There can sometimes be some confusion around what is a sales pitch. We just want to outline real quick what we see as your pitch and when you use it.
Ultimate Agreement (Purchase)
When you sell something, you are ultimately trying to get someone to agree to it. In most cases, this agreement involves getting someone to buy something.
But it does not need to only involve getting someone to purchase something. It could also involve getting someone to agree to do something or get someone’s “buy-in” to something you are trying to pursue.
For example, you might want to get a group of people to go somewhere. In this situation, you are not trying to get the individual members of the group to purchase anything. More so, you are trying to sell them on wanting to go where you want to go and get their “buy-in” into the process you are trying to establish.
Initial Agreement
One thing that we feel like salespeople often lose sight of with a sales pitch is that there are usually two agreements that you are trying to sell. This applies more when trying to sell a product or service, but if your ultimate agreement is getting the prospect to purchase your product, you have an initial agreement to agree to move to the next stage in your sales process.
For example, you may be talking to a prospect for the first time. This could be on a cold call or meeting someone in person while networking. This could be someone you might end up selling your product to, but you will not get them to purchase in this first conversation.
In most cases, you will have some sales process that you need to take a prospect through to lead to their purchasing your product. A common next step after the first contact with a prospect can be to schedule a meeting or appointment.
We are bringing this up when discussing what a sales pitch is because you need to have a pitch that focuses on your ultimate goal of selling the product. However, you also need a pitch that sells the initial goal of trying to get the prospect to move on to the next stage in your sales process.
This impacts your pitch because if you focus more on your initial goal, you ask questions and close for the next step. This can not only greatly improve your pitch but also greatly improve your results.
This will help you sound less like a salesperson trying to push a product to anyone who will listen and more like a business person who has something to sell, which should help you understand what a sales pitch is.