How to Pitch to Increase Your Sales & Funding Opportunities

Recently, I attended a Pitch event and listened to four entrepreneurs present their business ideas. Of these businesses, three already had revenue.

In my experience, the best presenter is more likely to win the pitch competition, because they will be remembered long after the other pitches are forgotten.

You win by being the best communicator and telling an exciting business story in the right way.

On this occasion, there was an audience vote at the end of the event to select the best Pitch.

I agreed with the audience’s choice, and later, when I engaged with the judges, they shared the same opinion.

How should you Pitch?

Start here:

Priority One:

Tell the judges and the audience the problem you solve. The best way to do this is with a story that engages and is memorable, while clearly explaining the problem/opportunity.

In my experience with Pitch events/Competitions, the majority of decks are usually just collections of slides that attempt to provide information; more often than not, they are unmemorable and dull.

Priority Two:

Tell the listeners about your customers and your sales to date.

If you are at a very early stage, tell people who your customers will be and what your current level of engagement is.

Priority Three:

Introduce the team and their expertise early; people give money to people they believe in. Investors need to judge whether this person will spend their money wisely.

Next, discuss your solution. Keep it short and straightforward.

What else is a potential investor or judge on a panel looking for?

Here are some of my thoughts.

• Start and finish on time; it’s bad manners to do otherwise
  On this occasion, everyone ran over time and had to rush through their final slides.
• In most cases, the slides and information that the judges required to make an informed decision about the business idea and the team’s ambition were missing.
• The slides were generally uninteresting and lacked engagement.
• It was unclear whom they would invoice.
• In several cases, there was no ASK.

Revealed in the Q&A:

In all cases, the presentations became clear only after the judging panel quizzed the presenters to elicit the information that should have been included in the pitch deck.

When this happens, the judges will understand the problem you solve and who will pay for your solution.

Allow for more in-depth interrogation of the presentation and their plans for the next three years or so.

Be sure your financial numbers are accurate and, when asking for money/ investment, clearly explain to the judges how you plan to spend the funds.

Epilogue:

I’ve been coaching startups for 20+ years to pitch their business ideas.

Making a good impression the first time is critical; you may not get a second opportunity.

By Executive Coach Andrew Keogh of Aristo.ie