Pitching, of course, is part of a sales strategy, but it’s not the part where you sell. A solid pitch creates questions and allows people to “raise their hand” who are interested. This creates more genuine conversations, and allows you to best showcase your skillset to someone based on their specific wants and needs.
Part 1: Learn to Sandwich
Whether a sale, a piece of constructive criticism, etc., to “sandwich” is to share information between two pieces of positive verbiage to make it more welcoming.
For example in a strong solid pitch, you may say: “Love what you’re doing with [company], congrats on all your recent success. As someone who can help with …” [insert pitch] … “I’ll be in touch later this week and again, keep up the great work!”
When people feel more comfortable, you’re more likely to get a response, so be sure to share what you think they’re doing right!
Part 2: Share Industry Info
Once you’ve shared a sentence (read: one) about yourself and shown you’ve done your homework, fill them in on why this service can help, is important, and/or improves the quality of their life or business.
“As you know, the IG algorithm changes at a pace that’s hard to keep up with, which can mean lost hours dedicated to creating new content, lower visibility or burnout in your marketing strategies, which happens often”.
This helps show that you understand either their fear of what could happen, or their current reality so they feel understood.
Part 3: Include What You Do
At this point, they may be a bit more curious as to what you’re about and who you are. Share this information generally, to prompt a conversation to ask more.
“As an expert in the space, I’m here to keep up with the trends on your behalf, accommodate the strategy to account for these updates, and do so without losing brand integrity”
This targets objections, shows your expertise, and allows them to picture what it’s like to have someone doing this work.
Part 4: Ask for Access
Instead of having them come to you and making it their responsibility to follow up, invite yourself to be considered or to assist in any way, which creates a more human feel.
“I’d love the chance to talk through your needs or how we can support you, whether with our services or with our network of connections. I’ll be in touch later this week!”
By sharing when you’ll follow up, you’re not giving them any homework but taking the lead. My pet peeve in sales is “Let me know if you’re interested”. They’re busy! There’s kindness in following up.
Notes to Consider
- There is no one way to pitch. Someone else’s can be totally different from this and still work.
- If this way doesn’t work – keep at it. And tweak til you find what does work for you.
- Use this to start, then adapt your own way to it. My way adapted to your version that you tweak to perfection is the ideal solid pitch.
- There’s a reason why the generic way is so often shared. It works. If you’ve never sent a pitch, this is a strong way to start.
- Confidence helps everything, a strong system is great, but learning the skill of being in control of your sales is unmatched.
- They’re lucky to have you 🙂 Shoulders back, let’s go.