Salutations friend! Today we’re diving into pitching and we’ll be discussing 3 critical mistakes that are keeping you from getting a “yes” when you pitch. Today’s episode takes a different approach to pitching –– instead of focusing what to do, we’re focusing on what not to do. Turn up the volume, and make sure you’re ready to take notes!
Salutations, friend! Welcome back to another episode of The Profit Scale podcast. Today we’re diving into pitching and we’ll be discussing  about the 3 critical mistakes that are keeping you from getting a “yes” when you pitch. Today’s episode takes a different approach to pitching –– instead of focusing what to do, we’re focusing on what not to do.Â
Today’s episode is designed to help you improve your pitch by addressing these three mistakes.:
When you address all three of these mistakes, you’ll notice a significant difference in your responses and you’ll be hearing “yes” more often.
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Transcript - TPS. Ep. #15 3 Critical Mistakes That Are Keeping Your Pitch From Getting A "Yes"
Salutations, friend! Welcome to an episode of The Profit Scale! It is the podcast for consultants, experts and service providers who are already serving corporate clients or transitioning towards it! Here is the place where you can find tailored solutions to help you close your first or next biggest client.
I’m your host and Income Strategist, RJ Connell. If you are looking for expert strategies to help you build on your existing success, then you, my friend, are in the right place! Turn up the volume and lean in because we are about to get started!
Salutations, friend! It’s RJ here. Today we are diving into pitching! Instead of the usual, “Here’s how to create a compelling pitch” episode, I’m actually going to take a different approach to today’s conversation and talk about 3 critical mistakes that are keeping you from getting a “yes.”
Whether you are the one who crafts the pitches yourself or you are running an inside sales department with a team of sales representatives, these 3 critical mistakes can keep you on a cycle of rejections if you do not catch and correct them as soon as possible.Â
Before we jump in, today’s episode is brought to you by the Systems That Scale experience, the premiere consulting program for service-based entrepreneurs who serve corporate clients, or are transitioning towards it.Â
Friend, Systems That Scale experience is bigger and better than ever! This consulting program is designed to position your business in three key areas:Â
It is designed for you, the entrepreneur who knows you can serve at a higher level, but does not know how to make the switch into corporate or business-to-business (B2B) clients.
It is designed for you, the entrepreneur who knows that working with online entrepreneurs is frankly, not paying the bills, and you know that you are not serving at your full potential.
It is designed for you, the entrepreneur who is already working with corporate clients, but needs to turn your trickle of clients here and there into a predictable steady flow of income.
Lastly, it is for you, the entrepreneur who knows that the lack of systems is keeping your business and your bank account from growing at the rate you could be.
Friend, the Systems That Scale experience is not for everyone, but if any of these feelings apply or resonate with you, then it is for you.
Click the link in the show notes or head over to rjcconsulting.com/sts to learn more and to apply. This is an application-based program with extremely limited spaces. I would love for you to be a part of the last cohort of 2020. Head over now to submit your application friend.
All right, let’s jump in! Let’s start with the basics.
Pitching is essentially the art of identifying what you want and going after it. I like to think of it as aiming before you fire. The nature of pitching is that you are being proactive and specific in what you are aiming for, and aligning your business, systems and resources to attain it.Â
Think about the position of a pitcher in a baseball game. Their goal is to retire the batter by preventing them from hitting the ball. Since their goal is clear, they now proactively execute that goal by focusing and aiming at the catcher every single time they throw the ball. This is the method they use.Â
All their techniques, training, and physical body work together to support the method, which supports the goal.Â
It is essentially the same thing when it comes to your business. The goal is to close corporate contracts, the means is communicating with your prospects in very specific and strategic ways, and the combination is called pitching.
Over the last few weeks we have talked about the differences between working with corporate clients and online entrepreneurs. Although they can both be considered B2B services, the methodologies behind each are very different.Â
Last week, one of those differences is in the marketing strategy — pitching vs. posting.Â
When serving corporate B2B clients, the most common way to actively market your services is through pitching. It requires you to be clear on who and what your target is, and to align your internal systems—your team and communication, towards hitting it.
However, in the online world, you market to the masses and filter to people who are serious about working with you later. In other words, you fire before you aim. It takes a lot more time, energy, resources and patience to operate that way and more importantly, if your ideal clients are corporations, it is not the right strategy for you.
That being said, let’s say you are like, “RJ, I get it. I know how important pitching is, I have been sending out pitches. I have been consistent, but I’m just not getting any responses. When I do, it is usually a straight up no.”
Friend, let me help you out. Before, I was a corporate sales trainer. I started off as an inside sales representative. All day everyday I was researching and pitching, but just like you, I was not getting a lot of responses, and when I did, there were more “noes” than “yeses.”
