Pitch Like a Pro: Tips to Winning New Clients

At some point, you’ll have to pitch something either to win clients over or present new ideas to an existing client. The bottom line is that sealing a deal requires some skills. You sure don’t want to come off as incompetent or amateurish. You want to show the client that you are fully loaded and capable of taking their business to new heights. Here are some tips to guide you on your next pitch.

Keep it short: The truth is, there’s a likelihood that you are not the only one who’s been invited to pitch an idea and as such, you need to keep your pitch short, concise and straight to the point. The client would expect you to deliver your pitch in 20 minutes or less and if you don’t want to lose their attention, you must adhere to this.

Avoid the use of jargon: You can’t afford to have the clients distracted from your pitch because they are trying to figure out what a certain word or abbreviation might mean. To make sure of this, you may want to practice the pitch on a friend or a co-worker from another department to see if they can point out any areas that might be confusing. This will no doubt improve your chances of closing the deal in the long run.

Be yourself: You need to understand that the client is human just like you and they don’t expect you to be perfect (Nobody is, not even the client). So, be free and make your pitch conversational. Let the client see that you’re enjoying yourself or at least make them believe that you are. Project your voice, smile, and make yourself memorable. Just have fun and give it all you’ve got. Whatever will be, will be.

Gain the client’s trust: This is pretty simple. Let the client know of your past successes. Have you done something similar in the past?  What were your results? Etc. Use strong storytelling to captivate and excite the client. Let them feel you are the only one that can make them successful. After all, you’ve done it for X and Y company and they might just be next in line. Have a plan: A lot of people have ideas of how they want to achieve the company’s goals but don’t have a laid down plan on how to get there. We’d like to call this the meat of the issue– What will you do and how much will it cost? How will your big idea deliver a return on investment to the client? Any partnerships? Industry insights? This is just but a few of the things you need to arm yourself with if you are going to be considered by the client.

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