Sales pitches are condensed sales presentations where the sales representative explains the products and their benefits. Like an elevator speech, a sales pitch takes only a minute or two yet effectively introduces the product.
Have a product or service to sell? Want to convince a prospect you can provide better service than a current vendor? Sales pitches are the first step in getting customers to hear more.
What is A Sales Pitch?
A sales pitch is a persuasive message to convince potential customers to buy a product or service. It is an essential tool for businesses to increase revenue and expand their customer base. Successful sales pitches should be concise, clear, and engaging.
There are many types of sales pitches. Some, like an elevator speech, are extremely short and intended to generate interest in a small amount of time. Others go into greater depth explaining how a product or service benefits and solves problems for a potential customer.
Sales pitches must be versatile, so they apply directly to the target audience. Understanding potential clients’ businesses, pain points, and problems is necessary. This knowledge will help a salesperson tailor the message to be meaningful.
An effective sales pitch will present products or services in a solution-oriented manner that creates a beneficial relationship for both parties. A strong sales pitch will increase a business’s chance of success in closing deals and gaining new customers.
When Are They Given?
Different versions of a sales pitch may be given at various stages of the sales process. Understanding which sales pitch to use and when is key.
They may be given:
- Via a phone call
- When cold calling
- During a formal meeting or sales call
- At a networking event
- At a party
- As an informative bio on social media platforms like LinkedIn
The type and timing of a sales pitch are crucial as they can determine whether or not a potential customer will be interested in purchasing the product or service offered.
Pushing too hard too soon before establishing rapport with the prospect can lead to rejection. However, waiting too long can result in missed opportunities. Therefore, timing is vital when it comes to delivering successful sales pitches.
Generally, you give a sales pitch after a prospect has been identified and qualified, once the salesperson has determined that the prospect needs their product or service and has the budget to purchase.
Sales pitches are appropriate during trade shows, conferences, and other events where potential customers are present. In these instances, sales reps must be prepared to deliver a specific version of their sales pitch quickly and effectively. These abbreviated sales pitches are called elevator pitches and are crafted to generate interest and make a compelling first impression.
Sales reps should also have an email pitch crafted. In a digital communication era, the best sales pitch may be done via email. Doing this effectively means having a catchy subject line and a concise and pertinent message to get the prospect’s attention.
What Are Good Sales Pitches?
The perfect sales pitch will be clear, concise, and persuasive.
It should highlight the benefits of your product or service and the solution it provides for the prospect. It will also proactively address any common concerns that a prospect may have.
A critical aspect of a great sales pitch is personalization. Understanding your customer, their business, and their needs allows you to tailor your pitch accordingly. You should research beforehand and know all you can about their preferences, interests, and challenges. It should also anticipate any objections a prospect may have so you are prepared to address them.
A storytelling approach is also often used in effective sales pitches. By telling compelling customer stories about how your product or service has helped others, you can create an emotional connection with potential customers and increase their likelihood of buying.
Overall, a good sales pitch effectively communicates key points and product features that demonstrate the value of your product or service while also addressing the needs and concerns of potential customers. With these elements in place, you’ll be well on your way to closing more deals and growing your business.
What Is In A Sales Pitch?
When composing any sales pitch, you aim to create a persuasive message that convinces a prospective client to act.
You should understand enough about your prospect to include meaningful information and have a clear goal for the next steps.
A winning sales pitch will include the following elements:
- Identification of the customer’s pain points or needs. This allows the seller to present their product as a solution to address those concerns.
- Highlighting the features and benefits of the product or service and how it solves their problem or improves something within their business.
- Emphasizing unique attributes that differentiate your product or service from competitors.
- Call to action. A good sales pitch will ask the prospect to take the next step, which may be anything from an introduction to other decision-makers to an appointment to present your pitch deck.
Storytelling, statistics, or testimonials can get a prospect to the next step.
A good sales pitch may include social proof, such as testimonials from satisfied customers or statistics demonstrating its effectiveness.
What Are Some Persuasive Techniques Used In A Sales Pitch?
In the world of sales, persuasion is key.
