How to Talk About Your Business Without Talking About Your Business

Written By: Hamish Knox, Sandler Training, Calgary, AB, hamish.sandler.com @sandlerhamish 

Most entrepreneurs make two mistakes when pitching their business.

1. They focus the pitch on their business
2. They attempt to close a sale in the pitch

To paraphrase one of David Sandler’s rules, “if you want to be treated different by your prospect you must act and sound different than everyone else who pitches them.”

Pitches that focus on your features-and-benefits (e.g. guaranteed delivery or lowest price) make you sound like everybody else and will either attract a “huh, that’s nice” from your audience or suck you into your audience’s buying system, where the first rule is “you lose.”

Focusing your pitch on the problems you solve (e.g. our clients started working with us because they were worried about on-time delivery or tired of receiving inaccurate orders) creates a deeper emotional connection with your audience and increases your chances of starting a conversation.

Your goals when pitching should be to start a conversation, which may lead to an investment or sale.

Let’s pretend you’re at a networking event looking to connect with someone. Do you spill your life story in the first 30 seconds or do you share a little about yourself, ask a question and let a conversation develop?

If your pitches are “you” focused, your mentor can help you make them more “audience” focused.