Top 6 Sales Pitch Techniques to Close Deals Like a Pro

Perhaps the only professional competence that will never face extinction is sales. No matter what technologies appear, no matter how rapidly companies develop, this area of business activity is consistently among the most crucial. “We need to increase sales” – this phrase sounds like a mantra in most offices. Agency Vista collected six types of essential sales pitch techniques every sales specialist should know. 

Let’s face the obvious truths: today, consumers are more educated and demanding than ever before. They prefer quality to quantity, want partnerships with brands and companies, and rely more on the company’s image, philosophy, and goals. Moreover, they do not have much time to sit through a 30-minute sales pitch. The excess of available information distracts attention, and therefore, to engage a person, the content must be concise, relevant, or multi-sensory. 61% of salespeople consider selling today harder than it was five years ago.

What is an effective sales pitch? How to sell successfully and not be too pushy or too informal? This article will talk about sales pitch techniques to win over your prospects.

What is a Sales Pitch?

The modern market offers so many goods and services that no company can survive without properly and effectively selling its product. A good seller is someone who can intrigue a potential buyer, make a good presentation of the product/service, correctly respond to all objections and questions, and eventually sell him the product.

When it comes to the sales pitch meaning, it is worth saying that this selling approach includes any actions (sales techniques) that business owners and marketers take to increase customer interest and demand for a particular product.

A sales pitch aims to present the product’s advantages and motivate the customer to make a purchase. This activity can turn an indifferent person into a potential customer, so it should be appropriately formed.

What is the most effective sales pitch technique? It is hardly possible to give an unambiguous, objective answer to this question. There are quite a large number of different methods, each of which deserves attention. A lot depends on the scope of the business, the product matrix, consumer segments, and many other factors. 

Still, we will go through 6 sales pitch techniques that are too good to ignore. 

Top 6 Sales Pitch Techniques to Close Deals Like a Pro 

Salespeople no longer give potential customers an hour-long presentation to sell products or services. No one has that kind of time, and frankly, if you need an hour to present your value proposition, you are definitely doing something wrong. Below we have listed the most effective six sales pitch techniques to hook your client and close a sale. Here you go.

1. The Elevator Pitch

Elevator Pitch is a short presentation of a product or commercial project that takes about the same time as a ride in an elevator. An elevator pitch is never an opportunity to close a deal. It’s an opportunity to close more of your prospect’s attention and time. It’s a quick introduction to you, your company, and how you can help your prospect. 

The goal of the pitch is to make sure that the conversation continues now or later. I’ll start with a simple method used by the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Approximate structure of the elevator pitch with examples:

• State the Problem
• Present Your Solution
• Explain Why People Should Trust You
• Describe Your Value Proposition
• Offer a CTA (Call to Action)

Make a brief presentation of how exactly you are solving this problem. Focus on 1-2 key features of your product that may be important to the customer. To solve this problem, we have launched a new service, which includes XXX and YYY. This allows our customers to receive customized products. The advantage over competitors. Tell the customer how your product is better than competitive solutions.

Here is a great short and sweet 30-second pitch by Hubspot you can use as a template for your business:

The founders of my company were originally marketers. The worst part of their day, by far, was … Want to take a guess? No, it wasn’t arguing with Sales. They detested making reports. I don’t blame them. You know what a pain in the neck it is. That’s why they created AnswerASAP. You can literally create any report you want in a matter of seconds.

This elevator pitch is effective because:

• It’s short and sweet
• It explains the inspiration for the product
• It includes the company’s origin story, which is scientifically proven to make it 22 times more memorable

2. The Cold Call Pitch

A sales representative makes an average of 33 cold calls every day. Working with cold calls has long been a topic of heated debate. Some believe that phone spam ultimately kills its reputation, while others say it is quite an effective working tool.

Now, if you are calling your prospects and saying the same thing to all of them, essentially pushing your product — just stop. It probably sucks for you, but it’s worse for your prospects, your brand, and your productivity.

To make life a little easier for managers working with cold calls, use scripts as a template and fill in the blanks to make it relatable to each person. This is a kind of conversation algorithm: how to introduce yourself, what to say first, how to work out possible objections, and so on.

In addition to the proper psychological attitude, a successful cold call requires an excellent understanding of the target audience’s needs and a thorough knowledge of the consumer qualities of the services or products offered.

How to Create a Cold Call Script:

• Identify 2-3 verticals
• Identify 20 good-fit prospects
• Research each prospect
  • What the company does
  • What the prospect does specifically
  • If you’ve helped a similar company in the past
  • One “fun fact” about them

Throughout the conversation, you can not forget for a second about the primary goal of the first call – to establish productive communication.

Below you can see an example of a cold call:

Hi [prospect’s name], this is [your name] from [your company name]. 

I’ve been doing some research on [prospect’s company name] and I’d love to learn more about [common buyer persona challenges].

At [your company name] we work with people like you to help with [value proposition 1, value proposition 2, and value proposition 3.]

Is this something you think could help with [common buyer persona challenges]?

Option 1: Yes, tell me more.

Great! [This where you’re going to ask them to attend a demo, or continue the conversation with an Account Executive, or take whatever next steps are part of your sales process.]

Option 2: Objection

I understand. Is it ok if I send you a follow up email to review at your convenience? Then I can follow up with you tomorrow. [If yes, send the email and set a reminder to follow up. If no, thank them for their time and ask if there’s another point of contact they can connect you with.]

