Piecing Together a Passionate Sales Pitch
Today's guest post comes from Katie Nice a marketing maven, with an obscenely intense public relations background, and a penchant for Coach purses.Ooh…I like Katie already!
Starting sales pitches with a simple question can reduce the conversion rate of those pitches by 60 percent or more, according to sales analytics firm Vovici. That single statistic underscores just how volatile a sales pitch can be in connecting with consumers and producing sales opportunities. While the structure of a sales pitch can vary depending on the allotted time, the audience hearing the pitch, and the industry and/or products being sold through the pitch, one thing is constant: Prospective customers respond to passion. By building a sales pitch that exudes passion for the product or services being sold, consumers are more likely to be engaged and interested, which will ultimately increase brand interest and conversion opportunities.
Table of Contents
1. Keep Your Emotions in Check
Passion is important, but it needs to be controlled. Consumers might not respond well to a sales pitch that boils over with energy but fails to focus on the practicality and tangible worth of the product or service being sold. As an editorial in YSF Magazine notes, excessive eagerness to sell and grow a business can “paradoxically” result in a loss of sales opportunities. For this reason, salespersons need to get a tight grip on their body language and tone in sales pitches, conveying their passion for a business without resorting to effusive theatrics.
2. Research the Consumer Motivation
Every audience is different, even if the pitch is focused on the same business solution. Whether it's a women's business conference, a local small business organization, or interested prospects brought together by a common problem or need, it's imperative to customize your speech to tap in to individual consumer motivations. The differences in approach may be slight, but catering your pitch to each individual audience — even in small ways — will improve the relevancy of your pitch and speak more directly to the needs and wants of that audience. If the rest of your pitch has been properly developed, improved conversion rates should follow.
3. Emphasize Your Passion for Delivering a Solution
Effective business leaders and sales professionals like GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons understand that consumers want to know what's in it for them — and early on in the sales pitch. One of the first goals of any passionate sales pitch is to give clear reasons why consumers should care about what you're pitching.
When you're crafting your sales pitch, the Australian Businesswomen's Network recommends addressing your product or service from the consumer's perspective. Highlight a problem those targets have faced and walk them through the process of how your product or service can rectify those needs. Be solution-oriented, tapping into consumer desires to trigger an emotional response to match your passionate pitch.
4. Delay the Call-to-Action, Let Product Speak for Itself
Some sales pitches aim to move as quickly as they can from the introduction to the call-to-action. This might work for some industries, and among some consumer bodies, but a passionate pitch should keep in mind the power of relevant, relatable content.
If your sales pitch is speaking directly to consumer needs and connecting with those prospects, then all of your content is essentially operating as a call-to-action. The need will be apparent among consumers, and the call-to-action can grow organically from those consumer desires. Don't feel rushed to bring consumers to the point-of-sale. If you're confident in the product or service being sold, allow its solution potential time to inspire its own call-to-action.
Here's a great example of an effective sales pitch, and you can read more about it here:
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