When considering how to make a successful sales pitch, it is first important to understand both what a sales pitch is and why it is necessary. A successful sales pitch requires a combination of high-level knowledge, a competitor analysis and an understanding of your client’s needs and pain points. The pitch will combine these attributes to convince the client that you are the right service provider for them.
As we progress further into the digital age, buyers become increasingly more knowledgeable about any given market and what is on offer elsewhere. Gone are the days of snake oil salesmen hustling door to door with ineffective products and a sharp smile. We are now in the days of online shopping, informed buyers and a tremendous amount of competition.
Sales pitches, as a concept, have evolved in order to stay viable. They now involve creating a two-way street in which both parties receive value. As sales representatives, we must offer the customer something which they cannot find elsewhere. This is where being an expert in your products or services comes into play. After all, whilst buyers can Google reviews about products or services, it’s no comparison to a direct conversation with an expert who can answer any questions immediately.
With that in mind, we will now go over how to make a successful sales pitch as well as sales presentation and sales pitch examples.
It’s not a monologue, it’s a dialogue
With the ideas of traditional sales pitches out of the window, it is important to define what replaces that. As we mentioned earlier, it is all about conversation, which as you know, takes two.
Regardless of whether your industry calls for closing sales in 10 minutes over the phone or involves regular calls, meetings and a sales presentation or two over the course of months, a great sales representative will still be able to build a relationship through conversation and dialogue.
The best way to do this is through understanding and not merely responding. By understanding the buyers pain points and working within their budgets, you can craft your pitch accordingly. If the buyer is not particularly verbal about their position for any reason, you can ask key questions in order to access the information that is significant to your pitch. Remember that open questions are likely to get you the most detailed answers.
If done correctly, your sales pitch should feel less like a pitch and more like an open conversation. This will flow naturally and put the prospective client at ease.
Conversation sales pitch example
We will now proceed with a sales pitch example where a telephone and broadband sales representative uses conversation and understanding to their advantage.
Buyer – I’m not sure, I’ll need to think about it
Sales rep – You mentioned earlier that you weren’t happy with your current provider, besides price, what problems have you had with them?
Buyer – Whenever we have a problem, it takes us forever to speak to them, they use offshore call centres.
Sales rep – One of the benefits that we offer is that we don’t have call centres abroad and have a 6 second call answering average. Here, I’ll show you…
What our sales representative did there was dig deeper into a buyer and address a pain point. In all sales pitches, listening carefully is crucial.
Something as simple as asking the right questions and understanding the answers given could be the difference between closing a sale and rejection.
Ask the right kind of questions
So now you’re asking your buyers questions in order to find out what they need. However, the way in which you ask these questions will define the responses you receive. Asking questions that can be answered with yes or no will not provide you with any real information to work from and will ultimately flow more like a one-sided speech than a dialogue.
This time, our sales representative is selling marketing services to local businesses, they have been able to speak to the decision-maker in a small business that they believe could benefit from marketing services.
Sales rep – So, do you currently have any marketing campaigns running?
This question can be answered by a simple yes or no. It doesn’t give the salesperson much of an idea of what marketing campaigns are running or how successful these are.
A much better question to ask would be:
Sales rep – So, what marketing campaigns are you currently running? Can you talk me through your process?
This will prompt the buyer to give a more detailed account of their situation.
Don’t forget to ask for the sale
Assuming that your buyer is warmed up and really engaged with your pitch, they still have to sign the dotted line before you have made a sale. Short of the buyer telling you that they want to go ahead with it, it is up to you as the sales representative to now close this sale.
However, a recent report revealed that 85% of interactions between sales representatives and potential buyers ended
without the representative ever asking for the sale.
With targets above your head, it is now time to request that the buyer takes the next step, whichever form that may take. In most cases, it is best to literally suggest that you and the buyer move the process forward. At this point, you may be presented with some barriers. The barriers might be cost, timeframes, or a nervousness about changing the status quo. Whatever the barrier, a salesperson should be able to provide a solution. This, when done well, closes the deal.
Act!
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