How to Build a Marketing Pitch?

It's a good idea to have your sales pitch nailed down before meeting with your customer because it can make or break the deal. When you call or meet with a customer, it's your opening line, your verbal business card, and the first thing they'll hear.

I've been in sales long enough to know a lot about good and bad pitches.

I'd like to talk about the anatomy of a good sales pitch in this post, as well as share some of the best sales pitches I've ever heard.

What is a Sales Pitch?

A sales pitch is a brief sales presentation in which a salesperson describes their company's nature and benefits in less than one or two minutes. Because they should be able to be delivered within the time constraints of a single elevator ride, sales pitches are often referred to as 'elevator pitches.'   

Salespeople are no longer giving hour-long presentations to prospects to sell products or services. Nobody has that kind of time, and to be honest, if your value proposition requires an hour to convey, you're doing it wrong.

There's a reason they're called elevator pitches. If you give me one, I should be able to understand what you're offering in the time it takes to walk from the lobby to my floor.

A good salesperson should be able to convey their message clearly and concisely. If you nail your sales pitch, chances are you'll have more time to talk later.

What is a Product Pitch?

A product pitch is similar to a sales pitch, but it is focused on a specific product or service. You'll go into detail about how your product works, how it will solve their problems, and what distinct benefits it will provide to your customers.

A sales pitch, for example, can be broad in scope, as in the case of a consulting firm that provides a wide range of services. You're selling your company as a whole rather than a single product or service, such as a CRM platform or accounting software.

What is a Marketing Pitch?

A marketing pitch is a synopsis of a product or service that you are attempting to sell. They are typically brief speeches that highlight key aspects of your company that you can use for networking, securing investors, or suggesting ideas to your managers.

How to Start a Pitch

Starting a pitch is arguably the most challenging part. You must capture your prospect's attention so that they will want to hear about the benefits of your product and how it can help their business. But, before you can share the benefits of the product, you must first entice the prospect.

When you begin your pitch, you should include the following essential elements.

• Start with the problem. Always begin with the problem at hand. They will not be open to hearing how your product is a solution unless they are aware of the problem you can solve.
• Tailor the start of the pitch to their vertical.  Nobody wants to hear a generic pitch that could be applied to any business. Investigate their industry and use what you learn to personalize your pitch right away.
• Offer stakes. What do they have to lose if they don't solve the problem using your solution? You don't have to state it explicitly, but mentioning the risks at the start of your pitch can help you get buy-in right away.

Here are a few ways to begin a product pitch, but remember: if you're delivering the pitch via email, keep it to thirty seconds or one to two sentences.

Start off with a personal anecdote

Begin your pitch with what you know best: yourself. While I don't believe you should focus solely on yourself throughout your pitch, I do believe that beginning with a personal anecdote can help you speak with more authenticity and foster empathy.

The key here is not to concentrate on the merits of the product. How many product pitches begin, "This product assisted me in achieving X results in X amount of time?" A great deal. And I'm already drowsy. And no one cares about results unless they first understand the problem.

Your personal anecdote should address a problem that your product can address. Make it as painful as you want — and don't forget to be genuine and relate your anecdote to their business.

Ask a question that relates to the problem you solve

Oh, the age-old question. While it may be overused, it is not to be dismissed. A question is an extremely effective way to begin a pitch. The question should, once again, center on the issue.

Stick to yes or no questions and tailor them to the company you're pitching to. If you're talking to a real estate firm, ask a question that expresses a problem that only real estate firms face. If you sell property management software, it could be as simple as asking, "Do you spend a lot of time tracking individual property sales?" That's time that could be better spent showing homes to prospective buyers."

Start with a stat that resonates and offers stakes

Beginning with a statistic can be effective, but it must resonate with the audience and provide stakes. To put it another way, what does the statistic have to do with the problem? How does it reflect potential and critical flaws that may jeopardize your prospect?

Assume you're a salesperson for yard maintenance services. Starting your pitch with "50% of homes do not use yard maintenance services" is a lazy and boring way to get started. Consider this: "50% of homes do not use yard maintenance services, resulting in thousands of dollars paid to HOAs each year."

Now that you've figured out how to begin your pitch, it's time to deliver the rest of it. Use the following tips to get buy-in in under three minutes.

How to Make a Sales/Marketing Pitch

1. Make it short.
2. Make it clear.
3. Explain who your customers are.
4. Explain the problem they're facing.
5. Explain how your product addresses their needs.
6. Describe what success will look like as a result of using your product.

1. Make it Short

A sales pitch is not a typical presentation. There will be no PowerPoint slides. There will be no complimentary pastries on a boardroom table. Most importantly, you won't have your audience's time or patience for long — at least not until they're sold on your product.

2. Make it Clear

It is related to the previous point. You don't have time to go off on tangents or discuss anything other than the message you're attempting to convey. Your pitch should be brief and to the point. It must immediately register with your listener. It entails speaking with purpose and clarity.

