By Angela Baker
Depending on the type of business you are developing, selling your ideas and products should be placed fairly highly on your priorities list. Investors and customers both fall into the category of receptors where your sales pitch is concerned, and the way you handle your audience will define the future course of your startup or small business.
1. Define Your Business and Product
Developing a sales pitch for a board meeting or presenting an idea to a potential investor without knowing the groundwork of your company is a bad idea. Large companies are built on small foundations which were carved by people with big ideas. What is the mission of your firm and what do you strive to achieve with your services and products? Do you have plans to develop internationally or remain local and true to your roots?
These questions often come up during sales meetings, and unfortunately the representatives of companies often don’t know how to answer correctly. Either that or they pass the microphone to their executive and let them do the talking. Define what your business stands for and what each product does to achieve that long-term goal.
2. Form an Internal FAQ
You should always be ready for a scenario in which you send a random employee to sell a product to a company. You can achieve this by formulating an internal Frequently Asked Questions form in which important company questions are answered cohesively and diligently. Some of these questions may include:
- What are the mission, vision, statement and long-term goal of the company?
- How many employees does the company have and in how many sectors? How do they come together?
- What are the main products and services of the company and how do they fit into the company vision?
- What do the customers say about product X given that it has been around for a while?
Both investors and customers will have these questions for your employees, and they play a crucial part in improving your sales pitch across all sectors. While you can resort to one of the best research papers service for help with your sales pitch, it’s sometimes best to do it internally and breathe life into your words.
3. Use Data and Statistics
Using empiric and numeric data and statistics during your sales meeting is vital to success. No one will invest into your business or buy some of your product for distribution if you have no proof of the claims you make. For example, if you tell your audience that the customers favorably react to product A but disregard product B as non-existent, it weighs far more if there are charts and data to prove your point.
This does require research and analysis on your part, but it provides one of the best ways to surely improve your sales pitch. No one can deny your product’s success or potential if there is research behind your claims, which are what investors are always interested in – assurance of the return of their investment.
4. Focus on the Customer
Companies that talk too much about themselves instead of what the customers need usually see that this tactic backfires really fast. Whoever you are selling your ideas and products to is more interested in their gain from your product than they are about your company history.
Focus on the immediate benefits of those listening to your sales pitch and only talk about your own mission and vision as an introduction to the meeting. Being professional and being a little too proud of your own company are two different things that some investors and customers simply won’t tolerate for long. Less “me” and more “you” is the sure way to improve any sales pitch you might draft.
5. Be Disruptive and Groundbreaking
Not every product you sell will break new ground or disrupt the entire market. However, knowing when you have a star on your product lineup is equally important in delivering an effective sales pitch. Your audience will want to hear confidence in your voice but will wince at the first sight of hubris.
A very fine line must be found when you present a new product that hasn’t been present on your local market in order to balance breaking new ground and actually earning a profit. Give your listeners a hook by introducing a new feature unfamiliar to your market in order to pique their interest.
These hacks are as effective as your initial sales pitch makes them be. Your own enthusiasm for the product you are selling will usually be the turning point in every sales meeting. Believe in your product and stand proudly before the company you work for. Even though you may be a small enterprise today, you never know what tomorrow might bring.