Six Tips on How to Win a Startup Pitch

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5 Aug. 2019. Winning a pitch is never an easy task – especially when you are a startup company. So it’s important to know what to look out for and what to prepare for the big day. You want your startup to grow and through a successful pitch to a client, you can do exactly that. If you are a business owner who is looking for an insight into how to either win your first pitch or you need some advice as to how to improve your technique, here are the top six tips that you can use for business success.

Create a beautiful slide presentation

Presentation slides are a great visual aid for your audience; however, they shouldn’t be filled with notes. They should instead support your business, what you are offering them and how it benefits them. Reinforcing your talking points, they can contain graphs, images and statistics – without heavy amounts of content. There are many affordable businesses that offer software which you can utilize to create an amazing startup presentation in 14 minutes or less. With different templates and other features, you can add in the content that you want to create a visually-stunning tool.

Build a relationship with them

Your clients and financiers want to familiarize with what you are offering them and why they should choose you. That’s why it’s important in your pitch to showcase what you’re all about in an engaging and natural way. It’s essential that you find a balance between professionalism and how friendly you are. You want them to see your business as credible and professional, but also that you are authentic and welcoming.

Show how you are different to other businesses

When you are pitching, you should be aware of the other businesses that are doing the same. That’s why it’s vital that you differentiate your business to others through showing the client evidence of your success. You don’t want to overpromise. You simply want to show that you are reliable, by demonstrating successful case studies, testimonials and results. As a startup, you might not have a lot of success stories, so it’s important to show what you are doing to become prominent within your industry.

Make sure that you are prepared

Even if you are a startup that’s been established for a while, it’s important to be prepared for your pitches. If you go into it without sufficient preparation, you are more likely to fail. However, if you are prepared and simply don’t have the answer to the question the client has asked you, don’t lie. Simply say ‘I will have to get back to you on that’ or ‘we will look into that’. For the pitch, make notes, practice your presentation technique and demonstrate that you have spent time thinking about how you will work with them.

Don’t sell a fully-detailed plan

It might be easy to go into the pitch with a full plan, detailing out what you will do for the client. But it’s essential to know that along the way, the plan might change and adapt to the client’s suggestions. Go into the pitch with an outline, with a prospect of finding the solution throughout the process. Clients want to work with a company, rather than be dictated as to what they will do. You want to hook them into what you’re selling, without them feeling like they don’t have a voice.

Bring a team with you

It might initially seem easier to perform the pitch by yourself. But as a start-up, you will need the support of others within your business. Create a team of knowledgeable team members that have the experience and expertise to give a great pitch. Conveying the full message to your clients, you can take it in turns to answer questions and perform different parts of the pitch. A team of 2-3 is the suitable amount, so that you have the know-how and skills needed to bring the idea to fruition.

Final thoughts

Those are just six of the top tips you should utilize when giving a pitch. As a startup, it’s particularly important to listen to what your client is asking you, that you go into each pitch with an open mind and learn from each of them. Rome wasn’t built in a day – as time goes on, your pitch technique will improve. But in order to succeed from the get-go, it’s vital that you are prepared, that you set yourself apart from your competition and that you listen carefully to what each client says.

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