TRANSCRIPTION:
There are three main parts of the perfect pitch –
- You must demonstrate a high return on investment
- You must have a clear message
- Finally you must provide evidence that you’re trustworthy
1) HIGH RETURNS
The most important aspect of your pitch is that it demonstrates your offer has a high return on investment. All B2B deals come with some risk, your goal is to show the prospect that the rewards far outweigh the risks involved.
All B2B deals come with some risk, your goal is to show the prospect that the rewards far outweigh the risks involved.
If the prospect makes the wrong choice, number of things can happen to them, they can look stupid in front of their peers, if the business loses money they could be sacked in which case they’re left struggling to pay their mortgage, they could do the deal and have no support from the salesperson after the fact and so could be left with more work than what they started with. The risk of being in a worse place after the deal than when they started is a real concern for a lot of B2B middle management. They are already swamped with work, they don’t need more hassle on their plate.
A lot of time this in itself is more important to them than spending the money because of course it’s not their personal wealth they are spending on your B2B product or service.
Remember that any deal is also a time suck for the prospect because they have to invest time into considering the deal and processing if it is worth to them. It also takes mental energy as well. So if your high return on investment offer is difficult to understand the less likely the prospect is going to bother processing it and seeing if it is a real solution for them.
2) A CLEAR MESSAGE
The second part of the pitch is your message. Your message is what breaks through the noise of modern marketing and just modern everyday life. You’re not just competing with your competition in your very specific space for the attention of your prospect, you’re competing with BMW’s flashy car TV advertising’s, you’re competing with a hot girl advertising something through pop-ups on your prospects web browser, you’re competing with the prospect colleagues who are pestering them and chasing them for their time.
Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.
Leo Burnett
As Leo Burnett once said, “Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.” This is what the endgame of your message needs to be, you’ve got to have when pitching to your prospect: penetrating their desires and beliefs. Your message is what talks to the prospect and gets the job done.
Therefore your message must have the following traits if it’s going to be successful –
- It must have clarity. The prospect must know exactly what is going on and what you are offering without having to listen to the pitch the second time or read it again on the email you sent.
- It must have simplicity. The prospect shouldn’t have to get’s calculator out to confirm the return on investments that you’re offering them.
- It must be quick to deliver. We’ve only touched on this but people are busy they can’t deliver your message in three seconds it is simply too long.
- It must prompt the prospect to take immediate action. That action can be tiny, they must drive the prospect to do some think otherwise it just hasn’t had an effect on them.
In a nutshell your message must share what you offer, at what price, why the prospect would be a fool to pass it up. Quickly and concisely.
3) TRUST
The final part of your pitch must show that you’re trustworthy. You offer can’t be too good to be true. It must be logical. It must make complete sense.
Your prospect must trust your word from your offer without having to do all you or your company, or your product to confirm in their own mind that you’re trustworthy. As far as they’re concerned, you could be nothing more than a snake oil salesman trying to swindle them for everything they have with a dodgy product.
Personality and charisma are key here, and you want your prospect to know for definite whether or not they’re listening to an honest businessman/woman as opposed to someone with only their self-interest at heart. Think more Tony Stark than Patrick Bateman.
There is a number of ways you can achieve this for example offering proof that your product has its worked for other people, sharing you or your company’s qualifications, endorsement or testimonials from other customers etc.
A shocking 82% of B2B prospects think salespeople are unprepared when they go into a pitch…
One thing that definitely helps is simply being prepared for the pitch e.g. do your research on your prospect, ensure that you know who you’re talking to. A shocking 82% of B2B prospects think salespeople are unprepared when they go into a pitch, and that’s naturally gonna leave a sour taste in their mouths. Make sure when you go in that the only taste they get is the sweet taste of money.
