We’ve all been there, you have been working nonstop for 50 hours, you have no end in sight and everything in your business is bursting into flames in the middle of the desert where there is no water for miles to put anything out.
Okay - I may have been a *tad* overdramatic, but here’s the deal. We’ve all had those moments where we are flipping out and have to be pulled in 100 different directions.
What if you could automate at least 1 thing in your business to make sure that you could save time from answering calls, sending emails or writing copy for your content?
It all boils down to having systems and processes. And one of the best things you can do for your processes as a business owner is knowing your pitch. And no - I’m not talking about your singing voice.
Perfecting Your Sales Pitch
Your pitch, the short, 30-45 second description to make your business or service stand out from the crowd when you speak to potential customers. A couple ways to start brainstorming and curating your pitch is by asking yourself these four questions:
Who is your company’s target market?
What does your company do? (Do you create a product or provide a specific type of service?)
Why is what you’re doing important?
What about your company makes it unique, different or original?
Writing these answers out will allow you to pinpoint phrases or keywords that are unique to your brand and easy for others to remember as your business hook. When you are able to vocalize what your company does, how it impacts others and why it’s necessary to purchase, booking clients - whether via on the phone, or email marketing, will become easier as you narrow and pinpoint your brand, what you do and why it is important.
Basic 101 Tip: Practice describing your company to a family member or friend. Practicing with people who are interested in your company will allow you to find key points of your description that make people say “Wow! That’s cool!” so you are able to give a quick 30 second pitch to the angel investor you might end up meeting in an elevator on your way to get coffee.
Show the Value of Your Brand
We all think our service is the best out there - however, customers are smart and they know that they hold the purchasing power when it comes to selecting a possible product and/or service. Once you know who your target audience is, you can better understand what they find important and see how your brand can intermingle with it. Do you service full-time mothers who are in need of extra time? Or do you service young professionals with big pocketbooks who are looking for a company that cares about the environment?
To discover what your true value is, ask yourself these questions:
What does a potential customer gain by booking me?
Am I saving a client money, time, stress, or a combination of all these (or something completely different)?
What does my target audience care about and how does that impact my company?
Basic 101 Tip: Ask trusted friends who are interested in your industry why they have bought from other companies. See if you can find trends in the value that other competitors are bringing their clientele. Ask yourself how you can create that in your brand.
Close the Deal
Do you know your sales ABC’s (Always Be Closing)? Well, unless there’s an action item at the end of your pitch, most potential customers will find themselves walking away from you and running into the next competitor who will steal any business you throw their way.
Your pitch should always have an ask at the end for customers, some examples of this would be:
What time next week would you be available to speak more about this?
What questions do you have about our services?
If you’re interested, I’d love to treat you to coffee and discuss further, what time works for you?
With that being said, how would you see us moving forward in a partnership?
Basic Tip 101: Be BOLD with your questions and make sure that they are open ended (never ask a “yes/no” question because most people will do anything to get out of a conversation with a businessman/woman). You can start an open dialogue between you and a potential client and you’ll be able to learn more about their concerns and objections.
In Practice (with highlights)
With so many tips, a real world example might be beneficial for us to go through and see how to relate each touchpoint above into an example. Here we highlight the 3 points (the official pitch, the value add and the close) for you to look at.
“Weddings By Weaver believes in creating a marriage more beautiful than your wedding day. By alleviating the stress that wedding planning can take on a couple, we make it possible for brides and grooms to save time and energy on planning and instead, take time to build a strong foundation for their marriage. I’d love to learn more about your engagement story and how wedding planning has been for you and your fiance - when are you free tomorrow to grab coffee and discuss more?”
That’s It! Now It’s Your Turn
Great pitches aren’t created in a day, so practice, practice, practice! You may even find that your pitch changes as your company grows - and that’s okay!
However, as long as you have a hook at the beginning, show your value and ask for the next step to get close to closing, you will be doing exactly what’s needed to perfect your pitch and have one item crossed off your to-do list to ensure that your email, copy and marketing messaging are all expressing the same message. Once committed to memory, you’ll be able to save time by adding this to all of your pre created content!
Xoxo,
Kara