sales pitch Archives

3 Things to Remember When Disaster Attacks Your Pitch

Posted on August 21, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Most presenters’ initial response when accidents happen is to worry. They think that there’s no way out when they make mistakes. The same things apply to business pitches.

While some presenters prepare well before they speak in front of their audience, they may fail to account for accidents or delays in their presentation.

When Disaster Strikes

You’re now in front of your prospective clients, ready to deliver your most outstanding pitch. Suddenly, your laptop shuts down, or your pitch deck slides freeze.

What will you do?

Continue.

It’s been said that “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.” This means that when certain problems arise, don’t stop. Continue with what you’re doing and focus on your main objective. When you concentrate on delivering your presentation, you’ll eventually set aside your negative thoughts and feelings, allowing you to achieve your desired outcome without being distracted.

Being mentally present also helps you to focus on your audience and avoid getting interrupted by unexpected circumstances. Here are three things to recall when you experience unavoidable situations:

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1. Your Client Understands

When mistakes or accidents happen, it’s normal to feel bad about it. However, remember that your audience feels the same way, too. Understand that this can happen to anyone at any time. After all, there are no perfect presentations.

What’s important is that you’re able to maintain your composure during the pitch.

2. Your Client Still Wishes to Listen.

The reason why your audience attends your pitch is because they want to listen to what you have to say. There may be distractions that will prevent them from getting your message.

However, it’s your job to capture their attention and keep them interested.

3. Your Client Wants You to Continue

Your audience is on your side. Even if you make a mistake, they still want you to continue.

Don’t let these negative thoughts hinder you from delivering your message effectively.

Conclusion

Understanding these three things will help you attain your main goal: the audience’s attention. However, these shouldn’t stop you from planning ahead. Being well-prepared and staying focused allow you to properly manage possible disasters.

When that happens, remember: don’t stop. Just continue. You’ll feel better when you do.

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References

Dlugan, Andrew. “The Only Thing to Do When Disaster Strikes Your Speech.” Six Minutes, March 18, 2010. Accessed June 8, 2015.

2 Ad Agency Tips to Address Sales Pitch Risks

Posted on July 27, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Every business activity has its risks. Marketing campaigns may not get needed profits, and clients reject proposals for advertisements.

Each pitch is an investment and a risk. You spend time putting together information, buying market data prominent research agencies, or hiring a professional pitch deck designer to put it together for you. There’ll always be resources to invest in, all to get your client’s approval.

How do you convince clients to risk investing in you?

In his book Cutting Edge Advertising, Jim Aitchison writes about how ad agencies tackle this problem by taking a fresh idea and a different way of selling products from the competition. To challenge the risks of giving a sales pitch, listen to your consumers, then propose a new message that uses what you learned.

1. Listen to Your Clients

Everyone has a story to tell, even consumers.

Effective advertising and marketing strategies are based on how a brand’s consumer base behaves. Getting to know how the consumers feel, what their stories are and how to respond to them are all crucial parts of crafting relevant messages that sell.

Clients are no different. Consulting them before planning your pitch deck lets you know what your clients need from you. What are the business objectives they need to fulfill? What are their cost concerns, implementation and estimated profits?

2. Take the Creative Step

Take that information, match it with your most relevant offer and present it in a fresh and interesting manner. Guide presentation techniques about time and slide limits with your data.

As Aitchison writes: “Present something the audience will recognize as themselves, their lives, their dreams, but with a twist, so they are actually startled by it, or will get an extra insight from it”. Great examples of this technique he cited include the Nike Shox TV ad and Steve Jobs’ introduction of the iPod Nano in 2005.

What to Take From This

Everything will have risks, especially with your business and sales presentation.

Identifying these risks gives you time to plan in advance. Knowing what to expect, how to talk to your clients and how to pitch your products in an interesting pitch deck makes all the difference. A small moment of your time saves you from the usual headaches of making a winning sales pitch.

It’s an investment worth making, and a risk worth taking. Talk to the right people to get you started.

