Checklist for an Effective Sales Pitch

Checklist for an Effective Sales Pitch:

• Your salespeople must be prepared. In addition to conducting industry and client research, they must prepare for the sales process. In other words, they must know what questions they are going to ask to move the sale forward, not just questions about the technical aspects of their prospect’s current position or status. Your salespeople have to anticipate the suspect's answers to those questions and be prepared with their follow-up dialog. Too many salespeople take this step for granted, thinking, "I've been in the business for __ years." They also need to be prepared for the prospect’s questions and how to respond to them. Finally, they have to be ready for curveballs and know how to handle them. Prospects always throw them, and when salespeople are unprepared, they will usually miss the opportunity to score. As a coach, this pre-call time is essential. You should have time on your calendar devoted to reviewing significant opportunity pre-call plans with all of your salespeople. Download our Pre-Call Strategy Checklist.

• Your salespeople must identify clearly what their preferred outcome is. In the book Getting to Yes, the authors explain how defining a preferred outcome helps guide salespeople through any meeting. In selling, and specifically for the initial call, most salespeople define the objective of the first call as "to get a second call." We challenge you, as a sales coach, to help your salespeople understand precisely who their target audience is and to work to disqualify prospects instead of trying to qualify them. If salespeople focus more on finding qualified opportunities, they will waste less time on prospects who are not going to buy from them. So, one aspect of an effective sales pitch is not pitching to unqualified prospects!

• Salespeople have to demonstrate their credibility and value, not by what they say, but by how they conduct themselves. They must be different, and they will do this by the questions they ask, by their focus on the prospect and what is important to them, and by their reluctance to get into a sales pitch too early. Salespeople should demonstrate their knowledge of the industry through stories, analogies, and metaphors, especially by relating how they have helped others in similar situations with effective solutions. They also showcase professionalism by asking penetrating questions and by how they don't look, act, or sound like every other salesperson that has met with this executive. As a sales coach using this checklist for effective sales pitches, how do your salespeople rank in demonstrating their value and credibility? Make sure you listen and help them develop in this area.

• Salespeople have to have the courage to ask the tough questions and have honest and sometimes difficult discussions. Your salespeople should prepare to have initial calls asking tough questions like:

  • "When you told your current provider that you were unhappy with the current situation and you were shopping to replace them, what did they say?"
  • "How will you make this decision?"
  • "When do I meet the decision-maker?"
  • "If you don't have a budget, then how will you pay for this?"
  • "If you are shopping for the lowest price, what happens if I show up and I'm not the lowest price?"
  • "When I show up to make my presentation, I need for you to be in a position to tell me ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ What objections do you have to that process?"

• Salespeople need to leave their need for approval at the door when they leave the house or office in the morning. A strong leader can help them rewrite their mindset about how people buy in your industry. We all have a desire to be liked, to gain approval, and to feel a sense of camaraderie with our prospects and clients, but it can get in the way—especially if that need for approval is so strong that a salesperson cannot ask tough questions about budget and the current provider. As a sales coach, it is your job to practice these tough conversations with your salespeople. When they come back from a sales pitch and say, “I think they really liked what we presented,” ask them what that means exactly. Did they get a defined next step? What did they say about the decision-making process, etc.? Salespeople who have effective sales pitches on a regular basis recognize but manage their own need for approval and do not allow it to get in the way.

• Salespeople must follow a defined sales process to have consistent sales meetings that turn into effective sales pitches and then into long-term relationships. An effective selling system will guide a salesperson to fully uncover:

  • Does the prospect have compelling reasons to take action quickly? How much is the problem costing them?
  • Will they invest the time, money, and resources to solve a problem they have or the problem they see coming? Will they invest that time, money, or those resources in a timely fashion, or are they in the information-gathering mode?
  • What is the decision-making process exactly?
  • Will they move on from their current provider? Tip: Ask them to verbalize what they would say to the incumbent.
  • Will they be prepared to tell the salesperson “Yes” or “No” when the solution is presented? This is an agreed-upon step to avoid the “think it over” response.

• Salespeople have to close. That does not always mean closing the sale, but it does mean closing this step and securing a clear next step. There is always a next step, even if your salespeople are in a "one-appointment close" business. When salespeople master this step, they will have fewer meetings, and their close ratio will improve. Here are three strong closing questions that we recommend you practice with your salespeople:

  • "Do you think I understand your problem/challenge?"
  • "Do you believe I can help you with your problem/challenge?"
  • "Do you want my help?"

Want your salespeople to have more success? Follow this checklist for effective sales pitches!