Sales pitches are as old as commerce, maybe even older. Throughout most of history, the sales pitches a person might hear have been limited to their ability to travel. Even Television did little to change this because of the top-down nature of the medium. But today, things are different. Consumers have more choices than ever before and the same old sales message can quickly become tiresome.
Today, people understand that commercials and free content go hand in hand. For this reason, they are more accepting of commercial messaging. But because they have more choices, not to mention control over their devices, the people who craft and deliver sales pitches have to improve their game.
What Is a Sales Pitch?
A sales pitch is a commercial message. It is a stylized proposition intended to appeal to the needs and wants of a particular audience in order to convince them to exchange money for goods or services. A good sales pitch does one thing. It makes a case that the value of a product or service is worth the asking price. Moreover, it does it in the most brief and pleasing way possible.
There are different types of sale pitches that we can use as go-to pitches for certain audiences and formats. But we will always endeavor to match our messaging to the situation (medium) and to our audience. So, you will usually take a standard sales pitch type and then cater it to your audience.
Now, let’s talk about the anatomy of successful sales pitch templates.
How to Make a Sales Pitch: Anatomy of a Pitch
In High School, you learned about the anatomy of a paragraph. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. These three parts should share a content type, and a style of language, and they should build on each other. No matter what type of paragraph it is, it should have these elements, even if it is only one sentence. Likewise, a sales pitch should have certain traits regardless of the type of pitch it is.
- Research: Every sales pitch should be based on facts to gain traction with the audience on a factual basis. 13% of audiences believe that salespeople genuinely understand their needs. For this reason, your first job is to research the wants and needs of your prospects and identify how you can deliver the solution.
- Storytelling: A pitch should take the form or style of a story. Stories bring motion, visualization, and personality to the value that you are offering in your pitch. Like a good paragraph, your pitches should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. They need to generate a feeling of motion between two narrative points in the prospect’s daily experience. These points are the experience of a need and the satisfaction of that need. In TV commercials and print ads, we almost always use the face or form of a human being since this automatically adds an element of storytelling.
- A Value-Proposition: Every pitch must convey or at least suggest a unique value proposition that clarifies how your product or service will benefit the potential customer. Even if your product or service is the same as that of your competition, then you need to make your value proposition unique through an offer of superior customer service, faster delivery, or with the appeal, your branding message delivers. If they can get it somewhere else, and they can, they need to know why they should choose to buy from you.
- Proof: A practical demonstration, statements of known relevant facts, client testimonials, corroborating data, and product comparisons against your competitors can all serve as proof of the value of your offer. This part can be brief, extensive, or somewhere in between depending on the medium and the audience
- Call-to-Action: We have appealed to them personally, and logically, and respected their time with the right amount of brevity. At this point, we need to bring the message to a close by pushing for conclusive action. We need to compel the audience to take action. Whether it is an incitement to buy now, schedule a follow-up meeting, sign up for a newsletter, or start a free trial, what matters is that we encourage them to make a move in the direction of a purchase.
5 Sales Pitches Every Salesperson Should Have In Their Arsenal
Elevator Sales Pitch
This sales pitch example features extreme versions of all the elements discussed above because it has to be done fast, done well, and done on the fly. It needs to be started and completed in 60 seconds. Of course, few elevator rides are that short. But the idea is that your prospect will have at least another 30 seconds to consider your proposition, and for you to offer a follow-up pitch. To do the elevator pitch well you will need some memorized material. But you’ll also need to be able to adapt to the personality and mood of your prospect. Of course, it also helps if you know who they are and what they need.
Quick Video Pitch (60 Seconds)
These are handy and easy to make. It is an embedded video on your website or a link to it that you can share. This should be a form of your elevator pitch catered to a more general audience, usually. Since you have all the time you need to prepare, get your look together, edit the video, and get quality takes, it’s worthwhile to take the time to get all the production value packed into it that you can. It’s also a good idea to make several versions of it that target different types of prospects. That way you can send more targeted material to certain individuals.
Follow-Up Sales Pitch
Any type of sales pitch can be reinforced with a follow-up pitch. Few prospects are going to choose to commit after a single contact. So you need to be able to get in touch with them again to close the deal. If the initial contact was an in-person pitch, you might hand off a business card, take a number, or email. A follow-up pitch can be more or less personal than the initial pitch depending on the person and circumstances. You should first establish that the previous contact was complete and/or remembered. Then lead in with additional benefits and ask for a time to discuss your product or service.
Phone Sales Pitch
The pitch by phone should be well-structured, fast, and usually scripted up to the point when the prospect engages in conversation. Begin by introducing yourself. Then begin building rapport by using the prospect’s name, and mention commonalities and pain points. Then establish credibility and why the prospect should listen and consider your offer. Detail the offer in brief and clear terms. Then you make your call to action, get a commitment, and end your call by accepting a purchase, or other desired action. There are two types of phone pitches, the targeted pitch, and the cold call. We’ll discuss the cold call below.
Email Sales Pitch
The email sales pitch is like the phone pitch in that it is either cold or targeted. People do not have to open emails and often mark them as spam. That means you usually need some kind of lead on the prospect so you can target their wants and needs in the subject line. The subject line should contain the prospect’s name, tips regarding pain points, an offer, or a pertinent question. Cold email pitches are tough and get a lot of merchants on blocked lists. These should start with common pain points and offers. The body of the email should be brief and clearly move to the benefits of your service and the pain points that can be resolved.
and what interests them on places like Facebook. Take the time to be involved in relevant groups and pitch targeted messaging to entire groups of people.
Let your Client Choose The Pitch They Want To Hear With iDecide
Of course, the one challenge that’s toughest to overcome is catching your prospects at a time and place where they are ready to receive your marketing messages, and knowing what kind of messaging they happen to be open to at the time. This is where iDecide’s Create-Your-Own-Adventure presentation software is a great problem solver.
It is a customizable, AI driven, interactive presentation tool that has been proven to significantly boost closure rates. You and your sales team won’t need to worry about which sales pitch to show and when. iDecide’s custom solution software is ready to help you explore any angle your potential clients are inclined to go. Create-Your-Own-Adventure improves engagement, boosts credibility, and lets you do away with boring PowerPoint and stale pre-fab videos.
Let iDecide help you create your next sales presentation and close your next deal fast!
Mike Boccia has been in Sales and Marketing for over 25 years and really honed his skills as a licensed advisor in the financial industry. He’s been the keynote speaker at conferences and training events worldwide and is the founder and CEO of iDecide Interactive.
Mike Boccia is now an author, speaker, coach, CEO, and most importantly, a father to his 2 beautiful daughters.