10 Tips for a Successful Business Pitch personally recommended by Startup Founders

Last week we hosted the 'Tips & Tricks For A Successful Business Pitch' session at CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad.

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As part of that, I asked various founders to share their insights and what has worked for them.

Shrijay Sheth, Founder, LegalWiz.in

LegalWiz.in is the leading provider of personalized online legal solutions & legal documents in India.

Pitching For Your Service/Product to Customers:

1. Know who is your target market, most people make the mistake of choosing the market over identifying one. It should be a fit for your product or service and not yourself.
   
   
2. Find out where they hang-out. What are the likely places on or offline where you can find the maximum density of people you can find as fit for being an ideal customer.
   
   
3. Know what they like. Best way to win a customer is to entertain them in their comfort zone.
   
   
4. Your product/service should UNcomplicate things for clients.
   
   
5. Perfect your pitch. Specific is terrific. Put the thought in personalizing the offer. Focus on creating value.
   
   
6. Don’t overwhelm your potential clients with a lot of upselling. Invest in building relationships and you will get many opportunities to upsell and cross-sell.
   
   
7. You will likely only get one opportunity to make an impact. It is not about a thousand strategies you know, it is about one that you have practiced a thousand times.
   
   
8. Don’t beat around the bush. You need an elevator pitch that can convey the point in less than a minute.
   
   
9. Your business is not rocket science, is it? If you think that your business/product is very complex for the client to understand in a minute, there is something wrong in your explanation.
   
   
10. Under commit, over deliver is a sustainable strategy. The end goal is to win long-term business and not just a transaction. Commit only what you can deliver.
    
    
11. Your pitch should show them what do they gain out of your service or product. Most people spend time in explaining how their product is built with so many resources, attention to detail, investment and more. Customers are more interested in what then how!
    
    
12. Don’t pitch to be a master of all, unless you really are. Customers value companies who solve specific problems and solve them well. You may have to turn down some sales but it will help you stay laser focused.
    

Sumit Karanji, Co-Founder, DSYH

DSYH connects multi-channel enterprise companies to their sales channels, orders, inventory data, and Reconciliation under various head while providing big-picture perspective enabling you to save money.

1. Research about the client /audience /company /investors. Linkedin and Owler are super useful for the same.
   
   
2. Prepare specific notes for the pitching. Often context is lost in middle of pitch.
   
   
3. I always use a white background in presentations to large fonts. 70% visuals and 30% bullet texts.
   
   
4. Review your pitches again and again to reduce the number of slides. Cut what is not necessary. Include only must have points.
   
   
5. Time your slides and do mock rehearsals. Never go without rehearsals. 70% pitches fail due to no practice beforehand.
   
   
6. First 30 seconds makes or breaks your pitch. Start with a shocking fact or an open question to get audience attention.
   
   
7. Dress according to the occasion.
   
   
8. Do not smoke before entering a meeting. Avoid chewing gums during the pitch.
   
   
9. Be loud, clear and to the point.
   
   
10. Be confident and arrive well before time for the pitch.
    

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You can share your insights and/or ask questions in the comments section.

ps: Get Your Annual eChai pass for Rs. 1000 per year from eChai.in to attend such super useful programs (100+ Events) throughout the year.