A good sales pitch makes all the difference between a failed deal and a closed deal. That’s why it’s such a massive part of the selling process.
A sales pitch is your attempt at selling your product or service. It should ideally be a persuasive and engaging speech that communicates the value of your offering and encourages the customer to put down their money.
But what makes an effective, winning sales pitch is the million-dollar question.
This Salesman.org article will dive into the fundamentals of a sales pitch and discuss the best sales pitch examples and tips to set up sales reps for selling success.
What Is a Sales Pitch?
A sales pitch is a super brief sales presentation explaining how your business will benefit the prospect. It should be compelling enough to convince the prospect about your product’s superiority and persuade them to engage in business with you.
A good sales pitch can be anything—a script you go through on a call, a traditional presentation in front of decision-makers, or a two-minute elevator speech for networking opportunities.
How To Write a Good Sales Pitch
The idea behind delivering a sales pitch is to connect with potential buyers. While every salesperson needs to be unique to make an impact, all the best sales pitch examples has three main components.
A) Hook
Your hook should capture your prospect’s attention, whether it’s your email subject or the opening line of your cold call. Think strong, impactful, and attention-grabbing.
A strong hook is fundamental for a sales reps pitch because if you don’t have the attention of the prospect, how are you going to influence them?
Here are a few ideas for writing the perfect hook for your sales pitch:
- Cut to the chase (“I want to get straight to the point and share… “)
- Ask a question (“Does the idea of increasing your revenue by X% sound appealing to you “)
- Reference a shared connection (“Saw your LinkedIn post talking about how Mr. X’s ideas influenced your decision-making”)
- Share a data point (“Did you know that X% of CEOs)
- Mention a recent interaction (“I loved hearing your thoughts at the ABC convention”)
B) Context
The context of your sales pitch gives the prospect an enticing value proposition. After delivering a hook that gets the prospect’s attention, tell them why you’ve contacted them and explain what your product can do for them.
Here are a few essential context tips:
- Speak about your product or service plainly—leave out any marketing or overly technical jargon
- Use data, market research, customer stories, or case studies to have the buyer continue engaging with you
- Tie the benefits from the previous bullet to your prospect’s goals and objectives, explaining how they’ll personally benefit if they respond to your request
C) Call-to-action (CTA)
Add a clear next step the prospect can take to close your sales pitch. For example, include a strong call to action that pushes the prospect to do what you want them to do, such as calling you back or responding with availability.
Often if you’ve covered the bases and kept your sales pitch short, focused on the prospect rather than your own sales process and you’ve generated social proof, then the CTA is seamless.
Below are a few examples you can use:
- Does it make sense to connect for 15 minutes this week?
- What’s the best way to connect on this?
- Are you up for a 15-minute chat next week?
- When is a good time to chat about this more?
- Would you be open to a call to learn more about our product?
- Do you have any availability next Wednesday for a brief chat?
5 Good Sales Pitch Examples and Ideas for Inspiration
Securing high-quality leads is hard work, but converting those hard-earned leads into a closed sale is even more challenging. To make your sales job slightly more straightforward, here are the five best sales pitch tips that effectively convey value and get you from successful sales pitch to commission bonus in your pocket. .
Sales Pitch Tip 1: Be Direct and Concise
Concise and direct sales pitches are more effective than a long, draggy ramble for many reasons.
The prospect is more likely to listen to your whole pitch if you highlight and explain 2-3 key product features instead of a summary of everything your product can do. Also, you get your point across faster and more efficiently, allowing you to take the sales conversation forward with the prospect.
Remember, the prospect is only interested in what your product can do for them. So put the spotlight on precisely that.
Example: Adam Goldstein’s Two-Line Pitch
“Hey, we can lower your distribution costs. Let me know who to talk to. ”
That’s it. That’s what Adam Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of Hipmunk (now Concur Hipmunk), pitched to the CEO of United Airlines and got a response within 15 minutes.
