21 Powerful, Open-Ended Sales Questions.” RAIN Group. Accessed June 25, 2015.
“Probing.” Changing Minds. Accessed June 25, 2015.

Alan Monroe’s Motivational Sequence in Sales Pitches

Posted on June 23, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Monroe’s motivational sequence is a powerful speech writing technique based on the power of persuasion and developed in the 1930s by Alan Monroe, a college professor at Purdue University.

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Presenters should focus on their audiences. Since people avoid discomfort once they encounter a particular problem, they’ll be convinced to take action that will solve that issue.

Monroe’s Motivational Sequence

The objective of a sales pitch is to compel clients to make purchase decisions.

As a presenter, you should answer answer their questions: “Why am I here?” and “What’s in it for me?”

If they don’t see why your proposal is important, they won’t bother to listen. This makes your introduction the most crucial part of your sales pitches. It’s where you hook your audience and keep them interested.

Here are five stages Monroe suggested to making audiences act on unresolved issues:

First Stage: Get Attention

How will you convince them to pay attention?

Getting your audience’s attention is the first step in motivating them. Storytelling achieves this by providing them with stories that pique their interest.

Explain the importance of having them as your audience. Include humorous stories, questions, and quotations to connect with them, giving them a reason to stay and listen.

Second Stage: Establish the Need

How will you address a problem that needs solving?

Stating and emphasizing the issue points out the discomfort and dissatisfaction it brings. Use statistics to illustrate how this can affect them. Appeal to your audience’s emotions to connect with them.

After this, they’ll start looking for a solution.

Third Stage: Satisfy the Need

How will you offer the solution?

Provide them with concrete solutions to address the issues. Avoid confusing and misleading technical terms to keep them from misinterpreting what you mean.

Explain and clarify each of your solution’s supporting details to show their importance.

Fourth Stage: Visualize the Future

How will you show the positive effects of applying this solution?

Contrast the problem against your solution to illustrate the difference between the positive and negative outcomes. What happens if you apply this solution? What happens if you don’t?

Create a picture of both to convince your audience to follow your advice and take action.

Fifth Stage: Inspire Action

How will you move them to act now?

Return to your message’s main idea to remind them of its impact. Create a sense of urgency that challenges and drives them to act immediately.

Tell them to quit delaying the problem. Reiterate the reasons why they should do it and how it can be done.

Conclusion

Monroe’s motivational sequence convinces your audiences to take action by getting their attention, making them stay and listen to what you have to say.

Establish their need for a solution to stop the issue. Satisfy them with clearer and easier-to-understand solutions. Help them visualize how their decision affects their future, and inspire them to act now.

This sequence increases your chances of persuading your audience enough to make them take action.

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References

Barker, Alan. “Five Steps to Action: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.” Distributed Intelligence. Accessed June 23, 2015.

Limit the Numbers: Designing Financial Sales Pitch Decks

Posted on June 23, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Including financial data in your sales pitch decks is both a blessing and a curse. Numbers undeniably give your statements much-needed weight, while their mere presence creates a life-sucking void in your pitch deck.

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Have you tried copying awkward-looking spreadsheet data straight into your slides before? According to Think Outside the Slide‘s Dave Paradi, plugging the holes in your deck with endless numbers is about the least helpful you can be.

Here’s how to make effective and compelling financial pitch decks:

Limit Numbers to the Ones That Help Tell Your Story

Before inputting data, ask: “What numbers tell the story?”

Pick the most important supporting figures. Endless stream of numbers will make your audiences’ eyes glaze over. Cut it down to the most relevant information that conveys your message clearly.

Just because you have numbers doesn’t mean you should use them. Including every single piece of information disrupts your pitch flow. Curate only the most vital data, that is, your main argument’s supporting information.

Illustrate Numbers Through Diagrams, Charts, and Graphs

Illustrate your numbers through diagrams, charts, or graphs to create an easier-to-follow visual narrative for your figures or statistics.

Since majority of the population are visual learners, your audience will probably appreciate and understand images better than blocks of text or numbers.

These visual representations let your audiences see the patterns and trends that you wish to explain. Instead of treating data as the pitch deck’s heart and soul, consider them the supporting details in a story you’re trying to tell.

Keep Text to a Minimum

Don’t include explanations or descriptions for your images, as you may risk oversaturating slides. Minimize the amount of text on your slides to avoid distracting your audience with unnecessary information. The effects of information overload involve inhibiting your audience’s memory. Too many things on the slide will make them forget about your main points.

