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Sales Presentation Skills: Stay Relevant to Pitch Ideas

The best speakers are at the top of their game because they stay relevant to their topics and audiences. They know who they’re talking to and what to say to keep listeners hooked.

This is why their slides are impactful, and why their body language and manner of speaking captivate and encourage audience participation.

In his article in Marketing Magazine, Interbrand’s Chuck Brymer notes leading brands in the world such as Coca-Cola, Apple, Starbucks, and BMW, which utilize the technique to staying relevant.

They reap profit because they maintain a deep understanding of their consumer base and keep up with what happens in their lives. They also make use of simple yet innovative ideas in their advertising. By keeping up with their customers, these brands always make messages that people can relate to.

Presenters can apply this principle to their sales pitch skills using three important tips:

1. Shared Beliefs Connect You to Your Audience Faster

One important factor in connecting effectively with other people is an exchange of shared beliefs. Make a mental list of the right words, tone, and emotional triggers to use so you can connect with others better.

Do your clients specialize in manufacturing and distributing sports goods? Use action-oriented content and designs, then incorporate the core message of either seizing the moment while you can or finding satisfaction in breaking your physical limits.

Are your clients a tech-oriented company? Maybe you can bank on a common objective of providing devices that make people’s work easier and more productive.

Regardless of the industry, you need to know your audience in order to adjust your sales pitch skills accordingly.

2. Connect With Them on an Emotional then Rational Level

Understanding the people you talk to gives them a sense of empathy. After making this connection around a similar set of experiences or ideals, rationalize it by citing concrete examples.

Look at Nike: their “Just Do It” tagline sells to everyone regardless of age, gender and occupation. This message connects with their intended customers since it reaches out to them on an emotional level.

3. Know the Right Questions to Ask

Involve your listeners in the discussion. Work with what you learn from the people you speak to so you can give a relevant pitch. Stay updated with information relevant to them and more importantly, it gives you information that you can translate to relevant pitch deck content to use either now or in the future.

Renowned author, Jim Aitchison, cites the Kaminomoto hair restorer ad campaign’s discreet tone worked because the ad agency realized that their customers didn’t want to be reminded of their baldness.

They preferred an ad with a message that only they would understand. Their execution included random objects with hair growing out of them and a tagline that read “Be careful with the Kaminomoto”.

Conclusion

Your audiences are human just like you. Each person grows and learns new things while refining their purchasing standards (or investing in pitches in the presenter’s case).

To connect with them and convince them of your ideas, form an emotional connection to reach out and effectively sell your ideas.

References

Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print For Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Brymer, Chuck. “WHAT MAKES BRANDS GREAT?Marketing Magazine. Accessed May 11, 2015.
Just Do ItNike. Accessed May 11, 2015.

4 Crucial Skills for a Better Investment Pitch Deck Q&A

Convincing clients to accept your proposal is a feat in itself because while you can establish its relevance and support it with facts, they’ll always have questions after you deliver your investment pitch:

How much will implementing your proposal cost? How long will it take? Who will be involved?

Don’t worry about the Q&A of your investment pitch. Idea pitch deck is also a form of marketing and advertising.

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Audience persuasion is this practice’s lifeblood. Knowing how to address these concerns is the final hurdle that every presenter must pass.

As this article addresses the final parts of your pitch deck process, allocate the information you need in your PowerPoint’s index section.

Getting Started

Addressing the clients’ concerns show them that your proposal is superior to the competition.

Ensure that the idea was well-formulated to account for perceived inconsistencies.

Northwestern University’s marketing expert Philip Kotler (1972) shares four planning skills to reinforce ideas during the final stages of your investment pitch deck:

Planning the Product

Your product is your proposal. It’s the thing you want to pitch to your audience.

Do you want to introduce a new gadget in an expo? Are you pitching a stock investment plan? Are you presenting a recommendation from your earnings’ reports?

Define your product in such a way that clients know exactly what you’re offering them. This should be reflected in the way you package and present it.

Determining the Price

Cost is a big factor in whether your client will approve your proposal or not.

Audiences need to see how their budget (if they give you one) will be allocated, and how much they’ll profit. While they do have the spending power, they prefer cost-effective solutions that give the best value.

Getting past this particular point requires you to accurately identify what it would take for your clients to invest time and money in your idea.

Listing down your costs or presenting graphs to outline how you’ll spend their money presents a clear picture of how the expenses will play out.

Planning the Distribution

Once you’ve established the product and costs, how do you plan on making your product available?

After impressing your audience with your offering’s features and benefits, tell them where and how they can get it.

Will it be available in major tech shops? Can people only get it at the Apple Retail Store? Will it be exclusively available online?

Planning for this often ties in with the concerns of costs.

Promoting Interest

Keep your idea’s benefits in mind. Keep your audience interested by specifying exactly what they can get out of your proposal. Focus on powerful suggestions such as:

“This insurance plan will provide coverage against a wide variety of accidents, all for a fraction of the competition’s costs”
“This new processor will allow your phones to use more apps at the same time, increasing your productivity”.

Clients and their businesses are not only responsible for maximizing their profits, but also for maintaining a strong and lasting customer interest. The more well-defined your idea is, the more convinced clients will be.

Accurately defending a pitch is a crucial investment presentation skill.

When the client’s approval is on the line, your audience will appreciate a speaker who not only focuses on the style of presenting but also stands by his or her topic well enough to convince others to invest in it.

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References:

Kotler, P. (1972). A Generic Concept of Marketing. Journal of Marketing. Vol. 36, No. 2.