Writing a strong sales pitch can be tough — mostly because you only have very little time to convince the audience to buy products or pay for services. So, it must be as short, informative, and compelling as possible. It’s true that sales pitches can vary a little depending on the medium — for example, an email offer will differ from a face-to-face pitch.
Still, every pitch, no matter if it is written for social media, email, or spoken presentation, will follow the same logic. We will lead you through all the essential components of a sales pitch and offer some tips on using the best persuasion techniques to impress your audience. But first, let’s take a quick look at the difference between sales pitches and presentations — these two often get confused because they have so much in common, even though their ultimate goals are somewhat different.
Table of Contents:
Sales Pitch vs Product Presentation
Product presentations, sometimes called product pitches, focus on highlighting the benefits of the pitched products or services. The focus of a sales pitch is to compel the audience to buy. Both formats aim for audience engagement, but they do it differently.
Presentations usually describe the unique selling propositions by highlighting the product benefits. Effective sales pitches address the common problems, aka pain points, and offer actionable solutions — that is, end with a call to action urging the audience to buy and have their troubles solved.
So, while both presentation and pitches are necessary at different stages of a marketing funnel promotion, they follow slightly different structures and require different persuasion techniques.
A sales pitch is the ‘pinnacle’ of a sales cycle, after which the audience should decide if they go for your offer or not. A presentation, on the other hand, is one of the intermediary steps in the marketing funnel, preparing the audience for the pitch and the decision that comes after.
Now, the question is — how do you make sure this decision is in your favor?
Must-Have Components of a Sales Pitch
Clarity is the major characteristic of a compelling sales pitch. But there are other components that can ensure the success of a pitch. To make the theory a little more engaging, let’s try to pitch some mundane household object — for example, a vacuum cleaner (no specific brand, of course).
Opening
Starting with an attention-grabbing hook is one of the most effective techniques to ensure audience engagement. This hook can be a thought-provoking question, a surprising statistic, or a controversial statement.
Example: Struggling with an old vacuum cleaner that consumes power instead of delivering the results?
Introduction
This part should quickly introduce what you’re pitching: your product, company, yourself, and, in our case, a brand-new vacuum cleaner.
Example: Get ready to meet CleanElite, the revolution in cleaning technology and home maintenance!
Unique Selling Proposition
One can write textbooks on identifying the unique selling proposition (USP) of a product, but the essence of it is charted in the picture above. With commodity goods, finding that sweet spot is not always easy — after all, very few products are truly unique. But there is always something that sets you apart from the competition.
Example: Perfect for trapping micro-particles and pet hair, with a smart app integration and adaptive surface intelligence.
Addressing Pain Points
In theory, explaining the USP and addressing the pain points are two different stages of a sales pitch. But in practice, they are usually presented hand-in-hand, especially with short pitches. The idea is to list the problems everyone faces and explain how your product solves them.
Example: Most suction cleaners can cope with either small particles or large debris, like pet hair. But few have such advanced filtering systems as CleanElite, successfully handling both.
If you are writing an email or a social media pitch (that is, have time and space to offer more details), you can list several pain points with the solutions as a scannable list.
For example:
- No more switching between different modes: CleanElite’s adaptive surface and environment intelligence can automatically switch from cleaning micro dust to eliminating sticky pet hair from fluffy carpets.
- No need for manual controls: perfect app integration allows you to start the cleaning remotely, no matter where you are.
- Don’t mind the electricity bill: CleanElite’s outstanding power capacity has no effect on your electric bill, which remains surprisingly low just as your house remains sparkling clean.
Differentiation
This is the part that sets you apart from the competition, i.e., unique product features or customer benefits your competitors do not have. You have probably noticed already that the USP, the pain points, and the differentiation in sales pitches can blend together. Some pitches skewer towards explaining the USP, while others focus on pain points or differentiation. There is no universal recipe here because everything depends on the branded product.
In our case, the differentiation part can look like this:
Differently from most other cleaners that consume a lot of power and roar like a hurricane in the open seas, CleanElite is both efficient and silent. So, you do not always need to operate it remotely when you’re away. But you can!
Or:
CleanElite will never get stuck under the stairs or tumble over them like so many other old-generation cleaners do. The advanced room intelligence will take care of the cleaning as you enjoy your morning coffee or a Sunday nap.
Social Proof (optional)
If you already have some testimonials and the time/space allows it, include social proof to build trust with your audience.
Example: Hundreds of users have already given CleanElite 5-star reviews.
Or with a touch of humor: Just recently, we have supplied a dozen CleanElite vacuums to the office of MajorCorporation, Inc., and we are deeply sorry it led to cleaning staff layoffs.
Call to Action
A call to action (CTA) is the most important part that differentiates a pitch from a presentation. In its pure form, the CTA is ‘buy now,’ of course, but you can make it more stimulating by creating the need for urgency — with limited-time discounts of other perks.
Example: Order now and get an additional set of bushes as a free gift!
Closing (optional)
Again, you may skip this part because a compelling CTA is usually the best closure. But, in written communication, you can also enumerate the main points you’ve covered in previous paragraphs — as a quick bullet list, for example.
Tips for a Crafting Convincing Pitch
Now, you may not be entirely convinced to buy our imaginary ‘revolution in cleaning technology and home maintenance,’ but hopefully, we have convinced you that writing a compelling sales pitch can be fun!
All successful pitches follow the same structure because this structure works. Of course, you need to start with an accurate definition of the product’s USP and target audience to make your pitches shine. And these writing tips should help, too:
- Carefully segment your audience: pitches are not written for the total addressable market; in fact, you should not even aim to cover all of your target audience. Narrow segmentation is key to success, especially with email and social media pitches.
- Use storytelling with longer pitch formats: storytelling is the best winning strategy in marketing, so use relatable stories whenever possible.
- Anticipate objections: a pitch that handles common sales objections before the audience gets a chance to think ‘yes, but..’ stands a very good chance of impressing the audience and inspiring them to buy.
- Use emotional appeal: but use it wisely, depending on the audience. Humor is always a good strategy — positive emotional appeal tactics usually win over negative ones. For some other audiences, especially in B2B, logic and ratio are more suitable persuasion techniques.
Common Pitching Mistakes to Avoid
There are many ways to create a compelling sales pitch, but be careful to avoid these widespread mistakes:
- Focusing on features instead of benefits: features are great, but they work best in presentations. Shifting your pitch focus from features to benefits is the perfect way to address common pain points and convince the audience, so do not miss this opportunity.
- Lack of clarity: pitches should be clear, from an opening line to the CTA. Even if you are pitching highly complex products, use comprehensive language and avoid jargon. Most of all, don’t be vague and always stick to the point.
- Ignoring the medium: social media, email, online conference, even a cold phone call — they’re all different medium types that require different persuasion techniques. A social media post, for example, leaves more room for details, which is why so many brands believe it to be the most efficient platform for pitching. But other channels work fine, too — especially if you mind the medium’s peculiarities.
Final Word
Understating the subtle difference between pitching the products and presenting them should help you make the most of both sales formats. Pitches and presentations are effective in different stages of a sales funnel, and avoiding the confusion between these two should help you take your marketing efforts to the next level.
Now, the only thing left is to start growing your lead database and delivering compelling pitches to as many potentially interested buyers as possible. And we have a separate post on creative lead generation strategies, so give it a look to boost your sales by engaging as many leads as possible.