Ah, yes, the sales pitch-the bane of a sales person’s existence. Writing a sales pitch is incredibly tough and takes a lot of tact, communicative skills, and experience to really find a pitch that sticks. As you learn and grow as a sales person, your pitch will change depending on your market, product, company, and sales approach. It will also change with the sales trends too - what may have been an awesome sales pitch back in the ‘90s will definitely not perform as well as a pitch a sales person may give today. So, today we’re going to dive in to what a sales pitch is and 5 effective ways that you can boost your current pitch or prepare to write another pitch!

What is a Sales Pitch?

Typically, a sales pitch is one of the very first impressions a client has of a company (no pressure). You, as the salesperson are so much more than a sales rep...think of yourself as a liaison or the first means of communication. Before a client even becomes a client they’re introduced to the product, company, and service through you! It’s a lot of pressure and getting it right is vital to your success as a sales individual, but also as a company as a whole as the sales team directly affects revenue.

Now, a sales pitch is basically a persuasive presentation that a sales person prepares in preparation for a call, meeting, or demo with a potential client. According to a blog by HubSpot, a sales pitch should be viewed in the same way as an elevator pitch. Here’s their perspective:

Sales pitches are also called "elevator pitches" because you should be able to tell the story in the time it takes you to ride an elevator with a prospect -- a maximum of 1-2 minutes.

Salespeople are past the point of giving prospects an hour-long presentation to sell products or services. Nobody has that kind of time and, to be honest, if you need an hour to relay your value proposition, you're doing it wrong.

5 Effective Ways to Amp Up Your Sales Pitch

• Be Personal/Human- If you’ve been in sales for years and years, you get stuck in a rhythm and routine and typically don’t shy away from that. While it’s great to have a routine, it’s important to tweak it a bit to stay relevant in your field. In today’s market, people want to work with human-beings. They don’t want an overly-corporate drone talking on an on like a robot for an hour. Have a personality - throw in something relatable or ask about their week or their weekend. Be a human. Remember that old saying: you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar? The same is true in sales. Being a human and having charm, interest, and concern for your contacts goes so much further than being cold, disconnected, and robotic.

• Be Direct- Okay, here’s where things get tricky, trying to be human while also being direct. It can be tough trying to navigate the right temperament where you’re liked by your client but also selling your product. You have to keep a clear perspective of your end goal and the main reason why you’re pitching to this person. You start selling the minute you answer the phone or walk into that boardroom. You have to be personable but also stand up for your product/service at the same time. Shoot them straight - give them the facts. Don’t dance around the subject. Once you’ve begun your pitch it’s showtime. Before we move on to the next step, we’re going to blast you with a few facts on attention spans. Here we go (all attention span facts come from wyzowl):

According to research, our attention span has markedly decreased in just 15 years. In 2000, it was 12 seconds. Now, 15 years later, it’s shrunk significantly to 8.25 seconds.

In fact, scientists reckon we now have shorter attention spans than goldfish, who are able to focus on a task or object for 9 seconds.

Human beings are very, very forgetful…25% of teens forget major details of close friends and relatives. 7% of people forget their own birthday from time to time, and studies suggest that each week, 39% of Americans will forget one basic piece of information or lose one every day item.

Our top tips are pretty simple – be clear in your messaging. Focus on UX and ease of navigation. Keep your messaging short and sweet. Appeal to consumer desires – tell stories. Oh, and use video.

Yeah, video is sweet. Some of the attention span stats above are pretty bleak but did you know that the average viewed length of a single internet video is 2.7 minutes? And that 59% of senior executives would prefer to watch video than read text where both were available? We’re biased but the data definitely fits what we’ve been saying – video is a great way to override the shrinking attention span of the human goldfish!

• Be Prepared- Not being prepared for a sales pitch feels worse than forgetting your homework in front of the entire class in the 3rd grade. It’s an awful feeling and you’re trapped..backed into a corner...no way to escape. Just admit defeat. We know that no sales director wants you to ever admit defeat SO be prepared! Whether you need data, pre-answered FAQ’s, past sales, successes, etc. Whatever it may be, make sure you have all of the pertinent info on hand so that your pitch is flawless and all of the potential client’s concerns are squashed right there during the pitch. Here’s a great article on how you should prepare a sales pitch from Marketing Donut. Give it a read to ease those concerns.

• Be Attentive- This goes hand in hand with the whole being a human thing ...be attentive! Listening is such an important aspect of anything business related. Whether it’s marketing, sales, recruiting, design - it doesn’t matter. You must listen and pay attention to hear the concerns of your client, number one. Number two...it’s just common human decency to be able to attentively listen to another individual. You should listen to understand...don’t just listen to reply.

• Be a Problem-Solver- Have you noticed that each of these points build off of one another? It’s true. Without being attentive, you can’t solve problems! Nine times out of ten, a client is looking to your product or service to solve a problem...so, with that in mind, you must be willing and able to assist them in whatever means makes sense for you as a salesperson as well as your company (don’t over promise). Listen to all of their woes, issues, complaints, needs, and then find ways you can soothe those qualms for them. It not only makes you a “go-to” guy for that client, but you’re now labelled as “resourceful, attentive, solution-oriented, and caring”. Who doesn’t want those accolades?

What other ways do you find helpful in elevating your sales pitch? Let us know in the comments. We would love to hear from you!

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