The Best Sales Pitch Examples to Copy & Customize

Lucy Literado 24 Nov 2021

When people talk about pitching, they’re generally referring to presenting a product, service, or even an idea with the goal of winning over the person they’re talking to.

For many people, the first thing that comes to mind is an episode of Shark Tank with entrepreneurs pitching their businesses in the hope of winning investment and mentorship. Writers pitch their ideas to movie studios, hoping to see that idea turned into a blockbuster film.

For salespeople, their whole job revolves around their sales pitch — communicating the features and benefits of the product or service they’re selling. This can take many forms, from cold calling and email to sales decks and engaging over social media.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at what goes into a winning sales pitch and share some examples of great sales pitches that you can use the next time you’re talking with a prospect.

What makes a great sales pitch?

Sales pitches are an integral part of the sales process, an opportunity to convey the value of your offer and move the prospect one step closer to the sale. However, not all sales pitches are effective. Every day, your potential customers are being bombarded by pitches in one form or another. If you want your sales pitch to even be noticed, you’ll need to stand out from the competition.

Keep your objective in mind…

Whatever channel or format you use, every pitch has one thing in common: The goal is to motivate the person who’s listening to take action. While we normally think about a sales pitch as convincing a prospect to buy, that might not always be the case.

Sometimes, you’ll be aiming to book a meeting, get someone to attend a product demo, sell digital downloads, or simply respond to your message and start a conversation. In every case, the sales pitch is how you motivate your prospect to act. To increase the chances of this happening, tell them what they need to do next by including a clear call to action (CTA) in your pitch.

But prioritize your prospects’ objectives

One of the most common mistakes I see in sales pitches is that they’re all about the seller, with long-winded company histories and mind-numbing lists of product specifications. While it’s only natural that you’re enthusiastic about your product, remember what matters most to the prospect.

What challenges are they facing? What problems are they trying to solve? When your sales pitch revolves around the customer, it’s far more likely to make an impact.

Do your research

Of course, to know what’s most important to your prospects, you’ll have to do some research to find out. This doesn’t necessarily mean spending days and weeks finding out everything you can about the prospect (although if you’re dealing with particularly high-value accounts, then maybe it does), but you should be clear about who you’re pitching to.

As a minimum, you should have all the basic demographic and firmographic information at hand, basics like their name, their role, their company, etc. With a little more effort, a quick look through LinkedIn will likely yield more relevant information that can be used to personalize your pitch.

Bonus point: It is possible to personalize at scale, but it must be done correctly. If you don’t check your data and think about how it will appear to the recipient, it’s easy to end up with messages like the following…

Use emotion…

While computers and machines may operate purely on logic, we humans tend to place a high value on emotions. Rather than simply giving the facts and figures about your product, your sales pitch must appeal on an emotional level first. How does it feel to deal with those specific challenges every day? How will it feel when your product has solved that challenge?

One of the most effective ways of achieving this is by telling a story. When we hear a story, we automatically imagine ourselves in the same situation. So, telling a story about what life could be like if they purchase your product, or how other companies have benefited from your service, can make them feel the same positive emotions themselves. It’s no surprise that 58% of the successful pitches on Shark Tank included some kind of story.

But back it up with data

Yes, emotions are great for getting prospects invested in your solution, but you also need to appeal to the logical side if you want to close the deal. This is especially true with B2B products and/or those with a high price point, where the prospect may have to justify the purchasing decision to others.

That’s when data comes into play. Explain the features, benefits, and specific results they can expect. Use the research you’ve carried out to show exactly what your solution would mean for them.

“Once you understand my issue – quantify the financial impact with real data from me (no disrespect to the canned marketing pitch with industry KPI’s but those don’t float my boat).”

Paul Lanham, CIO at Charlotte’s Web

Keep it to the point

While it would be great if you had unlimited time to make your sales pitch, your prospects have other priorities. You might have a couple of minutes — maybe only a few seconds — to grab their attention, make your pitch, and convince them to take the next step.

Creating a great sales pitch with such tight time constraints might seem impossible but those limitations force you to cut out any fluff and make each word count. Remember your specific goal for each pitch, then ensure everything you say is designed to help the prospect take the desired action.

Great sales pitch examples

Now that we’ve covered some of the principles behind a winning sales pitch, let’s look at some examples. For each one, think about how it could be modified to be more effective for you, your preferred channels, and most importantly your prospects.

The compliment

Everyone likes to receive a compliment, and this cold email template uses that to grab the prospect’s attention.