A successful sales pitch requires a combination of strong communication skills and persuasive techniques that can convince potential customers to make a purchase.
Several persuasive techniques are commonly used. These include:
Creating A Personal And Emotional Connection
Making a connection with a prospect by finding common ground helps establish rapport. Some refer to this as the “fish on the wall” technique. In other words, by noticing things about the prospect that you may have in common (i.e., fishing), you can discuss more personal items and take the relationship into a “friendship” realm.
This emotional connection creates a more relaxed and trusting environment. It encourages the prospect to be more open to the sales pitch.
Creating A Sense Of Urgency
Through research and asking the appropriate questions, a good salesperson will develop an understanding of a customer’s needs and challenges. Knowing this, they can then demonstrate their solution, its potential upside, and how making an immediate change can benefit them. This argument is often made by emphasizing bottom-line impact and improvements in efficiency. Additionally, creating a sense of urgency by leveraging short-term specials can motivate customers to take action and make a purchase.
Offering Social Proof
Using testimonials or stats to show how many others have already purchased the product and how satisfied they are with it is powerful. Using language that evokes positive emotions such as happiness, excitement, or satisfaction when describing the product’s benefits can help.
Preparing For Objections
Some sales pitches are compelling independently, but most require some follow-up by handling objections. Being prepared for common objections like pricing ahead of time is effective and demonstrates a salesperson’s knowledge of their product and the prospect’s business. This way, an effective salesperson can turn an objection into a strength.
Patience
High-pressure sales tactics are off-putting to many. Showing patience and reassuring the prospect they’re in control may result in a quicker sale.
Incentives
Offering discounts, gifts, or other special offers can motivate customers to purchase. These incentives need to be genuinely beneficial and uniquely available. Falsely promoting something readily available to all customers at all times as “special” is duplicitous and will break trust.
What Are The Benefits Of A Sales Pitch?
The benefits of a well-done sales pitch are numerous.
A sales pitch is an essential tool for gaining new customers by increasing the conversion rate of a prospect to a customer, which in turn increases revenue.
Among them are,
- Helping businesses differentiate themselves from their competitors. By highlighting the unique features and benefits of their products or services, companies can show potential customers why they should choose them over other options.
- Building trust with potential customers. Businesses can establish credibility and strong customer relationships by providing relevant information about the product or service, addressing any concerns or objections, and demonstrating expertise in the field.
- Increased sales and revenue for businesses. By effectively communicating the value proposition of their products or services, businesses can persuade potential customers to purchase, thereby increasing product presence and company revenue.
How Do You Write An Attractive Sales Pitch?
Writing an attractive sales pitch is crucial for any business owner, sales rep, or marketer. The goal of a sales pitch varies depending on where you are in the cycle. Ultimately the objective is to persuade potential customers to buy your product or service. The key to achieving this is by making it compelling and engaging.
Writing your pitch isn’t complicated but requires a thoughtful approach and effort.
The template below provides guidance for writing your perfect product pitch.
The first thing you need to do is create a basic pitch. Do this by following these steps:
1. Do your research. Understanding your target audience and identifying the buyer persona and their needs is crucial. You can tailor your pitch to meet their specific requirements by knowing what they’re looking for.
2. Know your product. You need to be well-versed in the benefits of your product or service rather than just its features.
3. Create a solution. Highlighting how it can solve the customer’s problems or make their lives easier is key to generating interest in purchasing.
4. Call to action. A specific request for action at the end of your pitch is necessary for the process to move forward.
When doing this, use persuasive language with powerful language and action verbs that create urgency and excitement. Keep it concise and clear, avoiding jargon or technical terms that may be confusing.
Second, you need to customize and create different versions of this basic pitch.
Your pitch should be scalable so you can go from a short version to a more in-depth presentation as needed.
Writing an attractive sales pitch requires understanding your audience’s needs, highlighting benefits over features, using storytelling techniques, using persuasive language, and keeping it concise yet clear.
You can find additional pitch templates online by doing a quick Google search.
How Do You Know If A Sales Pitch Is Good?
A good sales pitch effectively communicates the value of a product or service to potential customers. It’s clearly informative and tailored to the needs and interests of the target audience.