This business sales pitch example shows you only need the right words—no matter how few—to make an impact.
Sales Pitch Tip 2: Use Your Brand Story
Facts tell, but stories sell. That’s why compelling storytelling is such a vast foundation of your sales pitch.
Use the power of storytelling in your pitches to single out your product from your competitors. Instead of reading out specifications, set a narrative around your product and service and tell your story.
Example: LISNR’s Origin Story
“In 2012, one single belief brought LISNR’s founders together: ultrasonic audio is better. These individuals understood the growing need for a device- and platform-independent solution for sending short communication back and forth at the software level. They believed that companies shouldn’t have to spend on costly hardware or processes to drive more friction-less and connected experiences.”
LISNR uses its origin story to set a narrative and covers two critical aspects:
- How the organization came into existence
- What it hopes to accomplish
It provides customers more context to the product. It gets them on board that doing business with LISNR will not only solve their pain points (costly hardware and stunted processes) but also contribute to a greater mission and belief system.
Sales Pitch Tip 3: Describe Product Benefits—and Not Features
Sales professionals often make the common mistake of focusing their sales pitch around the product or service instead of the prospect. Yes, you want to prove your product’s superiority, but from the prospect’s perspective.
Make your sales pitch relevant to your target audience by highlighting the benefits of your product from their context. Address their pain points and explain how your product or service can solve them.
Example: G2’s Elevator Pitch
“G2 is the user-voice platform for people to be able to say how they actually think about the software, and not be told by the analysts, people who don’t use it, or the reference from your best customers. You’re actually hearing directly from the user and engaging with people who actually use the product.”
This sales pitch highlights how the platform can benefit the user and solve a significant pain point: the disconnection between what customers need and what they get. Notice how the pitch excellently expands on the most significant benefit it provides customers—information from real, genuine users—and is still super short.
Sales Pitch Tip 4: Incorporate Data—Lots of It
Your prospect has probably heard hundreds of sales pitches filled with bold claims. But, unfortunately, these claims start to sound far-fetched after a while, especially if the prospect has made purchases that didn’t pay off.
You don’t want your pitch to add to the numbers.
Back your sales pitch up with statistics, case studies, and data to provide credibility to your pitch. Even better if you can visualize as many elements as possible, especially data and stats. When writing your sales script, talk around stats to give more context and details. This will help make the prospect feel they’re making the right decision.
Example: Tien Tzuo’s Zoura Pitch
Take a look at a slide from Zoura’s sales deck.
Zoura provides solutions for businesses to launch and manage their subscription-based services. It’s also the leading force behind the subscription economy.
Coming back to the slide, instead of claiming that the subscription economy is the future, Tzuo uses eye-opening data points that allow the prospect to draw their own conclusions: the subscription economy is the future.
Using stats and case studies in your pitches tells the prospect you’re not making empty claims. In addition, it lends the conversation credibility, improving your chances of closing the deal.
Sales Pitch Tip 5: Build an Emotional Connection
Good sales pitches are all about the customers. But this isn’t something that can be achieved through a formal monologue.
Your pitch should start a two-way dialogue between you and your prospect. You want to pique interest, trigger emotions, and make them see your value. Even better if you can spark sympathy and compel the prospect to buy your product or service.
Example: Brian Walter’s WOW, HOW, NOW Framework
The WOW, HOW, NOW framework is a very straightforward approach established by Brian Walter, a renowned speaker coach. It goes something like this:
- WOW – Deliver a short, stimulating statement that makes the prospect go “Wow!” Even a “Huh?” works.
- HOW – Clarify and expand your previous statement.
- NOW – End your sales pitch with a specific example of how your offering can help the prospect.
Master the Art of Effortless Selling
Your sales pitch should help you take the sales conversation forward and build solid relationships with prospects. We hope the over tips and examples help you draft the perfect sales pitch to help you win more deals.
Follow the Salesman.org podcast to learn more about how industry leaders pitch their offerings and improve their win rate.