Why a typical Sales-Pitch fails sometimes?

Author: Gautam Mane

Sales pitch: Tell the story of how you help companies and humanity

You have got your product ready. You are now excited to exhibit the product to the world at large – you are now ready for the sales pitch, or are you?

First off, let’s understand what might constitute a typical sales-pitch. A typical sales pitch goes about (most times) trying to impress the target audience with product features and often ends up with a comparison study with respect to competition.

Now, let’s understand why sometimes a typical sales-pitch fails to gather required attention and convince potential customers or clients.

It;s not all about the product

This might sound surprising, but it is true. The sales-pitch isn’t all the time about your product and its features. Often, sales people and even marketers make the common mistake of making a pitch or presentation centred only around the product. That does not always help because almost every sales professional will stick to the same strategy making it a very clichéd approach.

A few pitches even go about providing extensive comparison with competition and try to ‘’highlight’’ their best features while ‘’putting down’’ competition – not a good sign.

It’s good to go beyond the product to tell your audience about who you are, what you do and how that will play a key role in the customer’s life – this is a better approach away from the usual.

Standardized approach

Type ‘’sample sales pitch’’ in Google search and you will end up with countless number of ready-made samples. While these samples do provide an idea and sometimes relevant insights, try not to just ‘’copy’’ the format and content. Most standardized sales-pitches fail to evoke the required response from the audience.

Why?

Because they are monotonous.

Think through and come up with your own approach to introducing yourself, your company and your products. That way, you create your own template and style.

They don’t tell a story

Everyone likes stories.

Whether it is a sales-pitch to customers or investors, everybody likes a story. It is a wrong notion that suited men and women are grown up customers averse to stories. In fact, they love stories much.

Let your sales-pitch be a platform to tell your story.

What motivated you to start your business?

Why this business?

What do you aim to achieve through your services and products?

A good story is relatable and hence will sync with your audience and provide you with a great opportunity to impress them so they can associate themselves with you and your company.

Finally, what’s the value proposition?

Numbers do matter. But try not to dump too many numbers during the pitch. You are not an investment banker – you are the representative of your company and its philosophy.

Some sales-pitches fail to voice out the value proposition that the company (and its products) can provide to customers. Use numbers/stats fairly to spell out the value proposition you can provide to your target audience. Everyone likes to go home with some takeaways and benefits.

Remember, a good sales-pitch isn’t just about pitching for sales, it’s going beyond sales. A good sales-pitch is an “opening event’’ helping customers or the target audience move into the pathway. A pathway that walks them through your company, your core fundamentals, your beliefs and eventually the significant role you will play for customers through products or services.

Anyone who only thinks about the ‘’pitching’’ part and does not go beyond usually ends up losing potential customers. This will also restrict them to projecting only their products, and not themselves and what they stand for.