Sales Pitch Support and Advice Service
Background
Creating and delivering winning sales pitch is a combination of Preparation, Knowledge, and Skill.
We all know that getting it right can have far reaching consequences whilst getting it wrong can be at best be disheartening and at worst could cost your business time, money and commercial advantage.
The Challenge
We have been working with professional service firms for almost twenty years helping them improve their sales and marketing effectiveness. When it comes to sales pitches - we’ve heard it all….
None of this is surprising...
Unless individuals have had extensive training, have an aptitude for selling, regularly design and deliver pitches and understand the preparation process, it is highly likely that the pitch they deliver will not be as effective as it could be.
Our Solution
Lack of training, experience or aptitude need not be limiting factors. Liddell Dunbar’s Pitch Pro Support and Advisory Service can help ensure your next sales pitch delivers your message in a focussed and compelling way, articulating the many reasons your prospective client should engage your firm.
The Result
Liddell Dunbar can’t guarantee you’ll win your pitch, but we can ensure that you will have done as much as possible to prepare, and you will have a focussed, articulate, and compelling case to deliver which will give you the highest probability of persuading the potential client of your suitability.
Pitch Pro
- Sales Pitch Support and Advice Service
“I’m not sure we really got our message
across”
“I’m much better just winging it… I don’t deliver well
if I prepare” “We didn’t start
preparing for the pitch until just before we had
to deliver it”
“we were only invited along to make up the numbers –
The result was a forgone conclusion”
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Whether you require a complete “start to finish” support package or just one component part Pitch Pro can help.
We provide support in the following areas: » The full Start to Finish Support Package » Graphic Design
» Proposal Writing/Editing » Pitch Delivery Training
The Complete Sales Pitch Support Service
Our complete pitch support service provides a dedicated pitch coach who will work with your team helping and guiding them through each stage of the
process. We use a seven stage process which ensures the pitch and its delivery will be as effective as possible. The coach will also manage post pitch feedback to ensure that the team gain the maximum from the experience.
Your coach will…
» Set the project plan with the pitch team and agree responsibilities, time frames, methodologies, communication channels etc » Challenge sales messages and, where necessary, work with the team to prepare new messages
» Monitor the project’s progress and provide direction to keep it on track where necessary » Advise and support the various preparation stages
» Advise and support the production of the collateral » Manage the pre-pitch run through
» Coach individuals throughout the process » Highlight additional areas to add value » Advise on the mechanics of the pitch
» Get target / client feedback where appropriate » Facilitate a post-pitch debrief
Pitch Pro
- The complete Sales Pitch Support Service
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Pitch Pro
- The complete Sales Pitch Support Service
The Process
The Pitch-Pro coach will use a proven 7 stage process to prepare your team for their pitch. This comprises:
Stage 1 - Plan the pre-pitch meeting
Conducting the pre-pitch meeting is vital to laying a solid foundation for the pitch.
Your Pitch-Pro coach will guide the team members through the infor-mation gathering exercise, making sure that the key criteria and all the probe areas are clearly identified. The most effective style for gathering all the information will also be decided upon.
Stage 2 - Set the project plan
“Failing to plan is planning to fail”
Your Pitch-Pro coach works with the team to produce a pitch preparation plan, ensuring all parties understand their role in the preparation
process and what the various deadlines are.
The coach will also be responsible for maintaining an accessible online project update, which will keep all parties up to date with the progress of the components parts of the preparation.
Stage 3 – Information gathering
One of the key components of any pitch is information gathering. The Pitch–Pro coach will highlight the vital information required, and identify the best methodology to obtain this.
Stage 4 – Creating the sales messages
From the pre-pitch meeting and the information gathering there will be a number of indicators of what the most effective sales messages will be. The Pitch-Pro coach will work with the team to identify and articulate these messages, ensuring that they are clear, compelling, and
consistent, and that they differentiate your offering from that of your competitors.
Stage 5 – Creating the collateral
When delivering a pitch there are many factors to be considered, one of the most challenging of which is what collateral should be used. This will vary from pitch to pitch depending on the objective, the service and the audience. The Pitch-Pro coach will advise on the most appropriate collateral and give input into its design and production it will not be their responsibility to produce it.
Stage 6 – Pre-pitch run through
The run through is one of the most important stages of the sales pitch. It should fine-tune and build the team’s confidence in delivering a first class pitch. The Pitch-Pro coach will attend the run through, critiquing and advising on delivery styles and techniques where necessary. They will also cover the potential stumbling blocks and objections,
highlighting various techniques to deal with them.
