Anatomy of a Sales Pitch that Wins Every Time 

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Anatomy of a SalesPitch that Wins Every Time

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As much as we admire athletes when they win a championship, it’s hard to imagine the amount of rigorous training they undergo beforehand. Whether with a coach or alone, a lot of effort goes into priming the mind and preparing the body for a major league.

There’s a Spartan warrior quote that says, “Sweat more in practice. Bleed less in war.”

This emphasizes the idea that success happens when preparation meets opportunity. You might be wondering, but this is a sales blog, what does this have to do with sales?

A lot, in fact.

Imagine you’re in a corporate sales pitch. You’ve confidently presented the product or service you’re trying to sell, highlighting how it’s the panacea for all your potential client’s pain points. When you reach the Q&A session, someone asks, looking totally unconvinced, “How is your product better than your competitors’, XYZ?”

Now imagine being asked that question without having an inkling of a clue that those competitors even exist in the landscape. With your confidence burst, you would be stumped, and might start babbling nervously, ruining the pitch right there and then.

Before you can go into any sales pitch, you need to be prepared. This involves knowing the nitty-gritty details of the product or service you’re trying to sell as well as doing your research on your potential client. Not only does this involve a complete understanding of their pain points, but you must also specifically tailor your solution for them.

Additionally, you would need to anticipate the questions they might ask. This step might not be so easy to figure out beforehand without much experience trying to sell or having another person’s input. But you can still manage this process by collating a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) list that you update after every sales pitch.

Sometimes salespeople have a bad habit of speaking in jargon to potential clients. This is especially true for salespeople in the tech world. They get all technical, throwing terms and abbreviations that the average layman does not understand. They might do that inadvertently — because they don’t know how to speak any other way — or on purpose — because they want to sound smarter than everyone else in the room. Whatever the reason, you need to drop this habit and speak in their language instead, not yours. For example, if the people facing you are corporate finance guys, you might want to talk about the impact your solution would have on the bottomline. Or if they are part of the corporate social responsibility team, you might want to emphasize all the social impact of your solution.

Another recommended technique is to show them a physical prototype of how your product would work — if applicable. This would add to the pitch as it would give them something to hold in their hands, rather than a theoretical solution or a powerpoint presentation.

If you’re trying to sell an experience rather than a product, you might want to include them in the co-creation of the solution. The process of building it with you would give them some sense of ownership over it, and it would make them more likely to want to see it through.

More importantly, if you’re presenting, keep your sales pitch to the point and framed to answer the main questions they would have;

● What are the pain points they’re experiencing?

● What solution are you providing?

● Why are you — and not someone else — well-suited to provide this solution?

● Most importantly, how much would they need to pay you for it?

Also, make sure you practice enough in safe situations — among your work colleagues, friends or family members. You can also prepare in front of the mirror so you can be more aware of your body language. You don’t want to be caught biting your nails nervously during a sales pitch.

One practical way to control your nerves is to know in your mind that your body undergoes the same physiological reactions when you’re anxious and when you’re excited. So when you start to get nervous, just tell yourself, “I’m not nervous, I’m actually excited”. It also helps when you are very familiar and comfortable with your clients, which means visit them more often before the main sales pitch.

The main mantra to remember if you’re trying to be a great salesman is summarized in the following two lines…

Sweat more in practice.

Bleed less in war.

Co-written with Amina Islam



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