Convince and Convert: Improve Your Sales Pitch With These 11 Tips!

So you’ve successfully scheduled a presentation with a prospect. That meeting will be the first time the prospect interacts with your brand. You have to make a great first impression.

Your sales pitch for that presentation can make or break that first impression. The goal is to convert the prospect into an actual customer. To do this, you have to remember the 5 Cs: clear, concise yet comprehensive, convincing, and customized for the prospect.

11 Tips to Creating a Convincing—and Converting—Sales Pitch

1. Do your research

It pays to know who you’ll be speaking to so try to research on the prospect, his/her brand and business, industry, even their competitors. Social media tells you a lot these days so look at the prospect’s LinkedIn page, as well as the brand’s LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, if any.

Your research will help you customize your pitch. This is important as it helps keep the conversation relevant and focused on their needs. Not only is this impressive to the prospect, it’s also more effective.

What would you most likely remember: a long list of bullets or a great story?

We’re pretty sure it’s the great story. While a bulleted presentation can relay all the data you think you need to highlight to a client, it can somehow feel disjointed. A story, however, is a cohesive narrative that will more likely elicit a reaction—usually emotional, sometimes cognitive.

Use the storytelling structure, which has a plot: beginning (status quo; current environment), middle (the problem that needs to be solved and what you will do), and end (the resolution; what will happen to prospect’s business). 

Your story should have a great beginning. Your first few lines should be a strong hook that gets your audience’s attention and reels them in. This is another reason you should research on your prospect’s brand prior to the pitch. It will give you the information you need to craft that compelling beginning that will really resonate with your prospect.

Communicate what they need, and what solution(s) you offer them. The rest of the pitch should outline what you’ll do to help them and all the other pertinent details (your company’s info, pricing, etc.).

Another good story to tell is one that shows how you helped another client with a need similar to your prospect’s—making your company the protagonist or hero of this story.

Other clients’ success stories will strengthen and validate your claims. People like proof, and your prospects will most likely ask for this too. Include testimonials, reviews, and case studies in your pitch.

Who wants to sit through an hour-long presentation? We think a 15- to 20-minute presentation should more than suffice. Learn to edit your pitch down to just the essentials. You don’t need to share your company’s whole history, full work portfolio, and all the impressive stats and accolades you’ve acquired through the years. Your pitch should focus on specific product or service features that the prospect will benefit most from.

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

6. Have a clear value proposition 

This is the most essential: your value proposition. This should be the focus of your whole sales pitch. Your value proposition should clearly explain how you will solve the prospect’s problem or need.

Most sales reps talk too much about themselves and their companies when what they should really be doing is conversing with a client. A conversation is a dialogue—it’s two-way. You’re not there to make a speech or a monologue.

It’s okay to have a prepared script but don’t be hell-bent on sticking to it. A PowerPoint is a good way to “outline” the pitch; but don’t rely heavily on it. Keep the presentation fluid: Ask them questions, engage them (“Tell me about…” lines are effective), and respond to their questions. Make it a healthy, engaging conversation. This helps you get to know the prospect better, and it also makes the prospect feel involved in the discussion—as opposed to just an audience member listening to you.

A conversation also gives you the opportunity to check on how you’re faring so far. Ask questions like, “How does everything sound so far?” or “How is our proposal comparing to the other supplier's so far?”  

And when the prospect talks, listen very well. Active listening is one of the key sales skills you need.

Don’t be shy about establishing your authority on the subject of the pitch. After all, they need a reason to listen to you. Why would they listen to someone who seems unsure of what he’s doing?

Share valuable insights. Be thorough when answering questions. Be confident and charismatic. The next tip will help you project this air of authority and confidence.

Objections and tough questions will most likely center on BANT (budget, authority, need, and time). They will negotiate on your pricing to meet their budget. They will question your authority over a competitor’s. They will show doubt in your capability to meet their need. They will set a tough deadline and ask you to commit to it. And so on.

Prepare for these objections and questions ahead of time and have prepared answers to these and to their other follow-up questions. Time and experience will teach you how to discuss these difficult topics, but ask for coaching from your superiors too if you think it’s necessary.

Don’t be shy about having the urgency to close a deal as soon as possible. You can do this without sounding aggressive. Ask the client if your presentation has all the information they need to make a decision. Then outline the next steps moving forward: “Call me directly when you’re ready to start.” Don’t be afraid to apply pressure to get the deal moving forward or to do what you need to do to make the sale.

Make a call to action. Make the sale.

Not all initial meetings will immediately convert to a sale, no matter how convincing your pitch was. Most companies will need some time to process and/or discuss your proposal with a bigger body or a higher authority. So don’t forget to do a proper follow-up.

Main photo by Ben Rosett from Unsplash