Stage 7 – Debrief
Whether the pitch has been successful or not, it is important to get feedback from the client and members of the pitch team to identify areas for improvement, key learning points and what worked well. The
Pitch-Pro coach will, if required, obtain the client / target feedback and facilitate the debrief session.
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Pitch Pro
- The complete Sales Pitch Support Service
What are the Benefits of Using a Pitch Coach?
Having an expert on hand who is used to helping individuals improve performance and has a great deal of experience in producing winning sales pitches, means you will have:
» An independent expert who can provide feedback without having to consider the political implications » An external observer who can provide objective critique and challenge paradigms
» An individual who will drive all the stages of the process
» An experienced sales professional who is able to bring a different perspective » An increased chance of winning the pitch
» Your business and its proposition presented in the best possible way
» A high likelihood of business being won at a premium rate, due to value being added » The benefit of individuals involved in the pitch receiving “on the job training”
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Pitch Pro
- Graphic Design
Graphic Design
Whether you are delivering a pitch using PowerPoint, or sending the client a proposal document, the look and feel of your support material will have an impact on your target and will undoubtedly either consciously or sub consciously effect their decision.
Specifically designed graphics can often impart a message far more succinctly and accurately than pages of text, they also create a feeling of professionalism and show that your firm is investing in the proposal which will positively impact on the decision makers.
Liddell Dunbar’s Graphic Design Team
We have a team of professional graphic designers that are experienced in helping professional service teams create compelling and attractive images. They are used to working with professional service firms, the complete range of applications available, and to tight deadlines.
So whether it is just one slide for a PowerPoint presentation or a complete literature suite proposal and PowerPoint presentation we can help.
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Pitch Pro
- Proposal Writing & Editing
Proposal Writing / Editing
It is a fact that a person’s conditioning and aptitudes will impact on how they approach and complete a task.
Liddell Dunbar provide a proposal editing service. We often see proposals where the language and content of which, although factual, doesn’t convey the message in a compelling way.
We take the proposal, review and edit the content, using our sales experience with our understanding of the required tone for a professional service document, the end result is a factual document which conveys the message in a professional way, highlighting the main features of the offering and importantly makes the benefits of the features appeal to the readers of the document.
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Pitch Pro
- Pitch Delivery Training
Pitch Delivery Training
Having a great story to tell is only one component of a successful pitch. Delivering it in a confident (but not slick) manner is a skill which can be learned. We provide training for pitch delivery over one or two days, the content of which includes;
» Content preparation » Use of visual aids » Use of interactivity » Presentation skills
» Question and objection handling
The course is delivered in an interactive style and will include video of presentations which are then assessed and critiqued by the delegates and Pitch-Pro coach.
We also provide ad-hoc specific pitch delivery coaching for teams who have a major pitch to prepare for.
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Pitch Pro
- The Next Step
What Next ?
If you do not have an imminent pitch
Rather than wait for an invitation to come and then start to prepare – why not give us a call and lets start the ball rolling with an evaluation of your current process and marketing suite. If there is work to be done, we can prepare templates and frameworks in advance which will ensure that when you receive an invitation to pitch for a piece of work, we can focus on the pitch itself.
If you do have an imminent pitch
Call us to discuss the opportunity, time frame and your requirements,… we will be able to help deliver a pitch which maximises the chance of success.
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Pitch Pro
- Recent Feed Back
Recent Feed Back
“Recently an opportunity arose to pitch for a major piece of work we had no hesitation in asking for Liddell Dunbar’s input. We employed Terry as a pitch coach, and he helped us through the whole process, from planning to delivery.
Our competition was two much larger national firms and at the outset, one of these, which had already worked with the client, was described as the front-runner. Terry helped us position our bid so that we played to our strengths and differentiated ourselves from our rivals. He came up with useful pointers and coached us on our performance so that, by the time we entered the presentation, we were confident of success.
We were delighted to win the work - the client’s feedback was that we won it with our enthusiasm and that they were “blown away” by the quality of the pitch. An added bonus was that, following Terry’s advice, we revised up our fee so that the bid was worth 20 per cent more than we had originally priced it at.
Terry’s methods are simple, yet effective. He is very sales-focused, which is exactly what we need, and he has a thorough understanding of the market in which we operate. I would be very happy to work with him again, particularly when pitching for large new work opportunities.”
Richard Feltham – Garbutt and Elliott Corporate Finance Partner