References

Apple Music Special Event 2005-The iPod Nano Introduction. Apple History Channel. Accessed July 27, 2015.
2000 Vince Carter Nike SHOX Commercial/Jumping Over Gary Payton. YouTube. Accessed July 27, 2015.
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.

Using Emotions to Convince in Your Sales Pitches

Posted on July 1, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Most presenters are concerned about how their audiences perceive them. They think that being formal will make them look professional, but they’re missing one key element in engaging audiences: emotion.

Since it links people together, your goal is to move them to action through their emotions.

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Presenting facts isn’t enough to successfully convey your message to your audience. You also have to meet their emotional needs to fully get their attention.

What They Show

What you project to your audience displays your true self.

Your personality plays a vital role in creating audience engagement. You can’t fully convince them to listen without catching their interest in some way.

While facts and figures are significant in any sales pitches or public speeches, how your audience feels still matters. According to Tony Carlson, “A memorable speech rests on the quality of the connection between the speaker and the audience.”

Consider these three facts when introducing your proposal:

1. Emotions Make Us Human

Whether you’re looking at your notes or making eye contact with your clients, make sure to relate to the audience at all times.

Build connection by making them feel that you, too, are a human being who can be happy, sad or serious.

2. Emotions Help Us Remember

Tell stories that appeal to their emotions. This makes them recall your message and encourages them to take action.

Share your own experiences or mention other examples that are related to your topic. Details become easier to remember through an emotional connection.

3. Emotions Inspire Us to Act

Once you get them to feel your emotions, convince them to take action.

If you introduce a certain issue that affects them, they’ll see a need to resolve it. Doing so motivates them to not just ignore it.

How to Display Emotions

When showing your emotions, use the right words, voice, body gestures and facial expression to balance the way you speak and act in front of a crowd.

Imagine yourself presenting with enthusiasm, yet with a neutral face and stiff posture. It’ll come across as unnatural and confusing.

A combination of these various factors reveals what you really feel inside. If you lack passion, or if you’re not in the mood, it’ll show.

1. Use Emotions Occasionally

Don’t overdo it. Be mindful when to stir your audience’s emotions to avoid losing your pitch’s impact.

Utilize emotions based on your topic. Learn how to insert these in-between your message’s section.

2. Combine Positive Emotions with Negative

Be dynamic in your pitch. Always follow negativity with positive mentions to establish a balance people’s emotions.

3. End on a Positive Note

Don’t assume that your audience will feel better without ending your pitch positively.

If you start giving your main points with an intention to make them feel bad, finish it with a positive assurance which helps them recall both you and your message.

Conclusion

Understanding how emotions are important in your pitch helps you use, handle and manage them accordingly.

This motivates your audience to listen, learn and recall your message even after your pitch.

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References

Carlson, Tony. The How of WOW: A Guide to Giving a Speech That Will Positively Blow ’em Away. New York: American Management Association, 2005. Print.
Davis, Keith. “Facts tell… emotions sell.” Easy Public Speaking. October 3, 2010. Accessed May 21, 2015. http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/using-emotions-in-speeches-and-presentations

Adapting Elevator Pitches Into Your Sales Pitch

Posted on July 1, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

The idea of adapting a sales pitch into a 30-second elevator pitch is to deliver a clear and concise speech that makes a good impression in a short amount of time.

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When the elevator door opens and a potential client stands near you, you want to catch his attention and, hopefully, get his business card.

Stay ahead of the competition. Consider every pitch as the chance of a lifetime, so make a speech that sells more than it tells.

Here’s how you can plot your message similar to a well-crafted elevator pitch:

Establish Credibility

How can you earn someone’s trust in the span of an elevator ride?

The key is to establish credibility.

Reel your audience in at the very start and build a positive mental picture in their minds.

A short yet concise self-introduction makes you sound credible. According to presentation trainer Gavin Meikle, you can also literally walk the talk and exude credibility through confident body language.

Stating your specialization and longevity on the field, as well as your manner of speaking, are essential. Convince your audience that you’re worth listening to.