Make sure to follow up with an email, this may be a better way to connect. Make sure to include resources that clearly explain what your company does and ask to continue the conversation].

3. The Question Sales Pitch

The art of asking questions is not an easy science, which should be mastered by every seller who strives for high sales. In his book “To Sell is Human,” Daniel Pink presents the question sales pitch as one of the six types of modern-day sales pitch techniques. You are welcome to use this sales technique when you are confident that a potential client understands your product/service value. Carefully assess the buyer’s mindset before using this tactic.

The question sales pitch technique is an excellent solution to start a dialog and allow your audience to answer the question and encourage themselves to take advantage of your business. Moreover, for the seller, these answers contain essential information. They help establish a trusting relationship with the client, find out their goals and needs, anticipate risks, and find the best solution. The most important thing is to hear, understand, accept and make sure that the client trusts you. This is the basis of almost any sale.

• How does your firm evaluate new services before buying?
• Why is this a priority for you now?
• What is the business problem you are trying to solve this quarter?

4. The Follow-up Pitch

60% of customers say ‘No’ four times before saying ‘Yes’. That is why we are talking about the follow-up pitch and its importance. 

Sales following up means maintaining contact with the customer during the sales process. We mean a personal meeting with the customer, a phone call, an e-mail, or, less often, SMS. If a potential client is not ready to make a decision right now, constant phone calls can be intimidating, whereas a follow-up in the format of an e-mail is a good, discreet way to start a dialogue.

Stick to the fundamental rules for follow-up e-mails:

• Sending frequency. To determine the sending frequency, analyze the behavior of the audience. Let’s say you offer an expensive service, and the person needs time to make a decision. In this case, it is better to stretch the follow-up series for 1-2 months. And let there be at least five e-mails in the series.
• Benefits and relevance. The task of any follow-up is to warm up the interest of a potential client and prevent its extinction. So share what is important and necessary. Then people are more likely to become your actual customers.
• Conciseness. Unlike regular mailings, which are usually not limited in terms of length, follow-up e-mails should be short and clear. Simplicity and clarity are fundamental in the B2B field, where the main idea is to motivate the client to interact.
• Call to Action. Any follow-up e-mail should end with a clear call to action. Imagine that you convinced a person to become your client, but you did not tell them how. Do you think they will search on their own? No, they will just forget about you and move on as hundreds of other businesses sell the same service.
• When to send a follow-up. There is no specific time that is ideal for sending follow-up e-mails. You have to rely on intuition, open rates, and other metrics.

5. Storytelling 

For hundreds of years, people listened to legends and epics with their mouths open. The digital age has arrived, but the human essence has not changed — a good story still wholly captures the attention. Brands have understood this and have adopted storytelling. But this method is not only effective in marketing; it still works perfectly in the sales area.

The essence of storytelling, at first glance, is simple. You tell a person a story with which they identify themselves as the main character. This helps convey the desired messages in a discreet and visual form and evoke an emotional response. As a result, the consumer sees why the product is needed and can evaluate its advantages. At the same time, you did not insist on anything and did not sell anything — you just told a story.

In the book ‘Make It Stick,’ Chip and Dan Heath concluded that 63% of people remember stories after a presentation. Only 5% remember a statistic. Storytelling in sales includes a character, problem/task, plot, result, and moral.

The character of the story is not you, your company, or your product. This is a client with a similar situation or problem who contacted you to solve it. The listener should have a sense of similarity with the main character of your story.

A problem or task should be meaningful and exciting; even an ordinary story should be presented as vital and non-banal. The listener should have empathy and a sense that this problem concerns him too.

A plot is the character’s facing a task or problem. And this problem should be resolved neither by the product nor by you or by the company. The characters resolve the issue on their own after they come to you.

The result. The result must be very clear, measurable, and always have positive consequences for the character to strike a chord with a client. And finally, emphasize the moral of your story – the character changed and never faced the problem again.

6. The Subject Line Sales Pitch

86% of professionals prefer to use e-mail when communicating for business purposes. When talking about e-mail subject lines, this sales pitch meaning should be clear enough. While e-mail is an effective tool for business promotion and communication with the target audience, its subject line is an essential question to discuss. 

The subject of the e-mail attracts the attention of the subscribers and encourages them to read the letter. However, it is not just the open rate that depends on the topic.

The mailing list subject line indirectly affects the number of clicks and unsubscribes and how the relationship between the company and the subscriber will develop. That is why it is crucial to take the subject matter seriously.

A compelling e-mail headline should:

• Be unique
• Be specific
• Convey a sense of urgency
• Be helpful

And a few examples of successful e-mail subject lines are listed below.

“What if we …”

You can suggest any ideas that may be of interest to the recipient of the e-mail. Here is pure psychology: to create a fait accompli is boring and standard. But the offer to do something together already encourages action, and such an approach is perceived quite differently.

“Do you feel [insert emotion]? Let me help you!”

Since people only pay for what helps them, feel free to use this fact. Identify your target audience’s pain points and then incorporate that into your headlines. 

“An idea for [a topic that is important for a future client]”

Fresh idea? Of course, I need it! * Clicks the mouse*

Conclusion 

With the boom of eCommerce — each market has become very saturated, with multiple businesses offering the same solution or product. Customers are savvier than ever before, and it takes a great salesperson to understand what’s important to them before purchasing that product or service.