How to Ace Your Next Sales Pitch

Published: Thursday, 03 May 2018 11:48

Data, data, and more data currently rule the marketing world. Major corporations have more information on the market now than ever before, and develop new techniques to capture it daily. With data and algorithms dominating discussion, you might conclude that the old fashioned sales pitch could diminish in importance.

You would be wrong. Face-to-face sales will always remain an essential part of the marketing toolkit. Humans still trust what they learn in person and, with the right approach, they will trust you as well. Here are some tips on how to make that pitch opportunity really count.

Practise, Practise, Practise

A good sales pitch takes skill and effort. You don't have long to make that essential good impression, so make the most of your time and do it right. Focus first on what you want to say and hone the message. Make the case for your product or service and offer clear evidence of its desirability. While putting together the message, visualise your goal. What impression will best sway the potential customer or client?

Words only represent half of the message. Next, consider your body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. Do these convey an image of confidence in yourself and the product or service? Do you look professional, successfully speaking at the same time as managing any visual aids or materials you're using to help you in your presentation?

The only way to know for sure if your delivery creates the right impression is to practise. Practise in front of a mirror. Practise in front of a friend or colleague. Honest feedback will help you craft the best pitch possible, and repetition will help you grow more comfortable with the material.

Be Succinct and Relevant

You need to accept the fact that 99 percent of the time, the potential client or customer does not care about you personally. All too many salespeople make a crucial mistake in talking too much about their personal background. This could lead to a salesperson’s worst nightmare - audience zone-out. When the potential customer or client’s mind wanders, you have probably lost the sale, unless they decided they needed the product or service before you walked in the room.

A few details about yourself can make you more relatable and appealing. Just don't go overboard with the monologue about your career.

Keep your delivery succinct. Keep it relevant. This shows that you respect the time granted for the pitch while also giving you the best chance to keep attention focused on the product or service.

Use a Professional Printer to Produce Visual Aids

Very few salespeople have professional in-house print staff and equipment at their disposal. Too many, however, make the crucial mistake of producing their own visual aids. They may also rely on an “expert” friend or co-worker for help. This is a mistake, as you risk creating materials that make both you and the product or service look amateur.

Using experienced printing services for brochures, notepads, large banners, pull up banners, flag banners, A frame signs, posters, business cards and visual aids, along with other materials can help to create the polished and professional look that will help support a winning pitch. Even if your pitch delivery hits home, poor visual materials can tarnish the entire effort.

Ask Questions to Gain Understanding

A good pitch has great presentation at its core. The sales person must be dynamic enough to convince the customer or client to purchase the product. Many sales people rely on some form of monologue to get their point across and control the environment.

Master sales people use questions as the primary part of their pitch. They know the product or service completely and feel comfortable taking, questions, answering them, and using those as a step toward another aspect of the pitch.

Asking the right questions also keeps attention focused on the product or service. Most importantly, a great sales person can use them to establish empathy. Questions reveal concern and can lead to real conversations that go deeper than most sales oriented interactions. If a potential customer or client feels that you have concern and interest in their situation, it helps them to trust both you and the product more.

Manage Objections and Close

You will almost never get out of a sales pitch meeting without encountering some objections. These objections may come from a person sceptical about the product or service, or even from someone almost convinced of its worth, but they will come. You need to prepare between 15 and 20 possible objections to your product or service and plan how to counter them.

Objections could come from misinformation, but they may also refer to a real disadvantage your product or service has. Be prepared in this instance to counter with potential advantages.

Be prepared next time you make an important sales pitch. Focus, prepare, practise, anticipate counter objections, and make sure that you have professionally printed visual materials to help create the best possible impression. Talk to an expert at G Force Printing for more information about how professional printing can elevate your pitch to perfection.