What you need to know before pitching your product

Got an amazing product that you need to pitch to a client? Is the thought of pitching making you feel a little queasy? You’re not alone.

Sadly, “selling” has become something of an ugly concept in recent years.

This is despite the fact that without salespeople, most people would be broke and out of work.

So, before we begin this handy set of tips for preparing for your pitch, we’d like to congratulate you for being awesome. People who sell things are the backbone of business and you should be proud of your contributions.

If your product has value and it meets a customer’s need, you are doing the world a favour by selling it. Keep that in mind. It will make things easier.

Consider Using A Pitch Coach

If you want the fastest and best results, one of the easiest ways to hone a pitch to perfection is to call in a pitch coach. That is a specialist who understands exactly what it takes to communicate the awesomeness of a product to a potential buyer.

You see, anyone can learn to pitch. You can learn from a book or from a video or even an audio cassette – it’s a learnable skill. However, if you want to cut down on trial and error, it’s easiest to get tips from someone who really knows what they are doing.

Turn Your Pitch Into A Story

The dullest product pitch in the world is a pitch which talks about dimensions and materials. While these things may be important – they are not inherently interesting. What is interesting? A story.

So, what kind of story should you tell? The best pitch for a product is a story about how it come into being – what was the need for it? What motivated you to address that need? What are the real-world results that come from using your product to meet the need?

You don’t need to become J K Rowling to tell a story. You just need to give people listening to you something to relate to.

If You Can, Always Check The Lay Of The Land

State dependence is a psychological term for “things go better when we’re in a comfortable and familiar environment”. Now, this isn’t always possible but if you can – before you pitch find out what the room looks like where you will pitch.

Work out where the plug sockets are, where people will sit and where you ought to stand. The better prepared you are, the easier this will be.

Give Yourself A Little Time

The best pitches are well-prepared. That means start early. Know your potential customer, do some research. Write a pitch that is tailored to them, rather than delivering a generic pitch that you give to everyone.

Practice your pitch a few times until you feel confident with it. If you can get someone to listen to you practice, that’s awesome and their feedback is valuable but even if you can’t, practice makes perfect.

Have a plan to deliver handouts, audio-visual stuff, etc. and have a backup plan for when things go wrong. Don’t rely on a single method to get your message across.

And before you begin, prepare yourself. Get centred. Take a couple of deep breaths. Acknowledge your audience. Relax and have fun.

Overall

Pitching is a skill that anyone can develop. Working with a pitching coach is the best way to prepare for important pitches but if you don’t have the time or resources to use a coach, just yet, then following these tips can really help you deliver an effective pitch.