Coaches Corner: Get Your Pitches Reviewed

Posted on 18. Mar, 2010 by Natalie in Business Resources, Coaching Corner, Featured

I’ve been doing a lot of pitch reviews lately with my clients.  They polish off their presentations or proposals, and they run it by me as if I’m the client.  We go through what they think is good and what they think needs to be polished.

I used to give my clients feedback right away after the presentation, but lately I have changed one thing.  I ask them to provide their own feedback on how they did first, before I dive in to provide my comments.

I am amazed at how different the conversation is from that single change.  Usually they are right on the mark when it comes to what they thought went well.  Where we usually differ is on what they thought needed improvements.

Here are the a few areas that often need tweaking:

• Features vs. Benefits – It is so easy to go on and on about features rather than benefits, because we want to make sure our clients “get” what we are offering.  You want to cut this down to just the essentials, and focus on how your customers’ lives are going to be much easier because of your offer.  When they are ready to go into the details, they will ask you for it.  Don’t bore them with the nitty-gritty before they are ready.
• Hooks – Do you talk about what it would be like to work with you (or your products) throughout the presentation?  Paint them a picture.  Tell them how others have used your services or products.  Describe the process as if they have already bought from you.   Use examples that they can relate to.  Anticipate their questions and objections, and answer those throughout your presentation instead of waiting till the end.
• Customize – If you are spending the time to do a presentation, make sure you customize your materials to your customer’s business or process.  There is nothing more annoying than watching a “canned” presentation, especially if it’s a one-on-one meeting!  Are you demonstrating understanding of their pain points and processes?  Did you incorporate their logo into your presentation?  Are you using their terminology?

When your pitch is ready, make sure you run it by a few different people:  someone that knows your customer, someone that works in your industry, and someone that is outside of your industry and has no idea what you do.

You’ll get a much better sense of where you need to change things after hearing their feedback.

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Tags: Benefits vs Features, Customise your Business Pitch, Ghost CEO, Pitch Reviews