We love it, don’t we? The adrenalin, the power, the satisfaction of a successful sales pitch.
However, working in sales doesn’t always feel like you’re king of the world. Sometimes it feels like you’re king of the world but you’re clinging on for dear life, looking over your shoulder at the next hungry professional working hard to take your spot.
You know what they say, it’s lonely at the top.
With a new financial year fast approaching, things can feel a little overwhelming. It’s the ideal time to brush up on those pitching skills to boost your confidence and lift your sales pitch game for the new financial year.
Pain points you’re probably feeling right now — and some solutions
1. Higher targets at the start of a new financial year
With the new financial year often comes a set of higher targets to reach, which can be hard to achieve without support.
Solution
You need to have a clear plan in place for how you’re going to achieve your targets. Outline different tactics you can use, resources and training that will help to give you an extra edge.
Reacquainting yourself with why you’re doing what you’re doing is a great way to reinvigorate yourself and propel yourself to higher heights.
Understanding your why, your raison d’etre, is extremely important to compelling messaging. Simon Sinek talks about this at length in terms of business strategy and marketing. But it’s also powerful from the perspective of delivering successful sales pitches.
“Reacquainting yourself with why you’re doing what you’re doing is a great way to reinvigorate yourself and propel yourself to higher heights”
2. EOFY sales burnout
Sales burnout after the big push at the EOFY makes it hard to remotivate yourself for new targets and improve your presentation skills.
Even the greatest sales pros will tell you that selling can get boring. Pitches become stale and it can feel like you’re stagnating after a while. When this drop in enthusiasm and energy levels occurs, your win rates are likely to decline, which in turn can damage your confidence further.
Solution
Try injecting some competitive spirit into your team culture. Competition is a good thing when it drives us to pursue excellence. Are there some peers, either in your business or outside of it, that you can have some playful competition with; who can deliver the most successful sales pitches in a month, say?
It’s also important to change up your pitch for your different audiences and their different needs. Tailoring your pitch will make it feel like a fresh experience again. Think of it as a marriage; you need to work to keep the spark alive.
Energetic intent is essential for successful sales pitches. It’s important that you appear excited about the subject of your pitch; it helps your audience to feel this way too. Try to show it through your physiology. An animated face and gestures create engagement, but be careful not to go overboard.
3. Keeping up with shifts in approach
Customers expect a more consultative approach these days; a sales presentation that comes across too “salesy” can be off-putting. Whether you call it a “chemistry meeting” or a free consultation, you need to develop presentation skills that allow you to present in a persuasive manner without it seeming that way to the client.
Solution
One useful sales presentation tip is silence. It’s also known to be extremely powerful in negotiation. Talking is easy; anyone can talk, especially when tasked with delivering a business sales pitch. But the best sales professionals, they learn to listen and be silent.
As far as communication skills are concerned, we often talk about active listening. Being an active listener is a key skill for a consultative salesperson. One simple tip is to listen to the customer, then repeat back to them what they said in your response. Pay attention to not only what they say but how they say it. Make notes and refer to them during your discussion so your customer knows they’ve been heard.
What makes a successful sales pitch
I’m not here to tell you what makes a good pitch; you already know. You wouldn’t be where you are today without understanding the basics of a good sales presentation. But it’s time to take your skills to the next level.
Join our Mastering Communication program and learn how to build influence, present with charisma and confidence, and engage customers through effective communication skills.
The Colin James Method® Facilitators train corporate executives to improve their professional communication skills with a proven methodology. Our highly trained Facilitators and Coaches are recognised for their experience in their fields and have worked with many individuals and organisations around the world to master the art of communication.