Sometimes you lose prospective clients due to clunky sales pitch decks. You may have exerted all your effort on calling them and following up, but you may have already committed mistakes that cost you their trust. Don’t worry.
Once identified, it’ll be easy to wake up from these pitch deck nightmares:
Avoid the Information Quicksand
Rapid technological advancement and increased connectivity leads us to believe that oversharing is a good thing. In sales, it’s an entirely different story. While working with a narrative builds rapport and puts the audience at ease, overdoing it could trap you in a chatty, irrelevant loop that diverts your flow.
Stop boring your audience to death. List down at least three value propositions that are relevant to you and your target market. Make sure your visuals are simple and understandable, enough for anyone to immediately get your main message.
Find Your Core Identity
There’s plenty of competition out there. If you can’t make an impact on your leads, you’ll end up losing them. To avoid getting sucked into anonymity, highlight your brand’s best features and show how they’re unique from other offers. Supplement these with an engaging pitch deck that both catches the eye and shows off your content.
You can add testimonials from past trusted customers who give positive feedback on your services. These will help draw your listeners’ attention to the benefits of investing in you.
Vanquish the Personal Bias Phantom
Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that your audience’s perspective automatically aligns with yours. Remember that these are people you have yet to win over. Since they aren’t invested yet in your services, they won’t appreciate a lengthy discussion of your history or anything that moves away from finding out your relevance to them.
Assume that you’re starting with a blank slate and you have to explain some things that would otherwise seem clear to you because of your knowledge of the company. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes. Do thorough research on their background, needs, and interests as early as your planning stage.
Let them know that you understand where they’re coming from, and that that’s where you’re headed, too.
Turn on the Night Light
Making a sales pitch can be very challenging. Plenty of presenters end up digging their own graves. But with enough practice and awareness, you’ll be able to map out feasible solutions. Stave off the nightmares with just a glimmer of light. Reel in prospects with the right amount of information that can showcase the best parts of your offer.
Don’t offend them by injecting too many personal assumptions in your pitch. Instead, convince people that you’re better than the rest. Make your brand look like the best option, and be the best option available.
References
“Conducting Market Research.” Entrepreneur. September 30, 2010. Accessed October 23, 2015. www.entrepreneur.com/article/217388