Build Curiosity

Eagle Venture CEO Mel Pirchesky’s famously quoted line summarizes the essence of an elevator pitch: “The objective of the first ten or fifteen seconds is to make your prospective investors want to listen to the next forty-five or fifty seconds differently, more intently than they would have otherwise.”

That’s why most elevator pitches build upon curiosity. They want to make the impression last until the last second.

Though short, elevator pitches shouldn’t reveal your entire offer right off the bat. It’s more of a prelude to the bigger pitch coming up once you’ve hooked your listener into paying attention.

For pitches, giving your audience a glimpse of your product’s benefits is great for hooking in a new lead. This suggests involvement and creates the right atmosphere for persuasion.

Express Spontaneity

Elevator speeches express spontaneity.

They sound like a story being told out of impulse, often in a conversational tone. This adds a greater sense of sincerity to your pitch.

When doing a sales pitch, avoid sounding like you’re reading a script.

Practice delivering your speech naturally while sharing your main idea and purpose. Asking a relatable question can also increase audience participation.

Summing It Up

Your sales pitch is your gateway for new leads. Craft an elevator pitch to hook your audience in the most concise and fastest manner possible.

Having problems creating pitch decks that sell? Contact pitchdeck.com and we’ll help you design a pitch deck presentation that gets you the sales you deserve!

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References

Cameron, Chris. “Going Up! How to Ride An Elevator Pitch to New Heights.” ReadWrite. January 11, 2010. Accessed July 01, 2015.
Meikle, Gavin. “How to Come Across as Credible With Your Audience.” InterActiv Presenting and Influencing. July 16, 2013. Accessed July 01, 2015.

Featured Image: “Elevator” by Gideon Tsang on flickr.com

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.

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.

Featured Image: “Chinese Brush for Writing Calligraphy” by epSos .de on flickr.com

5 Sales Pitch Tricks from Advertising Agency Gurus

Posted on June 5, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Advertising agencies and presenters both sell products and services using effective messages, be it in the conference room, a lecture hall, a television, or a webinar.

The problem is that the regular customer or client is subjected to several messages from different companies, each trying to get their products ahead of the competition.

You have to go beyond offering what your competition can’t, because almost all competing companies employ the same strategy.

The Challenge

People construct several standards before making purchase-related decisions. This is what renowned author, Jim Aitchison, calls a personal cage.

A personal cage is composed of all the experiences, knowledge, morals, and ethics we gain as we grow.

These standards affect how we see and interpret every message we encounter, especially advertisements and sales pitches.

Building your personal cage happens throughout your whole life.

If the bars of the cage act as filters, find relevant messages that pass through these and sell your sales pitch ideas.

The Five Tricks

The Signpost

Signpost messages signify changes in certain kinds of behavior.

As Aitchison cites in his book, Cutting Edge Advertising, the Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola story is a classic marketing example.

When Michael Jackson became Pepsi’s new icon, they positioned themselves as the drink of the next generation. This led to many Coke drinkers permitting themselves to change those standards.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone’s third quarter market share in 2008, he signified that times were changing for the US smartphone market.

Within the first 90 days of its shipment, he showed the iPhone as a potential investment for customers and business partners alike.

A Newsflash

Introducing a new product or service in an ad pitch is challenging for any startup company, especially product launch advertisements.

Position your message as a piece of news, like how Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007.

First, he built interest by announcing that Apple reinvented a new product type.

Then, he briefly explained the current competition’s weaknesses: fixed keypads and limited functions.

It was only after all this that he introduced what made the iPhone different and showed the actual product with its full touchscreen capabilities.

This generates strong interest in your offer and highlights what makes you different and more appealing from other brands.

A Message of Support

People always look for something to rationalize an emotional need.

Will people buy an expensive sports car to enhance their personal image?

Will a company invest in a health insurance program to let employees feel that their well-being matters?

Make clients feel that they’re understood. This matches their behavior (in this case, investing in your proposal) with their desires and attitudes.

An Existing Standard of the Client

Since your message is consistent with what your audience already believes in, they’re more likely to respond if you give something that reinforces their beliefs.