When pitching a product, make sure you clearly communicate how it will solve your prospects' pain points, giving them a clear picture of how their day-to-day will improve if they decide to buy.

3. Explain who your customers are

Consider the picture you are going to paint in your pitch. Give your listeners a sense of who is purchasing your product or service. They want to know that you are targeting a lucrative and engaged market. Be specific about who will be interested in your product, and try to convey why your listeners should be interested in them.

4. Explain the problem they're facing

Explain why your clientele requires your services. The value of your target market is only as great as the problems you can solve for them. Convey a problem that they face regularly. If you're pitching a spreadsheet software for accountants that has features that Excel doesn't, you could talk about how difficult it is to bookkeeping without your software's unique features.

5. Explain how your product addresses their needs

It is where you start to bring it all together. You've decided who you're going to sell to. You've established your reason for selling to them. You must now establish why they would buy from you. What can you do better than your rivals?

As previously stated, you must clearly explain how your product meets their needs. Using the accounting example again, you could discuss how your unique data visualization features make busywork more efficient.

6. Describe what success what success with your product will look like

Demonstrate the benefits of your product on a larger scale. In the previous example, you could discuss how accountants who use your software have more time to spend with important clients or the freedom to spend time with their families. Demonstrate how your product improves the lives of your customers as a whole.

Your pitch should ideally be a one-liner that summarizes what your company does, how they do it, and for whom. It isn't just a requirement for salespeople. Your one-line sales pitch should be memorized by everyone in your company, from the CEO to the sales consultants.

Sales/Marketing Pitch Examples

If you're stuck for ideas, check out the sales pitch examples below. They're brief, focused on the customer, and effectively communicate value.

Also Read: Checklist for a Successful Business Plan, A TWN Opinion

Merck

"For 130 years, Merck (known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada) has been inventing for life, developing medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most difficult diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives."

If you were a hospital or pharmacy considering using Merck's solutions, this pitch would persuade you. Why?

Merck understands that strong scientific foundations and values drive business decisions in the healthcare industry. They take advantage of this by emphasizing their long history and connecting their work to their mission. In this way, it sends a message that is meaningful to its intended audience.

Gap Inc.

"Gap Inc. is a leading global retailer with brands such as Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta." We are committed to meeting our customers' needs while providing long-term value to our shareholders."

Gap is best known as a clothing brand, but the company behind it, Gap Inc., is a publicly-traded company with a slew of successful brands. Gap Inc. emphasizes its dominant position in the market while ensuring that the company will be a safe long-term investment in its pitch to potential investors.

G2Crowd

"G2 plays a significant role in real-time peer advice by providing unique, authentic peer advice. We provide more accurate advice to buyers than traditional analyst firms, which can take up to two years to update and publish technology research. That timeline simply cannot keep up with the rate of technological advancement. G2 aspires to be a reliable resource that assists every business professional in the world in making better technology decisions."

It is an intriguing way to structure your pitch: Make a note of what truly irritates your customer and pitch how your service can alleviate this annoyance. It's another way of rephrasing the customer's needs, and it works because it's a strong way of describing the situation.

When they talk about how you're being told what to do by analysts or people who haven't used a product, they highlight a clear market disconnect between what you need and what you get. The company allows verified product users to write reviews and thus becomes a valuable resource for their users.

Van Jones

"Van's honest and poignant social commentary has elevated him to one of America's most compelling and powerful public voices." His influence extends beyond age, race, geography, and political ideology."

Van Jones emphasizes his expertise in this pitch to businesses and organizations looking for a speaker — and then emphasizes the fact that his reach will apply to everyone who listens to him. Similarly, you can use your company's authority to stand out, then turn around and address any concerns an organization may have about doing business with you. Van Jones addresses the current political climate subtly here by emphasizing that his speeches will resonate with anyone, regardless of background.

Also Read: 14 Smart Pricing Strategies to Attract Customers

Edward Jones

"Investing isn't just about making money. It's about what money can do for you. Make a better future for yourself and your family. Or you could create a better world for all of us. Our sole focus is on assisting you in achieving what is most important to you."

By focusing entirely on the prospect or buyer, Edward Jones, a financial advisory firm, creates a personal, resonant pitch. They are rarely mentioned in this pitch, which is another great model to follow when developing your own pitch. While this is aimed at consumers rather than other businesses, it's a great example of how you can write a pitch that resonates with your prospects while also providing a lot of information about what you do.

Thrivent Financial

"We offer advice, banking, insurance, and investment options, as well as guidance on how to live generously." Money isn't your ultimate goal. (However, it can help you get there.) Our financial advisors can assist you in moving forward in life and achieving your own higher purpose. We take the time to learn about your priorities and provide resources to help you put your values into action."

Another financial firm that focuses on the buyer in its pitch is Thrivent Financial. It emphasizes, as in the previous pitch, assisting prospects in doing what they most want to do after managing their finances. Using a similar strategy, you can tailor your pitch so that prospects understand what they can gain by doing business with you.

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