Closing a deal is a skill. And just like any other skill, it requires training and practice in order to excel. One of the best ways for people to learn how to be great sales reps is by looking at great sales pitch examples. When you see or read an impactful sales or marketing pitch, you can take away lessons and use similar points when crafting your own persuasive presentations.
Whether you’re currently crafting a big sales pitch or just want to learn how to be a better sales pitcher in general, read on for tips and examples of successful sales pitches from other entrepreneurs that may be helpful when crafting your next big presentation.
What is a Sales Pitch?
A sales pitch is a presentation designed to convince someone to purchase a product or service. A similar concept can also be used to convince investors or partners to back a company. Sometimes, sales reps deliver these pitches to a single person. In other instances, they can be delivered to a larger group or even via phone, email, or online.
Each pitch is likely to vary in content and style. But successful sales pitches tend to be short and include a call to action that convinces prospects to finalize their purchase. They may also include questions or talking points designed to get a conversation started once the bulk of the pitch has been completed.
How Do You Write a Good Sales Pitch?
You write a good sales pitch by being persuasive, direct, and concise. Sales pitches should generally be just a minute or two long, since prospects don’t often have a ton of time or focus to dedicate to listening to your presentation. So you should spend the limited time available calling attention to the unique value proposition of your product or service. In other words, what can someone get from your offering that they cannot get anywhere else?
To really drive your points home, it helps to frame your sales pitch from a customer perspective, rather than explaining everything from your company’s point of view. More specifically, you might start off by explaining a common problem that your customers deal with, then explain how your product or service solves that. This helps prospects understand how purchasing can benefit them, which is often more effective than simply listening to a long list of points or features.
Additionally, being personable and inviting conversation can help your sales pitch really shine. Once you’ve explained how your product or service solves a problem for customers, you might ask questions or share a call to action that gets a conversation rolling. In doing so, you can learn even more about the person you’re pitching to and share personalized information about how working with your company can benefit them directly.
Read more tips on how to write a good sales pitch: 20 Best Sales Pitch Ideas
Sales Pitch Examples
Scrub Daddy
Scrub Daddy Founder Aaron Krause shared his sales pitch for a scrubbing tool that changes texture based on water temperature on Shark Tank several years back. The pitch was successful not only because he was able to quickly explain how his product solves cleaning problems around the home, but also because he actually demonstrated those claims in a live setting. He even integrated a bit of humor and whimsy into the speech and demonstrations to keep people engaged and entertained.
Not all products require this level of demonstration. But for those that provide something unique that may seem tough to grasp, extra visuals can go a long way. And the real world situations he outlines throughout the presentation are extremely relatable, which make this sales pitch example incredibly impactful for a wide array of people.
Formcraft
In this sales pitch example, Matt Macnamara of Formcraft gets the audience involved right away by asking them to visualize their dream office space. Since the company offers architectural and design services for businesses, this introduction serves to both outline their target customer and define a potential problem, even if it’s not a “problem” in the traditional sense. He then goes on to explain exactly how his company can help business owners make their visualizations into reality.
This strategy can be effective because it immediately personalizes the pitch to each individual. They start with an idea in their head of something they want but don’t have, which can ultimately convince them to act and purchase a product or service to help them get that ultimate goal. He plays off of that idea throughout the rest of the pitch. So those in the audience are likely to continue visualizing how this service could have a tangible impact on their work.
Healthy Hearts Institute
This sales pitch example also starts off with questions and visualization exercises. The founder of Healthy Hearts Institute uses these techniques to examine the prevalence of obesity in underserved communities and to increase engagement right away. Then he continues by introducing his company and going over several different ways they plan on eradicating the previously outlined problem.
This example details several areas where communities may stand to benefit from health related initiatives. And the presenter very quickly and concisely explains how his proposed changes will impact the community. There’s also an emotional element to the sales pitch, since he calls people’s attention to their own loved ones and describes how the community may feel and function once positive changes his organization plans to make are implemented.
Hoist
Kasper Hulthin of Hoist (which has since changed its name to Podio) delivered this sales pitch example at MIT’s Global Startup Workshop. The company provides project management and collaboration software to help businesses communicate with team members and those outside of their organization more efficiently.
Hulthin explains this problem and solution very early on in the sales pitch. But one of the things that really sets this example apart is how he opens the talk with a few questions. This gets the audience engaged and outlines how prevalent the problem of communicating via email really is. He then refers back to this engagement throughout the rest of the presentation to keep listeners engaged.