Citing CreditUnion’s correspondence with Kraft CEO, Robert K. Deromedi, Demand Media’s Vanessa Cross discusses the mechanics of values-based marketing, particularly its customer-centric nature.

Kraft wanted to reach out to parents who believed in giving their kids a proper meal, so the company pulled out their junk food advertising to establish credibility with their intended customers.

Shared Experiences

Like the way TED Talk speakers relate their pitches to personal experiences, offering another person’s perspective sells your message.

Some experiences mirror your own, even at a conceptual level. This includes being plagued with restrictive problems then solving it intuitively.

Look into your company’s product or service history. Did someone have a eureka moment after a long observation? Did someone experience something that led to developing what you sell?

Everything has an interesting story behind it. Your sales pitch is no exception.

—

Everyone has something to dream about: a new house, a better car, a more luxurious lifestyle, etc.

Everyone wants something, especially your clients. Make your sales pitch interesting enough to pass through your clients’ standards.

Want to know more about using these five tricks more effectively? Hire pitchdeck.com, your pitch deck partner, to help you out.

References

Aitchison, Jim. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore; New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Cross, Vanessa. “The Goals of Values-Based Marketing.” Chron. Accessed June 5, 2015.

3 Secrets to Making Numbers Interesting in Sales Pitches

Posted on May 13, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

It doesn’t matter how skilled a speaker is or how mathematically proficient listeners are. Numbers mean nothing unless you explain what they mean.

Pitches must back up claims, but you shouldn’t drone on with a string of unrelated numbers.

You can say that your company’s taken a 4% market share, or that your profit increased by 11% in the third quarter. You can boast that your bath soap can kill 99.9% of germs.

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The question your listeners will still ask is: what do the numbers mean to me?

According to brand communications expert Carmine Gallo, you can answer this by making your numbers specific, relevant, and contextual.

Specify who the numbers are for

When Steve Jobs presented the iPhone market share during Q3 2008, he used a pie chart to point out that while RIM commanded 39% of the overall US market share, the iPhone achieved a noteworthy 19.5%. Apple’s iPhone nearly equaled the combined market shares of Palm, Nokia, and Motorola (a total of 20.3%), as well as other competitors’ 21.2% share.

He confidently concluded that the iPhone can do even better in the future. This impressive information convinced Jobs’ prospects to invest in him.

Similarly, in sales pitches, show your audience two things:

That your product can compete with major market players
That your product shows potential for future investment

Make the data relevant

Make your facts and topics relevant to your audience.

For people to invest in your pitch, show them exactly what they’ll get out of it. The same goes for numbers you present in a sales pitch.

As one of Gallo’s examples, when SanDisk announced a new 12GB micro SD card for cell phones in 2008, they focused on the fact that it could store at least 6 hours’ worth of movies and enough songs to listen to while travelling to the moon and back. The brand simplified the specs and made it sound useful to its target market. Instead of throwing hard numbers at the audience, they made easy-to-understand comparisons to highlight the new memory card’s capabilities.

Put the numbers in context

Facts and statistics don’t exist in a vacuum. They indicate how a business performs in the present and in the future.

Going back to the iPhone example, Jobs used the most recent market share data that he could find. His crowd consisted of investors looking to see how well the then-current iPhone performed.

This is why Jobs used that pie chart. For the first 90 days of its shipping, the iPhone had 4 million worth of units sold, an average of 20,000 per day. It was a close second to RIM’s 39% market share (Gallo, 2010). That growth rate in the first 90 days established the high demand for the device. Jobs related his numbers to a specific event (the first 90 days of shipment), which put the achieved market share into a relatable context.

Relate your data in a palatable format. Choose the right way to visualize your information so that your audience can understand it too.

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Since numbers are hard to explain, help your audience understand them.

Apply these three secrets and use graphs to make the data more comprehensive to the average viewer. Know which types of graphs to use depending on the information you’ll be working with. Specify who you’ll be presenting these numbers to, why it’s relevant to them, and how the data makes sense in your client’s context. These are the keys to converting well-made pitches into additional sales.