Include only labels for the figures’ different sections. The rest of the explanation falls on your shoulders. Expounding on data verbally will not only ease your viewers in on your slides, but it also lets you establish much-needed rapport.

Conclusion

Too many numbers bore the lights out of even the most business-savvy audiences, but just enough data supports your message or even tells the whole story for you.

Put the right amount of numbers and determine the right way to represent them.

Still confused? If you’re looking for somebody to optimize your sales pitch deck, we have a team of pitch deck specialists who can make your financial slides the way you need them. Contact us for a free quote!

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References

“Spreadsheets Don’t Belong on Slides.” Think Outside The Slide. December 20, 2011. Accessed June 23, 2015.
“The Visual (spatial) Learning Style.” Learning Styles. Accessed June 23, 2015.
“Using Excel Data in a PowerPoint Presentation.” Think Outside The Slide. 2014. Accessed June 23, 2015.

Three Effective Ways to Evaluate Your Sales Presentation

Posted on June 22, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Rehearsing your sales presentation prepares you for the actual delivery, but it’s only the first half of the process.

Be prepared for whatever questions your audience can ask you.

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According to Michael and George Belch, the advertising industry has its own way of evaluating pitches before suggesting it to clients. Play your own devil’s advocate to find out if your proposal will work by asking yourself three questions:

1. Is Your Solution Consistent with Your Client’s Marketing or Business Strategies?

Each company has their own way of doing business.

Some gadget distributors buy their products from reputable manufacturers. Some grocery stores give shelf space only to common goods.

See if your proposed solution is consistent with how your client sells themselves in their market and how they operate their company.

2. Is Your Sales Pitch Consistent with Your Strategy and Objectives?

Is your business presentation simple enough to show exactly what it’s supposed to?

Visuals are great selling tools, but excessively using them drowns out your message.

Using images effectively with the right words presents your message in a straightforward manner, as with the Crisis Relief’s “Liking Isn’t Helping” campaign.

In his book, Hey Whipple, ad veteran Luke Sullivan presents the following questions for presenters to think about:

Do you want to highlight the features and benefits of your product?
Do you want to pitch your product or services to solve your client’s specific problems?
Do you want to highlight your advantages over the competition?

Whatever tactic you use must be consistent with these strategies, and your slide content mustn’t overwhelm your message.

3. Is Your Sales Pitch Appropriate for the Client and Their Customers?

Whatever proposal you present will always affect your client and their customers, if they have any.

More than the products or services you present, the PowerPoint deck you use and your manner of speaking should be relevant enough for the client to relate to and not be offended.

Dated pop culture references may work, but they lose their relevance when faced with the wrong demographics.

Stay truthful, tasteful and straightforward when delivering business presentations. Give your clients a good reason to invest in you.

Staying Prepared

Anticipating your client’s questions and your audiences’ reactions gives you enough room to stay calm and composed when you deliver the actual presentation.

Being critical of your own work lets you spot possible errors before entering the conference room.

Lastly, having an extra pair of eyes to improve your work makes your business presentation the best it can be.

Take a few minutes to talk to a professional presentation partner today!

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References

Belch, George E., and Michael A. Belch. “Creative Strategy: Implementation and Evaluation.” In Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. 6th ed. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2003.
“Sales Presentation Skills: Stay Relevant to Pitch Ideas.” pitchdeck.com, May 11, 2015. Accessed June 22, 2015.
Sullivan, L. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Nudd, Tim. “The World’s Best Print Ads, 2012-13.” AdWeek. Accessed June 22, 2015.

The Secret to an Effective Sales Pitch Rehearsal

Posted on June 19, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

The best sales pitches are planned weeks in advance, with rehearsals taking several hours.

Presenters refine several factors such as speech tone, body language, hand gestures, demonstrations, and even slide timing.

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The Secret

What’s the overarching secret to getting the most out of your rehearsal?

Deliberate practice.

According to brand communications expert Carmine Gallo, this is a form of training which involves setting specific goals (say, giving a sales pitch in five minutes), asking for feedback, and continuous improvement during your career as a professional presenter.

Setting Goals

Using this method of training means being specific down to the last detail.

How powerful will your tone be? What sort of emotions do you need to use for presenting? How long will your speech take per slide?

Gallo presents Steve Jobs as an example because of his meticulousness. Jobs spends several hours practicing the sales pitch’s every aspect, right down to how much lighting to use for showing his products.

Similarly, a skilled presenter notes his pitch’s every detail and how they’ll work during the actual show date. This lets you plan how your deck work, including your speech’s timing, for an effortless sales pitch.

Properly Using Feedback

Do the pitch rehearsal with your team, supervisor or even in front of a mirror.

