The sales pitch is enough to strike fear into the heart of many professionals, but it it does play an essential role in the sales cycle, and therefore it simply cannot be avoided.

If you have been tasked with presenting a sales pitch in the near future, and you want it to be one of the best yet, you need to pitch them an offer they can’t refuse, and here’s how you do that:

Don’t Make It Too Sale-speaky

Making it really obvious that you’re trying to sell someone something, even when they know that’s why you’re there really, is a big no-no. Sales talk is a bigger turnoff than showing up to a first date wearing nothing but a lime green Mankini – it just doesn’t work – which is why you should avoid being pushy or overselling the product. Just make a brief introduction and let the client lead with the questions. That way, any information you give will be welcome, and you won’t look like a bullying double-glazing salesman.

Drop a Killer Hook

Every sales pitch should lead with a killer hook, whether you’re pitching in person, on social media or via email. This should be one sentence that sums up the benefits of the product or service you’re selling, using language that fires the client up and leaves them wanting more. It has to be an attention grabber, or they’ll be bored and uninterested before you ever really get started.

Bling Up Your Presentation

PowerPoint presentations are undeniably useful in getting information across quickly, but they’re often very dull. So, if you must use one, you should consider paying for professional presentation design, which will make your PowerPoint show look good, which in turn will keep the client’s attention and make a great first impression. It might not be fair, but boring pitches, no matter how solid the product they’re selling are rejected much more than interesting ones, even when the products are comparable.

Offer a Solution

If there’s one thing that will make clients sit up and pay attention, it’s offering them a solution to a problem they’ve been struggling with. That’s why it’s never a bad idea to focus your pitch on what the product can to help a company on a daily basis. This adds value and therefore is a better bet than something which may or may not make a difference.

Have the Figures to Hand

If dragon’s Den has taught us anything, it’s that you need to be able to back up your claims with figures, particularly when you’re pitching for B2B sales. If a client isn’t absolutely sure that what you’re telling them has some basis in fact, they’re not going to buy, no matter how good the rest of your pitch was. They need reliability, and they won’t get that from you if you come empty-handed.

Follow Up

Finally, you should always follow up with your client after making a pitch. Business men and women are busy, so even if they’re interested in something, they might not get around to signing a deal for some time. If you don’t get back in touch, they could forget about you completely, and all your work would be for naught! Give them a call or send an email and you may be pleasantly surprised.