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References:

Gallo, C. (2010). The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York. McGraw-Hill
Steve Jobs introduces original MacBook Air & Time Capsule – Macworld SF (2008). EverySteveJobsVideo. Accessed May 13, 2015.

What’s Wrong With Your Sales Pitches?

Posted on March 3, 2015May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Sales pitches are a crucial step to your reaching out and communicating with prospect clients. During such an opportunity, you get to make them understand the importance of what your brand can do for them.

Because of this, it’s important that you make the most of the time you’ve been given. Delivering a successful sales pitch leads you one step closer to sealing the deal with a new client.

But what if your sales pitches aren’t helping you reach that outcome? Let us lend you a hand by taking note of some mistakes that could cost you incredible opportunities:

Mistake #1: Lack of preparation

Most people try to prepare for sales pitches as quickly as possible, thinking they can simply “wing” most of their pitch.

Sure, you might have taken the time to prepare your pitch deck and all the points you want to cover, but this isn’t enough to get you across the finish line. If you really want to succeed and impress your prospects, plan and prepare every aspect of your pitch.

Take the time to do some research and prepare your materials long before your scheduled meeting.

Plan how you’ll go about your pitch deck to make sure you don’t go over the time you were given. Be meticulous about every step, or you might end up with a half-baked pitch.

Mistake #2: The hard sell

Your ultimate goal is to seal the deal with your prospects. However, your sales pitches shouldn’t sound like a desperate bid to get hired.

While hard selling has its own benefits, Gigaom contributor, Celine Roque, explains that its straightforwardness may not always work for everyone.

Explore other avenues of pitching your product or service. Let your brand should speak for itself. Work hard to present all the significant features that are relevant to your audience by appealing to their experiences.

During your preparation, try to learn as much as you can about your prospects: What particular challenge would they want to solve with the help of your product or service?

After that, identify a few attributes that would be important to them based on what you found out through your research.

Mistake #3: Poor delivery

You can have the most inspired pitch deck ever, but it won’t be any good if you can’t deliver properly.

As compelling as your points might be, you need to make sure you sell them as best you can.

Don’t waste a good opportunity by mumbling to yourself and avoiding eye contact. Face the crowd with confidence.

If you’re feeling a bit nervous about it, we have plenty of tips that might help you shake off your anxiety. Rather than run away from your fears, face them and use them to your advantage.

Your audience doesn’t know your pitch deck the way you do, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

You’ll be surprised how much you can do when you put on a brave face.

Mistake #4: Ignoring the audience

It’s hard to trust and engage with a presenter who talks without much regard to his audience.

If you don’t take the time to pause and ask questions, your prospects might feel like you’re talking at them, rather than to them. This defeats the point of engaging them.

Instead of this bad habit, make them feel like you’re in a productive conversation.

Remember that you have to leave your prospects with a favorable impression of your brand and organization.

A disengaged presenter won’t do that. Make eye contact and be pleasant throughout your pitch. Observe their reactions and ask for their comments if it looks like someone might want to share comments.

Mistake #5: Bad pitch deck designs

Finally, keep in mind that pitch deck design plays an important role in the success of sales pitches.

As we’ve mentioned time and again, majority of people are visual learners. Seeing your pitch play out in front of them as engaging visuals can really add impact to the message you want to share.

Step out of the mold and customize your design. You can also browse through our portfolio for inspiration and contact our expert pitch deck designers for some extra help.

References

“Design Ideas: How to Improve PowerPoint Templates.” pitchdeck.com, December 9, 2014. Accessed March 3, 2015.
Roque, Celine. “Hard Selling vs. Soft Selling: Which Approach Do You Use With Clients?” Gigaom. February 25, 2009. Accessed March 3, 2015.
“The Visual (spatial) Learning Style.” Learning Styles. Accessed March 3, 2015.

Featured Image: David Goehring via Flickr

Sales Pitch Tips: How to Leave Your Clients Inspired

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

A sales pitch is the proverbial last mile. The opportunity to come face-to-face with a prospect is your last bet to make sure the sales process goes in your favor. Because of this, the stakes are high and there’s a lot of pressure to perform. It’s not enough that you’ve made sure to present your product or service in the best light. You also need a good story to share.

