Benham Publishing Businesss Magazines December 2013 | Page 24

NewBusiness

Perfecting Your Pitch
By Kingston Smith
Regardless of the size of your business, whether you’re a start up building
a client base or a more established company looking to grow, pitching
for new business is tough, especially in a competitive market.

In today’s economic climate, winning new
business is more important than it has ever
been. A steady flow of new business and client
wins can ensure your businesses financial
health, prosperity and longevity, which as any
entrepreneur will tell you is far from a given.
With that in mind here are our top five tips for
perfecting your pitch for new business.

Step 1: Do your research
Before you walk into any pitch situation make
sure that you do your research on the company
and/or problem in hand in order to tailor your
pitch so that it meets your potential client’s
exact needs and requirements.
It is important that you go beyond just reading
the brief and that you tailor each and every
one of your pitches to the company and
individuals that you are actually pitching to.

Step 2: Practice makes
perfect
Presenting to an audience, whether it is 5 or
100 strong can be a daunting task.
Although it is unlikely to alleviate the nerves
entirely, practice will ensure that you enter a

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INSPIRE

pitch situation thoroughly prepared and as
confident as you can be.
While we don’t recommend scripting each
and every word of your presentation, you
should be able to navigate your way from start
to finish, including all key points and USPs from
memory along the way. Perhaps memorise a
series of bullet points from your pitch so that the
structure is rehearsed whilst still allowing for a
natural delivery.

Step 3: Engage
Engage your audience by asking them
questions. Think about it, a long presentation
with no interaction is unlikely to inspire any
potential clients. Ask questions to keep your
audience engaged but be sure that you are
knowledgeable enough before pitching to be
able to ‘think on your feet’ and not simply ask
mundane ones that you should really know the
answers to already.

Step 4: Sack the slides
Remember that you are the presentation. Don’t
let your hand-out or slides drive the pitch, get
rid of any unnecessary slides; you want people
to be listening to you rather than being fixated
on your fancy slide show.

For those who struggle with brevity, there is a
handy 11 slide pitching template created by
Guy Kawasaki, a Silicon Valley author, speaker,
investor and business adviser which may well help.
www.slideshare.net/QuintinAdamis/pitchdeck-template-by-guy-kawasaki

Step 5: Tell a story
Appeal to your audience’s ‘human side’. In
addition to facts and figures, use emotion and
passion to sell yourself and your business
proposition. Use meaningful context and
make your offering relevant, worthwhile and
memorable.
Stories are a great way to draw others in and
influence their behaviour; tell your potential
investors your businesses story, one that
differentiates you from your competitors. When
told well, stories will resonate and stick in the
minds of those you are pitching to.
Winning new business requires a careful
blend of understanding your clients wants
and needs, presenting your businesses
strengths and USPs, personal chemistry,
scrupulous preparation and, of course, the
hunger to win.