How to PITCH Technical Products and Services

The Purpose of the Pitch

When looking at the purpose of your pitch, you have to look beyond just the close and to the next step. It’s common knowledge that you are trying to sell something, but you must keep that in mind. Your potential client has expressed interest in buying your service and product and needs final assurance that this is the right step for them. Your goal is to take them to that next step of confidence. Always think about your ideal goal, and focus your pitch on hitting that goal. The initial pitch is an information-gathering session to make your client your partner; your job is to move them to the next stage of the pipeline from where they are now.

The Material

Your material is auxiliary to your pitch. This includes your website, brochure, print material, pitch deck, and anything that works in your favor. Make sure your material looks presentable, is prepared, and isn’t too overwhelming. More often than not, sales reps will “show up and throw up” all their material at a pitch – in other words, inundate the potential client with slides, after page, after statistics of their product or service, and never let the client get a word in! This takes away from the true purpose of the pitch, which is having a conversation and building a relationship between you and the client – getting their attention and focus on you.

Fact Finding

Deliver a solution, not sell a product. We reiterate that a pitch is a fact-finding session about your client’s needs, wants, and goals. It should be a conversation where you ask questions and listen and understand what your client is saying – they should be talking 50% of the time. Then, pay attention to the answers so you can pitch the solutions tailored to their specific needs.

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Pitching Methods

The same rules still apply, whether by phone, in-person, or video call. The pitch aims to get your potential customers to the next step. If you’re on a phone call, the ideal would be to bring them to a sales pitch either in person or, at the very least, on video so they can see your face and you can show them some material. The pitch is still following the same process, handling objections and moving the client forward.

Next Steps

Always be thinking and moving toward the next steps in the process, and carry your client along as well. Before closing the current stage, ask the client about the next relevant stage and set the following steps and meeting date. You can’t close someone without pricing or a quote, and hopefully, you have listened well enough to your client to know what product/service they’ll need for the price. You don’t know if they’ll need to bring in another decision-maker for an RFQ, so it’s always important not to surprise them suddenly with it. One of your questions in the fact-finding process should be what their decision-making process looks like as a company.