I started to think I must be doing something wrong because on the days when my emails and phone calls actually get answered, the rejections are flowing in like a steady stream. I started paying attention to the specific things I did when I got a yes compared to what I did when I got a no, and I narrowed it down to these 3 things:
#1 You do not ask for feedback
In other words, when people said they did not need our services, I started asking why not. I started digging deeper and having conversations that would help me understand what was important to the prospect and what made them say yes or no to a vendor, in general, not just me.
I asked questions like the following:
The process of taking the time to ask these questions, and then implementing the feedback into my process made a significant difference in my pitching. This simple strategy will make a huge difference if you are consistently hearing “no” as well.
Not every prospect will be willing to answer your questions—and that is okay, but you should still ask every time. Understanding what leads to a no is just as important as what leads to a yes.
When I implemented this strategy, I started getting responses more frequently, I nearly doubled my “yes” rate, and I still use this same strategy now when I pitch in my own business.
The reason this strategy works so effectively is because you are hearing directly from the people you want to serve. As a result, you are able to customize your pitches towards them.Â
You will likely notice the biggest difference in your response rates particularly when you followed up with those same prospects.
#2 You do not follow up with your prospects
Following up with the people who have told you no in the past, can turn that “no” into a “yes” down the road. I know that you might feel uncomfortable following up because it feels like bothering someone after they have already said no, but that all depends on how you follow up.Â
Following up with your pitch is mandatory. It is non-negotiable and you have to approach it with the same confidence and energy as your initial pitch, but from a different perspective.
I teach a very specific follow-up sequence to clients who go through the Systems That Scale experience. Part of that is incorporating the feedback you now have from correcting mistake #1. You now have specific information about what will help lead to a “yes” in your next pitch.
Whenever that information is available to you, your follow-up emails should always demonstrate how you have applied their feedback.Â
If you have not made any changes, then keep your prospects up to date on how you are going about making those changes so you can serve them better.Â
The art of following up is typically asking one of three questions in a strategic way. You are asking your prospect, since our last conversation, have you:
Following up is not simply to re-offer something that your clients already told you they did not need. The more you focus on creative ways to ask one of these three questions, the better positioned you will be to turn around a “no” into a “yes.”Â
#3 You do not position your service as a need
You are positioning your service as “nice” to have and not “need” to have.Â
I will say that again just in case you missed it, the third mistake is positioning your service as “nice” to have, instead of “need” to have.
It means that you have not done adequate research to make sure that the solution you are offering them is to a problem they are having right now and that it is a problem they are aware of. It is like saying, “If you have some extra money to throw around, why not buy my service?”Â
As we know, corporations are in the business of making money, not wasting it. You, as the expert, understand how your service can benefit your prospects which means that it is also your job to educate them on not only why they need it, but why they need it now.
One of the easiest ways to position your service as “necessary” instead of just “nice” is to tie the outcomes of your services to one of the objectives the company is currently pursuing.
Rather than having to convince them of how your service can help their business, you approach the conversation prepared with the knowledge that they are already trying to accomplish a specific goal, and you present your service as a way to compliment their current efforts and achieve their goal, faster or by spending less money or resources.Â
Doing quality research on your prospects and their objectives before you pitch them is one of the best ways to position your business as a necessary service and to open the door to conversation.
When you catch and correct all three of these critical mistakes, you will notice a significant improvement in your ability to get responses, land meetings and close contracts. The earlier you are able to implement these strategies, the better able you will be to train others in your business to operate efficiently as your team grows.
Let’s recap our discussion today.
Recap
We first talked about the fact that pitching for contracts and opportunities for your business is creating focus on what you want for your business and then actively pursuing it. You are aiming before you fire so that you are using your resources as efficiently as possible.Â
Then, we discussed three critical mistakes that might be the reasons why your pitch keeps ending up with no response or with a no.
Making changes in your pitching strategy based on what we discussed today can be the difference between crickets, or coins for your business.
I would love to know what you thought about today’s conversation, so head over to our Instagram page @rjconncellconsulting, join our conversation in our stories, and share your thoughts.
Friend, if you are tired of the feast and famine cycle of clients in your business and if you are ready to finally add or grow the corporate client side, then I would love to tell you more about the Systems That Scale experience. Click the link in the show notes, or head over to rjcconsulting.com/sts to learn more about the program.
If you are listening and you are currently in the process of building your sales team, or you are in need of corporate sales training for your company, head over to rjcconsulting.com and contact us for more information on our corporate solutions.
Friend, I am so grateful to have spent this time here with you today. Next week, we will be diving into how to align your services with the 6 most common corporate objectives. These are the topics that are rarely ever discussed on podcasts which is why I’m making sure that this can be your go-to spot for all things serving corporate clients. Make sure you are subscribed to the podcast, so you will be notified as soon as a new episode drops. Until then, I wish you coins, confidence and all the bags! Bye for now!