We all know the importance of first impressions, but in sales a good first impression can be the difference between closing or burning a lead. The sales pitch is the first interactive point of contact between a prospect and a salesperson, and it really sets the tone for the sales process.
While the prospect nurturing process is key to setting up the pitch and maintaining the deal as it progresses, the pitch is what makes the difference between a casual conversation and a commercial transaction.
Here are a few tips on how to create an effective sales pitch:
Discovery
Before constructing a sales pitch, take the time to flesh out the unique benefits and driving the narrative of your offering. Understanding the narrative is key, as that’s what will frame the context of the unique elements of your product or service, and will make the difference when prospects inevitably compare you to your competitors. Ask yourself, why am I selling this? Why do we make this product or offer this service? Why would someone want to buy this?
Pitch Construction
Whether you have a multi-step consultative sales process or a product that should sell within two or fewer interactions, you need to ensure you have a pitch infrastructure for each step of the process. Its also important to bear in mind your overall sales process when constructing your initial pitch, if your product or service is a higher level commitment that requires multiple interactions, then you should be pacing your pitches. Conversely, if you know that buying your product is a low involvement decision that can be bought over minimal interactions, make sure you’re saying all you need to in that first pitch.
Understanding The Pitch
Having a pitch alone will not achieve the desired sales outcome. Understanding the pitch and its nuances are critical to ensuring that it is delivered with the accuracy and enthusiasm required to achieve positive outcomes. You can’t deliver a pitch that you don’t understand. Often times when pitches are repurposed, a lot of those nuances are lost in that process. Understanding the logic and reasoning behind every element of the pitch is key to delivering it effectively.
Sales Training
Even if you have the best sales pitch in the world, you can’t just type it into a script and hand it to your salesperson and say “say this and sell.” Salespeople need to be trained on how to deliver the pitch, how to use different elements of the pitch when the conversation doesn’t go to plan, how to bring things back to the pitch. In the same way that a plane can cross enormous distances in a few hours, a great sales pitch can grow your sales exponentially, but its no good if you don’t train your pilots how to fly.
At Sales Inc. we help our clients and their sales teams learn how to properly craft and deliver seamless pitches in order to drive more successful sales.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help with your business development strategy.