If you have someone or something to help spot your errors, take note of your mistakes and avoid doing them during the actual pitch.

Note if there were likable things you did (ex. building rapport with the audience, poking good-natured fun at yourself) that you can repeat.

Sales strategist Marc Wayshak suggests that another effective way of getting feedback would be to ask prospects what works for them or what doesn’t. This won’t diminish your credibility. In fact, it will make you seem even more determined to connect with them and understand their needs.

Continuous Improvement

As simple as this sounds, improving yourself can take years. Practice is essential to a sales pitch, especially if you want to sound spontaneous.

Over the course of your career, improve yourself by studying both your performance and your audience’s feedback.

Combined with rigorous deliberative practice, you’ll eventually define and improve your mix of personal pitch techniques, letting you sell better than you ever could before.

The Bottom Line

Practice everything, down to the tiniest detail. If you’re as passionate about giving a pitch as Steve Jobs and the top TED speakers are, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

Learn from your mistakes and strengths to reach your fullest potential as a presenter.

Once you’ve honed your skills, work with a pitch deck design specialist to give you the right selling tools!

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References

Gallo, C. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Wayshak, Marc. “5 Tips to Giving the Perfect Sales Presentation.” Salesforce Blog. January 23, 2014. Accessed June 19, 2015.

Why Hiring Pitch Deck Specialists Can Save You Time

Posted on June 16, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

There are two crucial rules for an efficient business:

Manage your resources properly.
Use your time wisely to be faster than the competition.

The same thing applies to making your business pitch deck presentations. Pitch deck is not only the most commonly used pitching tool, but also one of the most important ways to sell.

Whether you’re a CEO looking to get new business partners, a VP making internal reports, part of the sales and marketing team seeking new prospects, or an admin assistant, each department needs to make a business pitch deck at some point.

The problem is, with all the duties each department has, assigning the task of making a pitch deck presentation can be a problem. Gathering information, editing, and rehearsing the pitch lessens the time you have to perform your day-to-day tasks, making your deck’s quality suffer.

How can you manage your resources to make quality business pitch decks faster?

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Invest in the Right Resources

Entrepreneur John Rampton outlines the benefits of outsourcing for your company—Pitch deck included. According to Rampton, outsourced help lowers risk and cost while ensuring expert services.

Since almost everyone in the company doesn’t have adequate time to make your deck, outsource a reliable pitch deck specialist in the same way that you would hire a PR or advertising agency to promote your brand.

According to business gurus Gerald and Steven Michaelson, to be a businessman who gets results, you must effectively manage your operational resources to run your company and sell yourself. Not only will you have an effective pitch deck on your hands, you and your co-workers also get to spend more time on your business’ duties.

Use Time Wisely

To succeed as an entrepreneur, value your time and move faster than your competition. Outsourced pitch decks let you and your company focus on your own field. At the same time, you’re assured that the job still gets done. The advantage of companies who sell themselves effectively is their ability to get business partners and clients faster than their competitors do.

Doing this gives you less time to be surprised and more time to prepare for any unforeseen contingencies, even ones from inside your company (ex. internal emergencies, other promotional events to manage).

Take the Advantage

The company that strikes first leads the market. To do this, sell yourself ahead of the competition.

To know more about how a pitch deck partner can give you that selling advantage, take a few minutes to get to know our company or call us for a free quotation.

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References

Michaelson, G., and Steven Michaelson. Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today’s Business. 2nd ed. Avon, Mass.: Adams Media. 2010.
Rampton, John. “How Outsourcing Can Save You Money.” John Chow Dot Com. Accessed June 16, 2015.

3 Acronyms to Attack Business Investment Pitch Decks

Posted on June 16, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

So you’ve founded a start-up and are looking for investors to keep the ball rolling. You’re filled with confidence at this new, ground-breaking business proposal.

They just can’t say no.

…right?

Underestimating how much you need to prepare to ace investment preparations means you’ll fail. You can’t simply stroll in and blow people’s minds with your brilliant idea.

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Here are three easy-to-remember acronyms to sail through that pitch.

T.A.

T.A. stands for Target Audience. Getting a beat on your potential investors should be the first thing on your to-do list.

We’ve previously discussed the importance of having good objectives that guide your pitch. For effective objectives, have a well-defined target audience.

Preparing an investment pitch doesn’t only mean narrowing down who benefits from your product or service. Zero in on who your investors could be.

Granted, you may not have easily-accessible information on who they are. Don’t be afraid to make educated guesses when your standard search engine results turn up with nil.

