A great sales pitch is like your favorite pizza.
No really, it is! Just hear me out.
When it has all of your favorite toppings, it’s perfect. When it has only some of your favorite ingredients, it’s just “okay.”
It’s the same way with a sales pitch. If you have all of the necessary ingredients in your pitch, it will be far more effective than if you leave some out.
There are several ingredients that make a sales pitch great. One of these ingredients is credibility.
Ever feel like your prospects aren’t connecting with your message?
It happens to many an entrepreneur.
They spend time preparing for the conversation…They do their best to build a connection with their prospect. They take the time to understand their prospect’s pain points. They develop a killer solution that will clearly make their prospect’s life better.
They get excited. They’re anxious to get the business.
Then they give their pitch.
And the prospect doesn’t buy. They don’t seem to believe that the entrepreneur’s solution will work.
And it happens over and over again. Until the entrepreneur finally recognizes the problem…
They have no credibility with their prospects. That’s when it changes.
They learn how to establish trust. They figure out how to prove to their prospects that their claims are valid. That’s when they begin to see success.
If you want your prospect to trust what you’re saying, you need to establish credibility. You have to be able to prove that what you’re saying is true.
I’m not saying that discussing the benefits of your offering isn’t important. You still have to explain how your offering will ease your prospect’s pain.
But if you want to maximize the chances that you will get your prospect to say “yes,” you have to back up your claims. It’s important because you want your prospect to trust you.
If you know you’re giving an effective sales pitch, but you’re still having trouble making your prospects feel confident about your offering, you may need to establish more credibility. This post will give you some practical ways to establish more credibility with your prospects.
Don’t Assume That You Automatically Have Credibility
The first thing you must do is realize that you don’t automatically have credibility just because you own a business. Your prospect doesn’t care about who you are until you prove to them that you are valuable.
This is why you have to go into the conversation knowing that you have to build credibility step by step. Fortunately, it’s not as hard as it sounds.
The Art Of Storytelling
Stories are great ways to establish credibility with your prospects. Telling stories about how your offering has helped other clients is a powerful way to get your prospects to trust you.
Stories are persuasive because they give concrete, real-life examples that demonstrate how your company has helped others. It allows you to use an example that closely mirrors your prospect’s situation and show them that you can get a similar result.
Having a few good stories in your pocket can give you an excellent persuasion tool to pull out when you need to establish credibility. It will help your prospect visualize the ways in which you can help them.
Here are the components of a compelling story:
- Characters: Who are the important people in the story? The client? You? Anyone else?
- Emotions: What emotions were people feeling throughout the course of the narrative?
- The problem: What issue was the customer facing? What was the impact of problem?
- Solution: What solution did you come up with? How was this solution implemented?
- Ending: How did everything end? How was the customer’s life better after you implemented the solution.
When telling your stories, try to paint as vivid a picture as possible. You want your prospect to feel the emotions your previous customer felt. You want them to feel like they’re experiencing what your previous customer experienced. Especially when you get to the happy ending!
If you learn how to tell effective stories, you will be able to appeal to your prospect’s heart and mind. It will enable your prospect to visualize the ways in which your offering can make their life easier.
Facts, And Figures, And Stats…Oh My!
As the saying goes: the numbers don’t lie. Along with your stories, you need to have a list of statistics you can use to show your prospect that what you’re saying is true.
There are probably studies that relate to your industry that you can use to further educate your prospect about your offering. They will help you back up your claims.
Here’s one caveat: don’t overdo it. You don’t want to overwhelm your prospects with numbers. It will confuse them and make them less likely to listen further. The key is to use only enough to get your point across.
Showcase Your Expertise
The knowledge you possess can be a great tool that can help you establish credibility and provide additional value to your prospect at the same time. Using your expertise for your prospect’s benefit shows them that you know what you’re talking about and that you want to be a resource for them.
It’s always tempting to want to talk about your offering, but it’s best to also find other ways to give your prospects something valuable. This is where your expertise comes in. If you know something about their industry, give them some advice or insight that will help them out.
Here’s an example. If your company does landscaping, then instead of only pitching your services, you can also give them tips on how to improve their lawn care. It’s a very effective way to benefit them while strengthening your position as a resource. It also helps your prospects feel more comfortable with you.
Conclusion
When you are having your conversations with your prospects, one of the most important things you must do is get your prospects. If they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you.
They have to trust that you have their best interests in mind. They must trust that you have the solutions to their problems.
In order to earn the trust of your prospects, you have to establish credibility. When your prospects trust you, they will feel more comfortable with the idea of becoming your customers.
Do you want to tell better stories? Click here to get your free Storytelling Template!
This article was originally published on LinkedIn.
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