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A sales pitch is a 2- to 3-minute explanation of your product or service that you can use to convince a prospect to buy. As you write your own sales pitch, it can be helpful to read tried-and-true ideas and best practices regarding setting up, delivering, and closing a pitch. To provide the best sales pitch ideas, we asked experienced salespeople how they pitch to increase their prospects' interest in their offering and encourage them to accept next steps.
To learn more about the process of pitching, check out our guide on how to create and deliver a sales pitch , where we provide key steps to follow plus tips and examples.
Ideas for Setting Up Your Sales Pitch
Read our expert insights on how to prepare your sales pitch on your own and then set up the pitch at the beginning of a conversation so you can effectively talk about your product and the benefits it will bring each unique prospect.
Founder & CEO, GrammarHow
Learn About Your Market & Product
"Have a solid understanding of the market and your goods before approaching a client. Be prepared to answer all of their tough inquiries. Prepare to describe how much time and effort you put into the product or service you're selling, for example. Buyers will require a clear, concise pitch that they can simply comprehend and repeat to their peers."
— Martin Lassen, GrammarHow
Prepare for Objections
“Any salesperson seeking to meet their sales forecasting targets must be prepared to deal with concerns from customers . . . you should establish a list of all likely objections and prepare responses ahead of time. Find someone to play the role of the client so that you can practice with them."
— Teo Vanyo, Stealth Agents
Director, Considered Content
Give Your Sales Pitch an Objective
"It's amazing how few sales people genuinely understand the goal of their sales pitch, especially considering how simple it is to create one. You can be looking to provide an overview of your organization, product, and value to buyers. You might be attempting to understand everything you can about the buyer, including what they require and why. However, the most crucial goal is to use your sales pitch to move the buyer to the next stage of the sales process. Your pitch should be focused on conveying information such as the value you provide and what the customer needs to do next to agree to take further actions with you."
— Jason Ball, Considered Content
Founder, Stefanie Gass LLC
Write the Four Main Pitch Components
"There are four components to a highly-converting sales pitch. One is empathy and understanding your buyer's pain points. Start with highlighting their pain points and letting them know you understand where they've been. Two is telling them exactly what they get out of your offer. Make it clear, tactical, and tangible. Three is using their verbiage and keywords. Lastly, leave your offer open-ended. Hard, pushy sales convert lower than an urgent invitation."
— Stefanie Gass, Stefanie Gass LLC
Managing Director, LiFi.co
Listen to Your Prospect
“Before the pitch, ask them questions. Find out what the client's flaws and needs are before you start drafting a pitch. No client will resent you for doing your homework before the pitch, and it will greatly enhance its worth.”
— Jeroen van Gils, LiFi.co
Ask for Specific Pain Points
"The absolute BEST way to craft your sales pitch is to ask the prospect what is the #1 most painful problem they are looking to solve, or the primary result or outcome they are looking to achieve, then work backward from there. Ask the prospect questions to get them to draw their own conclusions about where they are (point A), and where they want to be (point B). Quantify the gap as much as possible, then plan to directly ask the question: ' If I can get you from point A (problem) to point B (solution) without sacrificing XYZ, would it be worth PRICE?' "
— Chris Mitchell, Intelus Agency
Ideas for Delivering Your Sales Pitch
Learn the tips and tricks of giving an effective sales pitch using the information you've uncovered from your research, past correspondence with the prospect, and the current conversation so far.
Digital Marketing & SEO Manager, Diggity Marketing
Keep Your Pitch Short
"The right sales pitch is usually short. Therefore, you will not be able to describe all the characteristics of your product or mention a lot of facts. Instead, pick no more than three theses and describe them in your pitch. People cannot perceive many details, but they will certainly remember three main ideas."
— Nathan Hughes, Diggity Marketing
Exude Confidence in Your Product
"Be confident and knowledgeable about the product or service you're promoting. People love to be flattered, and if you can convey this charming confidence throughout your discussion, you can entice customers to buy from you. Make sure not to sound robotic or overly confident — approach it as a friendly conversation, and focus on highlighting your product's benefits rather than your own. Your prospects will likely be intrigued if you show them how your product or service will alleviate their pain points and how they can benefit from your solution."
— Jitesh Keswani , e intelligence
Speak to Prospects Like a Peer
“Act as if you're one of your prospect's colleagues. Look your potential client in the eyes. I don't care if you're the lowest-level salesperson in your firm and you're speaking with a Fortune 500 CEO. Talk to the prospect as though they were a peer. You don't have to speak in a super-casual tone, but you should speak to the prospect as if you're a regular person who puts their pants on one leg at a time.”
— Lee Grant, Wrangu
Founder, PreTree Creative
Don’t Pitch a Product, Offer a Solution
“Identify the problem you're solving and start your pitch with a solution. Right now, you’re not trying to sell anything. Your pitch should be less about you and your product, and more about how you can bring value to their brand or how you can simplify their life.”
— Tatiana Dumitru, PreTree Creative
Promote Your Company Values
"Promoting company values is one of the most important things to keep in mind when giving a sales pitch to a qualified lead. You want potential customers to see that your company cares about more than just making a profit — that you're committed to providing quality products or services that will improve their lives. To do this, focus on highlighting the unique features of your product or service, and how it can benefit the customer. For example, if you're pitching a new type of weight-loss supplement, tell the customer about its unique formulation and how it can help them achieve their goals."
