Some tips on how to articulate compelling pitches when starting a lead generation campaign

Your Pitch – it’s all about speed

Smart sales lead generation techniques start with how you pitch your product or service in double quick time…

Whether you are a large multi-national or small growing company one thing is for sure – if you can’t articulate what you sell in a snappy and compelling way you’re going to struggle to get people to listen.

Okay so if you’ve got thousands to spend on various forms of marketing you have less of a problem in generating sales leads, but either way when you’re speaking to a prospect you’ll need to ditch the polished collateral and communicate your proposition into a good old ‘elevator pitch’.

Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch

Many firms get stuck when faced with an apparent lack of lead generation ideas, however a good place to start is to work out how you might pitch your product or service to a CEO, imagining you had only 30 seconds to do so. You know, you’re in a lift with the chief exec of a target client and have until he or she reaches their floor to get them interested in what you do.

Sounds tough doesn’t it? Well it needn’t be.

Before commencing your lead generation activity here’s some things to bear in mind:

• CEO’s and senior directors/managers won’t care about features, only business benefits. Focus on how your product or service can generate revenue, save costs or improve customer service/attraction.
• Be bold about your pedigree and clients. Name drop where you can ‘we work with the likes of ‘x’ and deliver them real ROI’
• Hot sales leads are hard to find, so work out how you can create your own lead generation by addressing a business issue that the CEO might face. If you can stimulate interest in a proposition previously not considered you’ll be in the driving seat from the start.
• Always close with a call to action. Ask for the opportunity to present in more detail or speak to another suitable contact. Get a referral. Don’t try to over sell in the short time window you have – make sure you get a further meeting where you can expand your selling and listening skills.
• Remember, business leaders almost always got where they are through some form of selling. They’ll respect a good pitch and act on it, provided its short, to the point and has substance.
• Following up your communications will improve your chances of generating quality sales leads.

So your 30 seconds is up and the CEO has got off at the fifth floor. What now?

Follow up!

Well, if you’ve done well you’ll have a business card/number/contact to follow up with. It’s most likely that you’ll have been asked to send some information on your proposition prior to a meeting. The key consideration here is not to bombard the sales lead with tons of information, but to keep the communication short and snappy to drive the next stage. CEO’s don’t read lengthy emails of letters, they just don’t have the time. You need to ensure that your follow up pitch is ‘scan readable’, ie: that the CEO can glance at the email, remember the lift conversation and make a quick assessment on whether to arrange a formal meeting or pass on to a member of his/her team.

So to summarise how you should start your lead generation process:

• Good sales leads are created not stumbled upon.
• Concentrate your lead generation technique on articulating your proposition into a compelling pitch.
• Focus on tangible business benefits – this will deliver quality sales leads to your pipeline.
• Ask for the meeting or an opportunity for follow up.
• Keep any further communications short and to the point – don’t try and sell before the right opportunity.

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