Take some tips from Sticky Marketing Club CEO, Grant Leboff, and examine your company and the market you want to enter before casting out the net.

Look for possible needs and wants they may have, then formulate questions or concerns they might bring up. This allows you to plan ahead with answers to best alleviate their worries. This also lets you highlight positives that they can relate with while spinning negatives that can turn them off.

Planning your pitch without even knowing who you’ll be talking to seals your start-up in a coffin.

U.S.P.

Now that you know who you’re selling to, define a specific niche your proposed solution intends to fill.

Before you write your speech, define your U.S.P. – Unique Selling Proposition. This idea was first developed by ad expert Rosser Reeves in his book “Reality in Advertising (1961),” stating that its uses were:

to offer a valuable proposition.
to demonstrate a quality that can’t be offered by a competitor, and
be a strong and catchy “hook” to draw in new customers or investors.

It also helps to have a U.S.P. that can afford you a competitive advantage that’s sustainable for the near future – a characteristic that’s not easily copied or improved upon.

Don’t make these benefits up, as unsubstantiated claims can get you in trouble, or even make you lose investors.

Whatever the case, knowing your U.S.P. easily tells your audience two things: why they should care and how you can make their life easier.

C.A.P.

Be confident, assertive, and passionate. These three are all important virtues in any pitch that are your linchpin to success.

Dressing the part and proper body language gives you the confidence to win the crowd over.

Having firm and specific objectives allows you to focus your pitch, imparting a more assertive and persuasive tone.

Relay memorable personal stories that tie into your message to make for an impassioned speech.

Go beyond describing a business model with limitless potential. Why would an audience trust a presenter lacking in conviction? Believing in your product makes you sell your product.

Your audience is looking for an investment that’s poised profit financially. Be worthy of their time, money, and trust.

Summing It Up

Investment pitch decks can be the most nerve-wracking of all the business opportunities.

Keep those fears in check with a proven three-pronged approach to get the best result from your pitch. All you need are three simple acronyms: T.A., U.S.P., and C.A.P.

Know who you’re selling to, what unique benefit you’re selling, and pitch with the confidence of a master presenter.

Are you in need of a deck to match your business proposal? Boost your chances by contacting our pitch deck experts for a free quote!

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References

Belch, G., & Michael A. Belch. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. 5th ed. Boston, Mass.: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2001.
Leboff, Grant. “Six Steps to Defining Your Target Market.” Marketing Donut. Accessed June 16, 2015.
Reeves, R. Reality in Advertising. New York: Knopf, 1961.

Featured Image: “Wallis046 Fish Fork” by Gordon McDowell on Wikimedia Commons

Sales Pitch Tips from The Art of War: Know Your Craft

Posted on June 15, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

In their breakthrough book, The Art of War for Managers, business veterans Gerald and Steven Michaelson cite one of history’s greatest military tacticians, Sun Tzu.

Drawing from one of Sun Tzu’s famous lines, “…the general who understands war is… the guarantor of the security of the nation,” these business gurus suggest that if you spend time knowing your business well enough, you’ll lead it effectively.

The same principle applies to sales pitches.

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CEOs and sales teams take time to know their businesses and products before pitching. They also have a firm grasp of the public speaking techniques they need to sell.

As a presenter, here are three aspects you should master:

Your Product

Knowing your tools is the first step to building a selling idea. According to renowned author Jim Aitchison, learning every aspect of your product or service lets you explain its features correctly. It also helps you outline the benefits your prospects are interested in.

Ask yourself these questions:

What is it?
How does it work?
What benefits does it give to clients?
What situations can they use it in?

These should lead to what clients need to know, more specifically: how the product or service help their business.

Your Pitch Techniques

Once you know how your business and products work, rehearse. There is no shortcut.

As brand communications expert, Carmine Gallo, says, even some professional presenters spend several weeks rehearsing for a single pitch. They also take note of what works and what doesn’t so they can improve their public speaking.

Professional presenters deliberately practice until they get their pitch just right, almost as if their work was effortless.

Learn how to use the techniques and tools at your disposal before entering the boardroom to give yourself an immense advantage over others.

Your Pitch Deck

Once you know everything about your product or service and have spent hours rehearsing your speech, it’s time to prepare your third and most crucial component: your pitch deck.

Your deck is not a script, but it’s there to help your audience visualize what you have to say, so keep it as simple and understandable as possible.

You can even hire professional pitch deck specialists to help you design a deck that effectively sells your pitch.

Learn the Tools and the Trade

Pitching skills and techniques are acquired over time. Some spend hours practicing to gain them, while others have built them up over their careers. The same thing goes for knowing your business well enough to sell it.