TruckIn
TruckIn provides a fleet management solution to help trucking companies and shippers improve efficiency. The pitch example starts off by clearly defining the problem and solution. He also compares his company to others in the sharing economy to help people clearly understand what type of service they offer, since it’s something relatively new and innovative.
To really drive the point home about the business’s value, this example uses clear data about the trucking industry. For investors or those in the industry who may not be aware of the prevalence of trucking waste can quickly see and understand exactly why the offering in this pitch is so beneficial.
Goodybag
Goodybag is an office catering service for businesses. That’s not exactly a groundbreaking idea. But there are a few facts about the company that make it stand out from similar services. As such, the founder in this pitch example spends time early on explaining what the company is NOT. This helps to clarify exactly what the business offers and what it’s unique value proposition is.
Since this is an elevator pitch for potential investors rather than customers or clients, the points are mainly geared toward financial benefits, rather than features. But that shows that he understands his audience and has tailored the information for their specific needs. In standard sales pitches for clients or customers, a similar tone with points tailored more toward that audience should have a similarly successful outcome.
CupAd
This sales pitch was actually part of a contest run by Utah State University. But the contest winner demonstrates some winning persuasion techniques during his pitch. The idea is for an advertising service that shares messages on coffee cups.
So what makes this sales pitch example successful? First of all, he clearly outlines how the product can benefit all parties involved — not just the companies doing the advertising, but also the coffee shops and consumers. He also uses data to back up his points, like sharing how many times people look at their coffee cup during each use. This can ultimately make the idea you’re sharing in your pitch seem more realistic and impactful, since it addresses potential roadblocks that could come up throughout the implementation process.
Mama I Want to Write
Another elevator pitch example from a contest, Ebonee Monique Thompson of Mama I Want to Write shared the story behind her startup at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneur Conference. Her sales pitch provides a well rounded look at her service in a very short amount of time.
In under a minute, she outlines the problem – people wanting to write but not having the time or focus – and explores the services her company offers to solve that problem. She even outlines a few different target audience members who might benefit from this service – then she also walks listeners through how it works.
Shake-N-Bait
This student from the University of Dayton used a quick sales pitch example to make the case for her startup idea, which sells a universal fishing lure so fisherman don’t need to purchase new equipment for each type of fish.
To illustrate her point, she starts her sales pitch off with some very basic statistics about the fishing industry. Then explains how her product idea will change the industry in favor of fishermen, while providing clear and concrete examples about what sets this product idea apart from anything else currently available in the market.
The Muse
The Muse provides a career search and coaching platform for job seekers. With this elevator pitch, the company’s founder goes into detail about how her company really stands out from other job platforms that are currently available. She describes situations that are common frustrations for those looking for new careers and explores how her offering helps people sidestep those issues.
This is an important distinction for a company selling something that’s already widely available. Describing what makes the other options less than appealing can help a unique new product or service sound much more new and exciting.
Lazarus 3D
Lazarus 3D is a company that produces technology for medical facilities. At the beginning of this sales pitch example, the founder clearly outlines who they make this product for and what problem it solves for medical facilities, doctors, and their patients. She also utilizes real world examples and integrates visuals into the sales pitch to help people grasp the concept.
At the end, she asks a question to really get people thinking about the power behind this offering. Whether you’re pitching online, via email, or in person, asking a question of your audience at the end of a sales pitch can often help to continue the conversation and keep people thinking about how they may actually use your product or service in the future.
London Print Brokers
This sales pitch example for London Print Brokers is fairly simple. But it employs a couple of strategies really well. For starters, it’s incredibly short, and he clearly states at the beginning how long the talk will be, which may be useful for those who are short on time.
Secondly, he saves time by comparing his business’s offering to that of other commercial printers, rather than explaining their offering from scratch. This relates the company to something people are already familiar with, but shows how the business is different in a clear and concise way. He also provides concrete reasons why the business is able to operate with lower overhead, thus saving customers money, which is the prime selling point for the service.
Conclusion
These sales pitch examples offer a wide array of style options that you can emulate and use in your own presentations to make more sales. Whether you’re looking to gain new clients, attract investors, or otherwise persuade people to do business with you, crafting a quality sales pitch can help you make a positive impression and make sure that people remember your business. Once you’ve mastered the points above and crafted a sales pitch that’s up to the quality of those shared on this list, it’s time to get out there and practice, practice, practice. Delivering your sales pitch to potential clients over and over again is the best way to really master your delivery and make a notable impact on your sales numbers.
For more, see these small business sales strategies and tips.
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