Let’s face it: everyone gets nervous before writing their first sales pitches. “Am I too aggressive?” “Am I persuasive enough?” “Will people even want to read this?” Your doubts are understandable. After all, who isn’t already tired of all the sales pitches they receive in the inbox, mailbox and, recently, even on their phones? You do not want your sales letter to get sent directly to the recycle bin.
Writing sales pitches is truly delicate business – especially when your prospects are from the B2B world. You are not dealing with people from all walks of life, people who listen to emotions and make purchases with their right side of the brain. You are dealing with managers, professional purchasers – people who do not buy for themselves but for their companies. They know a lot about the art of negotiation, they know exactly what they are looking for and they know the size of the budget allotted for this purchase.
Why would they pick your product over your competitors’? Your sales pitch is the answer to this question and today we will help you become more confident and astute in preparing one.
- Talk about Your Customers’ Main Pain Point
When you start your sales pitch, consider that everyone who receives it asks at every end of a sentence: “why should I keep reading this?” The main problem with sales pitches is that they start by assuming that people want to read them. They don’t. They’d rather sip their coffee or have their lunch in peace and quiet.
But, the moment you address the key problem which they need to solve, you have their attention. Pay attention when you speak with prospects, and do not just use the major pain point they express, but also the very words they use in describing it. This will make your reader feel that you understand them and nod in approval: “that’s right, that’s exactly the kind of problem I have right now.”
- Present Your Concept
Now that you’ve stirred your prospects’ minds with the pain point, it is time to offer relief. That is, to present your solution to their problem. Make a smooth transition from “this is your problem” to “this is my solution.”
It is worthwhile developing a structure around this point. Make people see not just the product, but also the vision behind it. By telling them how you came to create your product, you explain to your prospects that you understand the extent of the friction they experience and you can mitigate all the possible difficulties. B2B customers do not need just a quick fix for their problems, but a long-term and reliable solution. Your presentation must give them the impression that your product is truly something which provides a solution to their problem not only now, but also months and years ahead.
- Why Do You Suddenly Write to Them?
All right, your product seems to be great, but why should people buy it now? What prompted you to prepare and send a sales pitch now? Even in the B2B environment, you should create a sense of urgency concerning purchases. Sales pitches must be accompanied with a unique, one-time-only, or extremely out of the ordinary reason for approaching managers with your proposal: you’ve just launched the new, improved version of your product, there is a discount available for a quick order, new regulations and market conditions make your product not only necessary, but a must-have.
- Back up Your Claims with Facts and Make a Round-up of Benefits
Once again, you must remember the kind of audience you are dealing with: professionals who are led by business logic, not sheer emotion. They will accept your claims and consider your benefits if you bring them solid proof. For any numbers, percentages and statistics, there must be a reputable source where you picked them from. For any benefit, there should be supporting evidence from satisfied customers.
- Ask for the Sale
Incredibly, many amazing sales pitches lack this primordial element: the call to action, making the sale offer. The reasons for it could be that the marketers are convinced that the product will sell itself from the presentation alone. If that were true, we wouldn’t need marketers…
Always end your sales pitch with an invitation to the reader to call your company, to visit your website, or to place their order directly into an attached form or a dedicated landing page. If you leave people guessing what to do next, they will say “nice presentation” and go back to their coffee and lunch.