Subject line: A real fan of {{Company}}

Hi {{FirstName}},

I just wanted to tell you that I really love what you’re doing at {{Company}}. Your {{Recent_Company_Activity}} was great and encouraged me to {{Personal_Action_Taken}}.

If I can ever help you with anything, that would be awesome! You might find my experience in {{Insert_Your_Experience_Domain}} useful. I blog a bit about it – here’s a link {{Insert_Content_Link}} if you would like to see if I’m the real deal.

I’d love to steal some of your time to talk about what you do. Would you mind jumping on a quick 15-minute call?

The recipient is the star of this email. They’re doing wonderful work, and you appreciate that work. This works best when it’s genuine though, where you can share specific examples of great work they’ve done that impressed you, such as:

A new product release
Great content on their blog
Taking a stand for an important cause

Then, show how that’s affected you — maybe you’re using their new product, have implemented something you’ve learned from their content, or been motivated to take a similar stand.

From there, you can introduce yourself, prove that you’re the real deal, and set the stage for a call.

The website visit

A prospect who’s already showing interest in your solution is going to be far more receptive to any pitch that you make. This cold email template can be used to introduce yourself when you see account activity on your website.

Subject line: Curious how {{Our_Company}} can help?

Hi {{FirstName}},

{{Name}} from the Growth team at {{Our_Company}} – {{Product_Value_Prop}}.

I’m writing to you because I noticed that several your colleagues at {{Their_Company}} have visited our website over the last few weeks.

I was wondering whether they were trying to figure out how {{Our_Company}} might help {{Solve_Persona_Challenge}? Would it make sense to jump on a 10-minute call to clarify how we can help?

Best regards,
{{Your_Name}}

As this email is sent to people already researching your company, introducing yourself in the opening should prompt recognition and have a positive effect. From there, reiterating how you can help them and offering to jump on a call comes naturally.

Reply’s company growth email

While it can be difficult to always know what your prospect’s priorities are, using company events to trigger your sales pitch can make it timelier and more relevant to the recipient. Here’s one of the templates used by Reply.

Subject line: Growing your sales team

Hi {{FirstName}},

I’m reaching out to you because I noticed that you are expanding your sales team at {{Company}}. I assume, as a {{Insert_ProspectTitle}}, you want your company’s sales to grow as well, so would you like an idea of improving {{Company}}’s email outreach activities?

Reply is designed for sales teams and helps them grow their pipeline by using our platform to double their number of conversations with right-fit accounts and contacts by automating sales communications with existing and prospective clients while keeping them warm and personal.

Are you available for a 10-minute call to see how we could help {{Company}}`s sales team?

Best regards,
{{Your_Name}}

Jason Bay’s “Priority Drop”

Credit for this example goes to Jason Bay, sales coach and host of the Blissful Prospecting podcast. Jason recommends replacing your elevator pitch with a “priority drop.” This involves positioning your cold call around the prospect’s priorities, not yours. Rather than framing the call around your product or service, frame it around what your prospects are trying to accomplish.

Here’s the example Jason shared:

You: “Hey David, Jason here. Can I get 30 seconds to tell you why I’m calling? And then you can let me know if you want to keep chatting?”

Prospect: “Sure.”

You: “Great. Typically, when I talk to Ecomm leaders like you, they tell me they’re focused on:

1) Continuing to improve brand reputation. Helping customers get more immediate and high-quality human interactions.

2) Expanding their repeat customer base to drive revenue. Finding a sweet spot between chatbots and human support that drives lifetime value and best-in-class brand reputation.

Which of those is a bigger focus right now?”

Prospect: “Definitely focused on finding a sweet spot between chat and human interactions right now…so what do you guys do?”

As Jason explains, when your message is all about you and what you do, no one cares. However, when your pitch is about the prospect and what they do, they will care. On a call, talk about what matters to them and wait for them to ask what you do before bringing it up.

Conclusion

Whether you’re sending messages on LinkedIn, making cold calls, or using emails to reach out to your prospects, nailing your sales pitch is essential. It’s not going to be easy though; you only have a short time to grab your prospect’s attention and convince them to take action.

However, by keeping your objective clearly in mind, framing your pitch around the prospect, and using a combination of emotion and logic, you can stand out from the other sales pitches.

A big part of a successful sales pitch is the channel you use. Reply is a sales engagement platform that helps you automate and scale your multichannel outreach, so your sales pitch can reach prospects on the best channel for them. Try it out for yourself with a 14-day free trial.