— Jeremy Luebke, WeLoveLand
Use Supporting Materials With Your Pitch
"Using supporting materials to highlight a relevant feature or to answer your prospect's question is a great way to show that you're invested in the conversation. It can really demonstrate that you're listening to the prospect's concerns and pain points, and it also shows that you're interested in what they have to say."
— Krittin Kalra, Writecream
Founder, Solar Energy Hackers
Avoid Repetition & Unnecessary Info
“Don't overcomplicate things and overwhelm your prospect with technical details . . . Don't tell them what they already know; be straightforward and talk about the actual benefits without wasting their time or boring them to death.”
— Kami Turky, Solar Energy Hackers
Allow the Client to Ask Clarifying Questions
"One thing I always do to get buy-in from a prospect is to continually ask during my pitch 'Does that make sense?' It accomplishes a couple of things for me. It shows that the prospect is listening, it builds rapport and mutual respect, and allows them to ask questions if they didn't understand something. It also sets up the situation where they are already agreeing with me and gains their unconscious buy-in, for a more likely closed won opportunity."
— Amanda Simmonds, [fitlink slug="pipedrive-crm-1"]Pipedrive[/fitlink]
CEO & Founder, Growth Generators
Respond to Questions With Questions
"Whatever your product is, it's always important that when selling it to people, you think of questions to their questions. Everyone is different and there is no guarantee on how any conversation will go. But there is one thing any potential customer will go into thinking after you pitch your product, which is, how does your product benefit them. And, because you may not always know the person well, you may not always be able to answer that. But, if you sell your product by asking them further questions, you'll get to know more about their wants and needs. Then you can find out exactly how your product will benefit them, which will probably lead you to be able to convince the person to buy your product."
— Harrison Tanner Baron, Growth Generators
Recognize Questions as a Sign of Interest
“Recognize when potential clients are ready to make a purchase. A buyer could show they're ready by inquiring about the product or the purchasing process: 'How long will delivery take?,' 'Can you tell me what colors it comes in?,' or 'Is there an upgrade?' Complaints about prior vendors and curious responses like ‘really?’ or ‘good idea’ are also indicators.”
— Edward Mellett, WikiJob.uk
Ideas for Closing Your Sales Pitch
Read experts' advice on how best to close your sales pitch and ask your prospect to take next steps with you, such as drafting up a proposal or closing the sale right then and there.
Founder, BestPeopleFinder
Confirm That Your Prospect Understands Your Pitch
"When making a sales pitch, you need to have your potential customer as the focal point of the presentation — as the great beneficiary of all the value that your solution or product can generate. It needs to be clear how your solution will solve his pain. There is only one thing that will show your empathy to solve your prospect’s pain: confirming that your prospect understands your pitch."
— Ronald Williams, BestPeopleFinder
Keep Momentum to Propel the Deal Forward
"Too many great pitches fail from lack of momentum. When you’ve made your pitch and you’ve identified the problem you can solve for your qualified lead, there’s one thing left to do. It’s a step many rookies neglect to take. Now’s the time to list action items that need to be taken before next steps. Is another meeting required with finance or other stakeholders? Who are the other stakeholders and when can you meet with them? What is the path to your lead signing a contract? You’ve gotten your prospect interested and ready to move forward. Take advantage of the moment and keep the process moving because that’s how you convert leads into sales."
— Nirav Sheth, Anatta
Marketing Director, ProfitGuru
Ask for the Sale
“It's appropriate to ask for the sale after you're sure of the answer you're delivering to the buyer and their firm. Make the buyer feel at ease, but don't be embarrassed to express any urgency you have to complete the transaction.”
— Chris Taylor, ProfitGuru
Add an Urgency Close to Your Pitch
“Make an offer to your prospect that they can only get if they commit within a certain time frame (including today). ‘This is the last product we have left. Anyone who commits today gets a 15% discount.’ The prospect now feels as if they are missing out on something, so it makes sense to do it now if they’re likely to say yes later.”
— Richard Latimer, Veritas Buyers
Make Your Offer Feel Exclusive
"Use FOMO (fear of missing out) as an example in your sales pitch. Consider a sales representative from an advertising agency making a pitch to a potential client. During the pitch, the salesperson should state that they can only take on a 'few additional clients' at this time. This communicates to the potential client that they must make a decision right now or risk losing out on the possibility to collaborate with the agency."
— Nick Jordan, Workello
Bottom Line: Sales Pitch Ideas
Each of these ideas can help you refine your pitch — incorporate as many as possible to improve your lead nurturing skills and deal closing rate. The expert advice here has been refined over years of trial and error, so use the professionals’ experiences to your advantage. Choose some ideas to implement, improve and practice your pitch, and you'll see positive results in no time.
TL
Trey is a former salesperson and current Orange County-based tech, sales, and finance writer. His specialties include sales guides, personal finance articles, and reviews across financial and credit products. In his free time, Trey writes fiction and practices boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