Know every aspect of your product first. There’s nothing to pitch if you don’t understand your own offering. Rehearse until you master your tone, gestures, and timing. All the information you have is useless if you can’t deliver it clearly.

Finally, make your deck simple but packed with meaningful content. Don’t use them as your cue cards. Instead, use them to emphasize what you want to say. With enough practice, you’ll know how to best persuade a crowd by combining all these factors into a great sales pitch.

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References

Aitchison, J. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore, New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Gallo, C. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2010.
“Knowing Your Products and Services.” Queensland Government. Accessed June 15, 2015.
Michaelson, G., and Steven Michaelson. Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today’s Business. 2nd ed. Avon, Mass.: Adams Media. 2010.
“The Secret to an Effective Sales Pitch Rehearsal.” pitchdeck.com, Inc. 2015. Accessed June 15, 2015.

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4 Sales Pitch Techniques from Harvard Business Review

Posted on June 12, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

To sell effectively, make your clients listen to you and give you their undivided attention.

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Developing a commanding stage presence is a vital skill for every presenter. Some presenters may be energetic enough to gradually build the hype needed to sell while others have engaging stories to tell.

With a well-developed stage presence, presenters connect with their audiences and form strong relationships with them through their well-crafted speeches and pitch deck presentations.

This is useful when doing sales pitches.

Harvard Business Review Press (2010) recommends four steps to achieve this:

1. Define Your Communication Style

The first step to developing your stage presence is to define your own communication style.

Are you a storyteller?
Do you prefer to start with the current situation, then introduce something to change it?
Or do you want to spend a few minutes to get to know your audience first?

Whether you want to make an energetic pitch or employ cool, quiet confidence, know which approach you are more comfortable with and stick with that.

2. Focus on the pitch deck

You may be physically present in the conference room, but it’s more important to be mentally and emotionally focused on the people and task at hand.

This is the basis of the saying “putting yourself into what you’re doing.” According to speech trainer Michelle Mazur, focusing on your pitch deck means stepping outside your personal sales goals, and pitching something that would benefit your prospects.

Doing this gives your audience the impression that you’re completely interested in connecting with them and offering them something worth listening to and investing in.

3. Use Your Expressions to Your Advantage

Facial expressions, conversational voice tones and body language are all major contributors to making a dominant stage presence, even more so than your verbal content.

If you use your emotions and play to your passions to show that you’re motivated, your audience is more likely to latch on to that feeling and become as interested as you are.

4. Connect with Your Audience

The most important pitch technique is to build a connection with your audience.

Every client has their own set of expectations, and it’s the presenter’s job to meet those. Take time to know who you are presenting to beforehand.

Use stories, metaphors, and appeal to shared beliefs to establish your credibility in front of your clients. Have them trust you to make a convincing sales pitch.

One More Thing: Integrity Matters

As with every business, clients are looking for partners they can trust. They need to find the people who can help them grow and form a long-term business relationship with.

To get the partners you need, give them the impression that you’re a credible partner who’s confident of their ability to help. This depends on how you use your pitch deck to sell yourself.

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References

“5 Ways To Make The Audience The Star Of Your Presentation.” Fast Company. January 29, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2015.
Guide to Persuasive Presentations. (2010). Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press.

Fortune 500

Mid Market

Small Business

Startups

Agency Partners

Robert H.

Gregor S.

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Put the Spotlight on Your Core Message

Rely on Evidence and Actual Data

Rehearse the Nerves Away

Conclusion

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References

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Why Probing is Important

When to Probe

How Probing Becomes Effective

Conclusion

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References

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Monroe’s Motivational Sequence

First Stage: Get Attention

Second Stage: Establish the Need

Third Stage: Satisfy the Need

Fourth Stage: Visualize the Future

Fifth Stage: Inspire Action

Conclusion

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Limit Numbers to the Ones That Help Tell Your Story

Illustrate Numbers Through Diagrams, Charts, and Graphs

Keep Text to a Minimum

Conclusion

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References

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1. Is Your Solution Consistent with Your Client’s Marketing or Business Strategies?

2. Is Your Sales Pitch Consistent with Your Strategy and Objectives?

3. Is Your Sales Pitch Appropriate for the Client and Their Customers?

Staying Prepared

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References

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The Secret

Setting Goals

Properly Using Feedback

Continuous Improvement

The Bottom Line

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References

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Invest in the Right Resources

Use Time Wisely

Take the Advantage

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T.A.

U.S.P.

C.A.P.

Summing It Up

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