Several key indicators can help determine whether a sales pitch is good.
- It’s relevant to the prospect and demonstrates an understanding of the prospect’s business.
- It doesn’t contain jargon or technical terms that may confuse or alienate potential customers.
- It focuses on the benefits more than the features. Prospects don’t care that the widget is red. They care about what red does for them.
- It identifies and solves a problem.
- It’s engaging and interactive. The best sales pitches are delivered in a personal, relatable, and personable manner. People buy from people – not words.
- It leaves the customer or prospect feeling informed, empowered, and excited about the product or service.
Additionally, if the prospect is smiling, nodding, or showing positive body language, your sales pitch is likely on the right track.
Ultimately, however, the measurement of your pitch’s strength comes when the prospect takes the next steps you’ve requested.
What Are Some Good Tips For Writing A Sales Pitch?
Beyond the mechanics of writing a successful sales pitch, some finer points and an aspect of finesse can get overlooked.
To write your best speech, keep the following tips in mind:
- If pitching in person, be aware of your body language. Positive body language, eye contact, and smiling will put your prospect at ease and create rapport.
- Pay attention to your tone if done via a cold email or phone. Even if the words are right, the wrong tone can cause people to tune out.
- Practice the economy of words. Being too wordy will cause your prospect to lose interest and make you look less confident.
- Have a strong opening line. You want to be able to generate interest right away, so starting with something intriguing is essential.
- Be prepared. Winging it can work occasionally, but that’s often due more to luck than skill.
- Ask open-ended questions that get your prospect talking. Often the right questions can get your prospect to tell you what they need from you.
- Never forget your call to action. Asking for the next steps is the only way to move the process forward.
Including anecdotes or examples of how your product has helped other customers in similar situations can also be beneficial. This creates an emotional connection and makes them more likely to buy from you.
Following these tips, you can create a compelling sales pitch to help you close more deals and grow your business.
What Are Some Examples Of Sales Pitches?
There are various types of sales pitches, each with its own unique approach. The sales pitch you use will depend on,
- The situation (cold call, meeting, networking event)
- The person to whom you’re pitching (CEO, entrepreneur, investor, purchasing manager)
- What you’re seeking (sale of your product, funding or investment in the case of a startup, repeat business)
- The way the pitch is being delivered (sales email, call, in-person, during a presentation)
Once those areas are defined, you can brainstorm different sales pitch ideas.
Below are some sales pitch examples that demonstrate what these different versions may look like.
Product Pitch:
“Hi, my name is Jane Doe, and I help managers in your position reduce the time it takes to identify, hire, and train new employees. Our specialized software can save 30-50% of the time and effort it currently takes and therefore allows you to focus on increasing efficiency in employee retention. Do you know how many employees you plan to hire in the coming year and your current attrition rate?“
This pitch uses a logical appeal focusing on facts and figures to convince the prospect that they need the product or service.
Request For Funding
“At ABC Community Services, we seek to provide low-income families financial services and education programs that will help them achieve the American dream of homeownership and financial stability. Our programs have helped over 500 families move off government assistance and become self-supporting and independent. Just look at these testimonials.
“Doing this requires funding, however. As a nonprofit, we hope to partner with successful companies like yours to continue these programs. By helping us, you’re helping the community and creating a better place for all of us. Who knows, perhaps someone we serve may end up working for you. Can I count you as one of the many generous local companies striving to keep our programs afloat?”
This pitch relies on an emotional appeal and aims to connect the customer and the product or service.
Service Pitch
“For many people with chronic dental issues, a trip to the dentist represents something painful.
But not at ABC Spa Dentistry. We know the importance of dental health for not only aesthetics and oral health but for longevity as well. Left untreated dental issues can become a threat to heart health and the health of other organs.
At ABC Spa Dentistry, we pride ourselves on being a judgment-free and friendly space and creating a painless, spa-like experience for our patients. Here you’ll never wait longer than 15 minutes. You can pick the music and receive a complimentary hand, neck, or TMJ massage.
Schedule your first appointment today.”
This fear-based pitch uses the information to convince customers that their service is vital and that something terrible could occur.