Successful startups seem to be the bread and butter of modern business. But what’s one old-fashioned skill they all share? Sales. Every startup company had to master the art of sales in order to become successful. Therefore, entrepreneurs cannot forget the importance of crafting a well-thought-out sales pitch when planning their business. After all, even if you’ve built the most innovative product on earth, how will anyone know about it if you don’t sell it?
As the CEO of a tech startup, I have learned a lot about the art of creating a sales pitch. I have engaged in years of sales and have learned a lot about the art of selling when a product is new to the market. Every business owner should be the first salesman of the company. There is no such a thing as, "I'm not good at sales." Who is in a better position than yourself to sell your own product?
Why A Sales Pitch Is Important
As Managing Director of MATH Venture Partners Troy Henikoff has written, “You may have a great product, but without customers, it’s just a product. With customers, it becomes a business.” Getting customers is one of the most important aspects of starting a business. So it cannot be an afterthought for startups. Particularly for entrepreneurs, getting a handle on basic sales strategies can be more critical to the success of a venture than the development of its products and services.
How Tech Startups Can Craft The Perfect Pitch
Understanding the importance of sales is only the first step toward selling. Entrepreneurs must craft the perfect sales pitch in order to win over clients. The first step to creating a successful sales pitch comes from the popular TEDtalk by Simon Sinek: Start with why. An entrepreneur's “why” is the reason they started the business or created the product they did.
Sales pitch example:
“Constantly sharpening pencils when they break is tiring and interrupts your workflow.”
Most businesses or products exist because a consumer need was not being met. During any sales pitch, whether to investors or to potential clients, focus on this unmet need and why its an important issue. This is also an ideal time in the pitch to validate the problem by referencing others who have experienced this pain point and how their story relates. The modern sales pitch should be a conversation that is casual and tailored to each individual customer.
Listening to the client is crucial, especially when you're in the development stage. Customers are the backbone of your business.
After listening to the audience’s response to the problem presented, the second step to a well-crafted sales pitch is a value proposition. A clear value proposition will not only strengthen a sales pitch, it will boost the salesperson’s confidence in what they are selling. So after entrepreneurs have prepped a customer with the pain point, they propose a broad solution:
Sales pitch example:
“Constantly sharpening pencils when they break is tiring and interrupts your workflow. Writing would be easier and faster if there was a pencil that never needed to be sharpened.”
This solution should be broad and more hypothetical at first. A difficult aspect of sales for entrepreneurs is that the modern consumer doesn’t care about a product or service. They care about the results. In order to best help a customer, focus on providing solutions to broad problems first and specific products second.
After addressing the pain point and presenting an ideal solution, the final part of the sales pitch includes discussing the product or service your business is offering. This discussion should be brief and focused on the value created for the customer, not the technical aspects of the offering.
Sales pitch example:
“Constantly sharpening pencils when they break is tiring and interrupts your workflow. Writing would be easier and faster if there was a pencil that never needed to be sharpened. My company has created a writing device called a pen. Pens use ink so you can write for hours without ever needing to sharpen a pencil again!”
After the pitch, most interested audiences will have follow up questions. When answering questions, focus on the customer’s needs and how the product fulfills those needs. As long as you center sales around creating value for the customer, the pitch will feel more like helping a friend solve a problem than selling a product.
