A great pitch can be the difference between losing a sale forever and gaining a long-term client. So when it comes to pitching your small business product or services, it’s important to put on the best razzle-dazzle performance you can for your prospects.

There are a number of essentials to a successful pitch, but right at the top is confidence in what you’re trying to sell and your ability to do it. Sales pros who approach the pitching process with optimism outperform their pessimistic peers by 57 percent, even when the latter group has an overall better set of selling skills. And to go into your pitch with confidence, you need to make sure you have access to all relevant information.

Having a small business CRM is crucial for arming yourself with as much info — and as much sales confidence — as possible in the lead-up to your pitch. And to illustrate why we’ve outlined a few of the areas where a CRM can really come in handy when acing your pitch. 

Prove You Know What You’re Talking About

An excellent sales pitch strikes just the right balance between being engaging and providing prospects with the information they need to know to make their decision.

In addition to making sure that you follow the basics, such as not making your sales pitch too long (try to keep it at 45 minutes or under) and setting a clear and organized agenda that covers 3-5 primary points, you also need to go into your pitch having done all of your due diligence. Among business buyers, 78 percent say that they’re seeking trusted advisors that add value to their business — and not just salespeople. If you’re not well-versed on your prospect’s needs, preferences, and past behaviors, you’re not going to inspire confidence that you can be the partner they’re looking for.

Where Your CRM Fits In

Think of your CRM as a crystal ball into the background information that can help you turn a “meh” pitch into a true stunner. The data is all there — it’s just up to you to put it to use. You can do that in a couple of crucial ways, including:

1. Knowing Your Audience

As in all marketing and sales endeavors, the better you know your audience, the more successful you’re going to be.

Your CRM helps you here in two ways:

  • It allows you to zero in on your best potential buyers so that you can aim your sales pitch at the right people.
  • It gives you a ton of insight that you can use to really understand your prospects’ needs. Everything from the size of their business to their biggest hurdles and objectives is useful in forming the hole-in-one pitch that you need.

Go back to your content marketing strategy where you outlined your buyer personas. Examine them again and make sure they’re still the group of people you’re looking to sell to. Compare them against your current clients, and use their CRM data to make any refinements to ensure who you’re pitching to align. 

2. Creating Case Studies

Case studies lend additional authority and help you show and not just tell prospective buyers what you can offer them.

Use your CRM data as part of your case study building strategy, identifying your most successful clients, and then engaging with them to create forward-driven marketing materials. You can also use your CRM to pinpoint clients that are in the same industry as high-value prospects and either design a targeted case study just for them or double down on your relevant experience.

Remember: your goal with your sales pitch, aside from laying out the basics of your product or service, is to position yourself as a potential partner. And just as you wouldn’t hire an advisor who has no experience in your field, your prospects don’t want a partner who won’t come in with at least a cursory understanding of what they’re up against.

3. Including Testimonials

Much like with creating case studies, your CRM can help you identify your happiest clients. You can look through your customer data to see which of your clients is loving your services or software, and reach out to them and see if they’d offer a testimonial. 

Testimonials are great to add to pitches because they provide third-party credibility, straight from someone who has actually worked with your company. Just make sure you encourage your clients to be as specific as possible when offering up a quote, so have them comment on your service’s specific feature or element. 

The Formula of a Perfect Sales Pitch

Like a great email or blog post, a great sales pitch is clear, to the point, and expertly targeted to its audience. In addition, it includes each of the major components below:

  • Identifies your prospect’s problem
  • Gives a concise outline of the value your business can provide
  • Explains how your solution works
  • Provides proof that your solution works 
  • Offers examples of how your solution has benefited clients
  • Presents your prospect with a chance to ask questions and get thorough answers

Each part of the formula requires a bit of a different approach as you plan your pitch, but in all areas, your CRM can provide you with more of the info that you need to seal the deal. With such a great resource standing by, there’s no reason not to use it to sharpen your sales pitch.

The perfect sales pitch is attainable, especially with a CRM. And when you crack the code of how to build one, you can expect more revenue, more growth, and more trust between your team and the clients that you serve (and hope to serve).