Hi there! As a seasoned entrepreneur who has been fortunate enough to start four successful businesses I've learned a lot about sales and marketing, and one lesson that has really stuck with me is the importance of testing your sales pitch. In this post, I'll share why I believe testing is so critical, and why you shouldn't rely solely on planning and preparation to refine your approach.
Planning is Easy and Safe, but Testing is Where the Magic Happens
I know, I know. Planning and preparation are important, but they're not the end-all and be-all of refining your sales pitch. In fact, they're just the warm-up. The real action happens when you test your pitch with real people in real-world conditions.
Why is this so important? Well, because you're not just trying to win over your imagination or a piece of paper – you're trying to win over real people. And the only way to really know if your pitch is hitting the right notes is to test it with real people and see how they respond.
The Feedback You Receive is Invaluable
Testing your sales pitch is an excellent opportunity to receive invaluable feedback. It's the key to refining your approach and making your pitch as effective as possible. And, in my experience, the feedback you receive can be quite surprising. Sometimes, the aspects of your pitch that you thought were your strongest points end up being your weakest, and vice versa.
Testing Helps You Refine More Than Just Your Words
Testing your sales pitch is about more than just refining the words you use. It's about refining your entire approach. When you test your pitch, you get to practice your tone, your pacing, your body language, and your confidence. All of these elements play a critical role in how your pitch is received, and testing gives you the opportunity to see how all of these elements come together in real-world conditions.
A Sales Pitch is a Dialogue, Not a Monologue
When you test your sales pitch, you're not just delivering a monologue – you're engaging in a two-way conversation. You'll get a chance to see how people respond to your message, ask questions, and voice concerns. After enough practice responding to objections, you’ll learn the best responses to those concerns, allowing you to maintain control of the entire conversation.
My best advice - get your pitch to where you are 85% comfortable with it. Then close your laptop, turn off your computer, and get out there. Start by calling family and friends, but transition quickly to people you don’t know and test your pitch on them. I promise you’ll learn more in less time than you would ever would by hiding behind your computer.