By Raju Mandhyan
MOST EVERYONE, all of us, usually need to pitch something every so often. At home we pitch an idea to our partners seeking for more quality time or an increased household budget. With kids, parents pitch ideas on becoming productive and choosing good paths to a better life for them. With parents, kids pitch ideas seeking freedom and autonomy. And, out in the world we are almost always pitching our products, our services, and our visions of a better world and a brighter tomorrow.
Yes, we all have products, proposals, and plans to pitch and packaging our pitches correctly and pointedly will help us move things along efficiently and fruitfully for all concerned. Here is a five-step process stolen from my own book, the Heart of the Close, modified to suit not just the salesperson but also the family member, the community leader, and the change-makers in the higher echelons of any country.
First, gently highlight a pain point for the recipients of your pitch. Creatively articulate their needs and your ability to address it. Briskly describe how your proposal resolves personal and professional challenges for them. Frequently use the words, “You,” “Yours,” and “To your benefit.”
Example: Your organization is on the verge of exponential growth. Usually this vision is foggy for many and with increased organizational alignment it is possible that your productivity can double in less than two quarters.
Second, make an irrefutable claim about you and your competencies to be able to help them achieve that growth. Yes irrefutable, meaning it can be verified to be true.
Example: Our team at ISI, Inc. is among the top five consulting companies in the country and our approaches are research based and time-tested.
Third, share testimony in the form of a story about how your service has helped recipients similar to the one you are pitching at.
Example: Last year when we worked with ABC Hotels and their marketing department, in less than a year their annual revenues jacked up by 30% and this year they are putting up two more branches in Palawan.
Fourth, help them visualize current-day benefits for their business. Paint pictures of how their business and brand will look after employing your services…
Example: Assuming hospitals like yours work like hotels, you can, with our support, optimize the use of your rooms, corridors, and other open spaces. Imagine serving 30% more patients a year with your currently available resources.
Fifth, offer a no-strings-attached sample research or a demonstration of your services to get you closer to sealing the deal.
Example: If it’s alright with you, two of our consultants can come down here next week and present short scenarios with solutions relevant to your business. Just give us a date and time.
Your journey as pitcher through these five steps must be an easy flow. Make sure your spiel is quick, concise and open-ended. Your job here is to leave the prospects thinking and wanting more.
Remember, you are not presenting the whole nine yards and neither are you hungry to close. Forget what the old-timers said about “always be closing.” That is a past-century myth. Your purpose is value creation and this first step is to simply build a strong rapport with your prospect’s head, heart, and gut-based thinking.
This little pitch you put together must be straightforward and easy to understand. It must be equally effective in person, on paper, and on other virtual media. It should never take more time than a ride in an elevator to a floor called success through service and sensibility. Yes, it is also pretty safe to try it first at home with the spouse and the kids. Happy pitching!
Raju Mandhyan author, coach and learning facilitator.