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Salespeople tend to focus on the particulars of what they’re offering. While it’s important to introduce the details of your product or service, it’s also important to answer a crucial question. As TED speaker Simon Sinek puts it, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

Following this line of thinking, here are a few ways to make sure your story stands out and leaves prospects inspired:

Follow a compelling structure

Do without the blatant matter-of-fact way tone sales pitches typically have. This traditional technique doesn’t particularly inspire prospects to engage with you.

If you want to add an edge to your own sales pitch, follow the dramatic arc of ancient Greek plays. Scientific research has proven that narratives following this specific structure can trigger powerful emotional responses. This is exactly what you need if you’re looking to create a stronger connection between you and your audience.

Identify the challenges your prospect is facing

The conflict is perhaps the most important part of a story. In a movie, this is the point where all the tension and suspense start to build up. While you’re not looking to scare people off their seats, it’s important to create a similar feeling in your pitch.

Build a rapport by identifying the challenges that your prospects want to solve. Let them see that you’re aware of their current situation and you understand where they’re coming from. Describe to them a scenario that addresses the challenges they face to make your pitch more relatable.

Detail a solution particular to their issues

Obviously, it isn’t enough that you identify the problems your prospects want to solve. Challenges need to be solved. If you really want to leave them inspired, balance your story out by offering your own solution.

This is the part where you can bring out the details of your product or service. Delve into the features that are particularly helpful for the challenges you just presented. Make sure these solutions are specific to give your sales pitch a more personalized feeling.

Urge audience to action with a definitive statement

When you finish covering all the important points, don’t forget to end your sales pitch with a bang. Urge the audience one last time by providing them a Call to Action statement that’s simple and straight to the point.

Summarize the purpose of your pitch in one bold statement that will get prospects to commit. This final, definitive statement is your last chance to make sure the audience doesn’t forget your story and message, so make it memorable and convincing.

Make sure the visuals highlight your brand

All these tips could fall flat if you don’t have visuals that help highlight and elevate your story. Part of that story is making sure your brand is well-represented.

By creating a pitch deck that mirrors your brand, you can make sure that your sales pitch is more distinguishable and unique. Best of all, it also helps remind your audience that you’re the best choice from a range of competitors.

The best way to go about this is by incorporating your logo in the colors you use. Take a look at these sample slides for more inspiration.

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A sales pitch doesn’t have to be an uphill battle. Following the right techniques, it can be an easy sprint to the finish line. Follow these tips to make sure you leave prospect clients inspired and ready to get on board.

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Reference

How great leaders inspire action. Simon Sinek. TED, 2009.
“The Science of Effective Storytelling in Presentations.” pitchdeck.com, September 28, 2014. Accessed January 26, 2015.

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Fortune 500

Mid Market

Small Business

Startups

Agency Partners

Robert H.

Gregor S.

When Disaster Strikes

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1. Your Client Understands

2. Your Client Still Wishes to Listen.

3. Your Client Wants You to Continue

Conclusion

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References

1. Listen to Your Clients

2. Take the Creative Step

What to Take From This

References

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What They Show

1. Emotions Make Us Human

2. Emotions Help Us Remember

3. Emotions Inspire Us to Act

How to Display Emotions

1. Use Emotions Occasionally

2. Combine Positive Emotions with Negative

3. End on a Positive Note

Conclusion

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References

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Establish Credibility

Build Curiosity

Express Spontaneity

Summing It Up

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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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Your Product

Your Pitch Techniques

Your Pitch Deck

Learn the Tools and the Trade

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References

The Challenge

The Five Tricks

The Signpost

A Newsflash

A Message of Support

An Existing Standard of the Client

Shared Experiences

References

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Specify who the numbers are for

Make the data relevant

Put the numbers in context

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References:

Mistake #1: Lack of preparation

Mistake #2: The hard sell

Mistake #3: Poor delivery

Mistake #4: Ignoring the audience

Mistake #5: Bad pitch deck designs

References

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