A Step-By-Step Guide For Creating Compelling Sales Pitches

Tl;DR- To craft pitches that sell, focus on target customers, competing alternatives, your value drivers, guiding buyer criteria, directly addressing "why us," using proof to back up claims selectively, mastering discovery, and pulling cross-functional perspectives. And you'll turn more of those discovery conversations into closed deals.

If you need help to create a sales pitch communicating your product's value and convincing prospects to buy, you're not alone. Many marketers and salespeople need help to distill their offering into a compelling story that sells itself.?

With the right approach, you can craft pitches that hook your ideal customers and drive more sales. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to develop differentiated and persuasive sales pitches based on an interview with?April Dunford ?on the Marketing Against the Grain podcast. Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/jQl6lfrH1Ww?si=rhLBcp-qJ4yqmAOR

Who This Is For:

This guide is for anyone responsible for creating sales pitches - whether you're a startup founder, marketing leader, or sales leader needing to convince prospects to buy from you instead of the competition. These tips will help you create simple but powerful value-based stories.

Why It Matters:

In B2B, 40-60% of purchase processes result in no decision because the options appear indistinguishable. Your pitch is a chance to demonstrate why a prospect should choose you, give them confidence in their selection, and avoid "no decision." An effective pitch leads to more closed deals.

Step 1: Define Your Target Customer?

The most common mistake is creating a generic one-size-fits-all pitch. Instead, it would help to tailor your messaging to your ideal buyer persona. Ask yourself:

1. Who is the decision-maker??
2. What problems do they care about solving?
3. Why does your solution matter to them?

When you understand what your perfect customer looks for, you can position your pitch around the outcomes that person wants to achieve. Too many salespeople and marketers don't know what the buyer is hiring their product to do. Master this, and your odds of success increase dramatically.

Step 2: Map the Competitive Landscape

It's not enough to know your product. You need to grasp the strengths and weaknesses of alternative options your prospect could pick instead of you. It's important to recognize that today, it's becoming less common for the competition to be a truly "competitive" product. Rather, the competition is often doing nothing. Consider from the buyer's perspective:

? What other products target the same customer needs??

? Why would a buyer choose you over them?

? Where do competitive offerings fall short?

This market awareness shows your ability to guide prospects and allows you to emphasize your differentiation.

Step 3: Identify Your Value Drivers

Now, analyze your unique mix of product capabilities and benefits. Look beyond basic features - how do you create specific customer value that no one else does? Identify the 1-3 most compelling value propositions at your disposal. Ask yourself:??

? What outcomes do we deliver that competitors cannot???

? How do we make customers' lives noticeably easier?

? What problems can only we solve?

Finding your wedge is crucial to crafting a pitch focused on your strengths.

Step 4: Educate Prospects On What Matters

Your pitch needs to teach your point of view on the criteria buyers should focus on when evaluating options to establish your credibility as an advisor. Rather than asking, "What do you want?" -- suggest:

? Innovation capabilities: what do they need?

? Platform openness: this may or may not be an essential consideration, but you won't know if you don't ask.

? Specific types of customization: what special features or customizations are required?

...and showcase how you and your product excel in those areas versus alternatives.

Step 5: Directly Address "Why Us?"

With the background set, your pitch must answer the core question on every buyer's mind - why should I pick you over all other options? Make clear "why us" statements focused on your differentiation. A few examples:

? "We provide?[compelling outcome]?that nobody else can offer."

? "Our proprietary?[name or short description of technology]?allows you to?[achieve desirable capability]."?

? "We recognized buyers need?[value driver], while competitors only offer?[less useful features]."

Step 6: Use Proof to Back Up Claims Selectively??

You may be tempted to claim, "We're #1." But prospects will only accept it if they already believe it's true. Showcase validation through customer testimonials, impressive metrics, or third-party recognition - but only where it supports specific areas of differentiation you want to highlight. Refrain from letting proof points distract from value.

Mastering Discovery Drives Deal Progress

While the pitch initially sets you up for success, skillfully tailoring your discovery process is vital. Adapt follow-up conversations to dig deeper into each buyer's unique situation and goals. Then, relate to how you can guide them to the best possible outcome.

Pulling Together Cross-Functional Perspectives

Resist the temptation to have marketing create pitches in a silo. Sales know what resonant messaging sounds like in the field. Product teams understand nuances around delivering value. Together, synthesize your collective knowledge into pitches that win.

Start Crafting Pitches That Truly Sell Themselves?

There you have it - an actionable blueprint to create compelling pitches tailored to your differentiation. You can get your team together and start honing the story your prospects need to hear to make a confident buying decision.

The punchline: By focusing on target customers, competing alternatives, your value drivers, guiding buyer criteria, directly addressing "why us," using proof to back up claims selectively, mastering discovery, and pulling cross-functional perspectives - you'll craft pitches that sell. And you'll turn more of those discovery conversations into closed deals.