Your sales pitch can either make or break a deal. It’s your verbal business card so it’s a good idea to have it nailed down before meeting your client.
The reason a sales pitch is also called an elevator pitch is because you should be able to sell a story to a potential client within the duration it takes to ride an elevator – a maximum limit of 1 to 2 minutes.
Gone are the days when you had to pitch a prospect with hour long presentations to sell your product or services. Nobody has that kind of time. To be honest, if you need an hour to relay your proposition you’re probably doing it wrong.
Your sales pitch should be crisp and clear. It should answer the client’s query and pain points, who you are and how your product or service will help them and what their success will look like as a result of using your product or service.
How can you make your pitch the best it can be? Here are some ideas:
Be a Story Teller
Keep your prospect engaged by telling a brief story. This story could be about you as a company or a customer success story.
Include Value Proposition
Inform the potential client of the value you will be providing for them and/ or their company. While your pitch needs to be short and sweet. The value you offer needs to be the core of your elevator pitch.
Consider Personalising the Sales Pitch
Always research who you will be talking to. This helps with making your pitch more relevant to them and piques their interest. Make your pitch customisable i.e. so it addresses the items that are most important to the person you speak with.
Switch Up Your Pitch
There are a variety of sales pitches out there. Create variations of the sales pitch. Example: One word sales pitch, subject line sales pitch, the twitter sales pitch, etc. Depending on the potential customer and situation, switch the type of pitch you would use.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Once you've created your elevator pitch, practice it with a friend or co-worker so you can pick out the flaws and feel confident while presenting it.
I can’t stress enough the importance of brevity in a sales pitch. Talking too much, using filler words and talking about your company for more than two minutes are the top three conversation killers identified in a research by Gong.io but any experienced sales representative would be able to tell you this without referring to data of any sort.
Remember, talking too much and not listening enough kills your sale. So, keep the elevator pitch short, clean and simple. Your clients will thank you!
