How do you refine your pitch?

"You would not ask a mouse to sing an opera!" Never use the same message for each audience, understand them, their challenges, their terminology (V important). Find their problems. If your pitch is simply offering an improvement on a single level, you have it wrong. Sell to problems, be a solution, be credible. Never explain features unless asked. You can extol features or benefits. If you dont know which is relevant to your audience, learn quick.

Tailor your pitch to their specific concern. Remember, refining the pitch is an ongoing process. It's about adapting to different situations, learning from each client interaction and evolving to better connect with your prospects and clients.

An effective pitch involves understanding your audience & what they expect. Confidence is key for the speaker, To truly connect, speakers must engage in due diligence, embracing their role as listeners & observers to decipher the audience's needs. Sometimes, even silence can convey meaning In my opinion, a successful pitch needs attentive audience. Infusing humor, energy & liveliness makes it more engaging & impactful. As you share your message, it's important that audience feels a connection & stays engaged. This happens when you focus on them, keep your communication clear & easy to understand & offer a solution that actually solves a problem they have. This way, your pitch goes beyond just talking & becomes a meaningful interaction.

Same industry but different segment/class has different taste. In automobile industry, When I prepare presentation for Passenger vehicle manufacturer, I edit slides in Data, Analysis, Pics and some critical information. For the commercial vehicle manufacturer, The slides will be totally different. Add Personalized information such as past communication with customer name. Because customer responds positively to personalized information. Add Solving objections in presentation. Customer likes problem solving people. Show your products/service which add value propositions and solve customer's problems. It's important to continuously adapt and refine your pitches to stay relevant and competitive

Apart from the points mentioned here.., defining 4 to 6 customer personas with demographics, age, income, type of conversations goes a long way in personalising and understanding the target audience..

Clearly define your objectives for each business development effort. Whether it's generating leads, securing partnerships, or expanding market presence, having a well-defined goal helps you stay focused and measure your success accurately.

Basically: why are you pitching and what is your ideal outcome? SMART goals or SWOT analyses have their purpose, but be careful not to overthink it. A simple example: you are pitching to an investor, so your goal is to get investment. However, is that realistic? There are always multiple outcomes, so your mindset going into the pitch is key. Have realistic expectations, but be confident that you can achieve your ideal goal. Tracking success and getting feedback is also crucial.

Defining the leading and lagging metrics is a key step.. In my experience, a lot of times organizations go after vanity metrics.. The leading metrics should always be parameters that can be controlled like number of outreaches, number of campaigns, quality of calls, etc.. and not number of orders closed, billing done in a month, etc..

Storytelling is a very important aspect of your pitch. Your audience needs to feel an emotional connection to your promise. Articulating a story is a powerful way to engage and motivate your audience to take action.

Examples of effective successful pitches are out there. Look at many of them and you will see patterns: storytelling that elicits emotion from the audience. You want to get their attention early and keep it. TED talks are a good reference for seeing effective presenters. Also, be sure to practice a lot and get honest feedback from friends/fam/colleagues!

We use more of a TEDX talk format. (Not PowerPoint slides…. Ewwww.) Move. Engage. Work the room. Fun. INTERESTING. Innovation. This is what a successful pitch looks like (on any topic). Thanks - Sheila

Craft a compelling pitch that succinctly communicates the value proposition of your product or service. Your pitch should address the audience's pain points, highlight the benefits of your offering, and differentiate your solution from competitors. Keep it concise, engaging, and tailored to the recipient's interests.

The pitch cannot be one size fits all.. Its important to customize each pitch to the needs and pain points of the prospective client.. A good way is to collect all pain points of all your customers you have ever pitched to and create a master pitch deck, and then customise it for each prospective client by making small adjustments..

How you present your pitch matters. Your delivery should be confident, enthusiastic, and tailored to the communication medium (e.g., in-person, email, presentation). Pay attention to your tone, body language (if applicable), and the pacing of your message to maintain the audience's attention and interest.

The attitude while delivering has to have 3 components: 1. Excitement and enthusiasm 2. Genuine attempt to help your client 3. Seeking a win-win partnership

Business development is an iterative process. After delivering your pitch, gather feedback and analyze the outcomes. If you don't achieve the desired results, be prepared to adjust your approach. Experiment with different messaging, techniques, and strategies to find what resonates best with your audience.

The results of the pitch is seen in the eyes of your client. Observe the eyes closely, look for signs. Observe the body language, tone of voice, etc.. Make changes to your future pitches based on the what you have observed..

Scripting and observation will be important to build your confidence but above all else, be yourself. Your audience will pick up on if you're rehearsing a script and will sniff out when you're being disingenuous. Practice with others but always find your own voice. You're not going to win them all and the ones you do win will do so because you were being yourself.

Continuously seek opportunities to learn from industry peers, mentors, and successful business development professionals. Networking, attending conferences, and staying up-to-date with industry trends can provide valuable insights that can enhance your approach and broaden your skillset.

To get the most useful insights, in order to refine your pitch, I would consider to conduct a real-life and scientific “mock jury trial” at public podcast or a social media room with a panel of ~ 12 experienced experts and industry colleagues: seeing your pitch’s strengths and weaknesses from others’ perspectives, listening to questions, and also getting their yes/no votes counted on each segment of your pitch from your physical presence, presentation style, to executive summary and closing thoughts…etc and try to win all segments with a majority!

One thing that I've always found helpful for effective pitching is using a very lean template. Do not crowd your slides / presentation with too much data (information overload)... For each slide, have max one or two data points you would like to stess upon and build on those. It's also very important to make sure you revisit the key points of your presentation towards the end (especially if it runs over 20 minutes) to make sure the audience has clear takeaways.

Approaching business development as a negotiation will help you to succeed. After you do preperation work (understand your audience, define your goals, structure etc) you need to consider objections and be prepared to get “no” as an answer. The goal is to get business and you need to define your BATNA and your and your customer’s wish lists. Before you pitch, you need to have good questions and hear what your customer says and in what order.

In my experience I would consider each customer uniquely different , understanding how they differ would help you align a non scripted genuine approach to a pitch on a case by case basis. Understand your customer expectations , rather than steering them into something that is unachievable, listen to your customers concerns , budgets , deadlines. Be honest with yourself in your expectations of outcomes , and be honest with your pitch, we can all offer the world and sell a dream , but can we deliver it? Generic , scripted pitches ,or death by PowerPoint disengage you from your customer, so try and keep it fresh , original , factual. Research your customer and offer them case studies and proof that you can deliver on your pitch.

A pitch is like a dating profile or going on a first date. You want to stand out and spark interest and hope that what you have done is enough to get to a second date. - First Impressions matter, be presentable, approachable, professional. - Highlight strengths and unique qualities, create interest and curiosity, be authentic, and explain the benefits. - There should be a purpose and a preferred outcome. Keep in mind people look at tons of pitches and think why and how you stand out.