Sending prospective clients pitches and proposals can be both nerve-wracking and time-consuming.
We’ve often heard many customers feel tired of and even frustrated by hearing the same B2B pitches over and over again. So how can we send proposals or pitches over the edge from just “meh” to engaging and even pleasant to read or listen?
The standard 21st-century pitch deck consists of the following, but we will isolate the five most impacting aspects.
- Problem/Solution
- Product
- Market Size
- Business Model
- Underlying Magic
- Competition
- Marketing Plan
- Team Slide
We will help make you and your product a hero by helping you understand…
The five most integral parts of a tremendous B2B sales pitch or proposal.
1. A hook the caters to the prospect’s interest.
Studies have shown that, on average, customers only read approximately 20% of the content presented to them. This is perfectly normal.
You have to assume that your readers and customers are busy. Each minute is of value. Better still, they have other options to consider.
This is why you need a great hook. The beginning of your pitch has to make a tremendous impact in order to engage your audience enough for them to keep reading. This is called the hook – the opening line that will reel them in and keep them on the line.
The hook can be an introduction to the product or a question that your product or service seeks to answer.
The opening sentence could feature a snippet into the benefits of the product or a captivating backstory into the development of the product. Either way, you need to make the introduction short, succinct, and exciting. The purpose is to make your readers want to continue reading.
Questions can also work magic in this case. Leave the readers with a question that poses some mystery as to how you will help them approach an issue or solve a problem.
Using descriptive language helps paint a picture for your readers and keeps them engaged.
2. What is their money going to buy them?
Now that we’ve gotten your audience’s attention by proposing a question or issue in your hook, it’s up to you to help them solve the mystery.
The sentences that follow the hook should be a lead-in. Something that assures your readers that you have an answer to their questions or solution to the problems highlighted in the chorus.
Guidance on solving a pain point or a problem is one of the leading reasons prospective clients start the sales journey that leads them to your product or service.
Therefore, to keep them on your page, you need to provide their preferred solution to those pain points.
One of our favorite sayings is that people do not shop to purchase a product; they are looking to acquire a benefit. For example, when shoppers buy Advil, what they are really looking to buy is pain relief.
Hence, you should focus your pitch on how your product or service will help your target audience’?
Allowing your customers to know that they will get the solutions to their problems as soon as possible is a sure way of keeping them on your page and ensuring that they continue reading to get to the part where they buy your products.
3. Data and facts should back up your claims.
It’s not enough to tell your prospective clients how you will help them solve their problems – you must also substantiate your claims with data and statistics.
A lot of your customers are logical beings; they prefer to see for themselves how your products can help them. Therefore, you will need verifiable facts and stats to prove the efficacy of your products or services.
While many put a lot of stock in statistics and reporting, as they should, people are human and also appreciate visual results and even anecdotal evidence that gives your company authority and a sense of trust.
Make sure, in addition to supporting your claims with hard evidence such as in-depth research studies and hard reporting, you include visuals such as graphical representations of your data, “before and after” pictures, and screenshots, for example.
4. Add a CTA While Providing Options
Prospective clients may be driven to your business via your website or other online services, but this is only the beginning of the sales journey, and your product is not likely to sell itself — even if it’s the best in its industry! This is why you need a CTA (Call to Action) button or option.
Your prospective buyers still need a nudge to make a purchase, so be sure to include a clear call to action in your sales proposal.
It should be apparent what your prospective buyer’s next action items are. For example, do they schedule up a time to have a kickoff meeting with your team? Do they sign a contract for services? Sequences of events matter!
Variety, they say, is the spice of life. You should provide your customers with this spice by giving them options to choose from.
The bottom line is to provide clear CTAs and offer options alongside.
5. A Follow up is always the right touch.
Nothing seals the deal like a call and an email with a personal touch to let them know their unique business case matters and that the details that are important to them are essential to you.
Following up on your prospective customers is a sure way of ensuring that the charm of your pitch doesn’t rub off easily.
It would help if you kept pressure but subtly. You don’t want to come across as obtrusive, nor do you want to invade your customers’ privacy.
33% of email recipients open emails based on subject line alone
A follow up can come as a call, message, or email. Ideally, you should set a follow-up time based on your knowledge of the prospect’s schedule.
Sending multiple proposals? Here is my secret to keep it consistent!
If you are a business owner or an agency owner and have people to outreach, you know how difficult it is to keep up the consistency in quality.
My solution is Grammarly Business. It lets you set objectives and multiple other rules that help your team draft pitches and proposals that are assured to meet your grade. Be it emails or decks.
Also, do look into the dos and don’ts of bulk communication when sending out pitches and proposal campaigns.
Himaan Chatterji is a B2B SaaS writer and a full-time digital nomad working with SaaS brands around the world to create a web of interconnected long-form actionable resources. When not on his desk, he indulges in Latin dancing and reading altered perspectives on the mundane.
Sales pitches stock photo by Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock
