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9 Ways To Help You Pitch To Investors
(This is a contributed post)
Getting your pitch just right is at the top of every business owners wants and hopes when it comes to speaking to investors. But how do you get the pitch just right? Have a look at these simple ways that you can ensure your pitch is the best it can be, and help to secure them all important investments in you and your business.
Wise Words
When making any pitch it goes without saying that you need to choose your words carefully. You need to be able to get your message across without over complicating the pitch and make sure you have the right way of closing the sale. You should be thinking about simple yet effective words like’ New’ and ‘Potential’ to get the key facts about your business heard. You should also try not to be too wordy on a presentation screen. Try using headlines and bullet points rather than adding a lot of text to read, it could be a distraction from you are actually speaking about.
Know Your Customer
A key factor to any pitch is to make sure that you not only know your investors but you also know your customers. Any potential investor is going to want to believe and have the confidence that you understand your customer’s needs. At the end of the day it’s the key to success when it comes to any business so wouldn’t an investor want to see this. Make sure you perform some market research before any pitches so that you are able to explain and show why your customers like your product otherwise your time and effort could be wasted.
Choose Your Investors Well
There’s no point in talking to investors that aren’t suited to your business and its needs and with so many different types it can be hard to decide on who is best for you. It’s a good idea to conduct some extensive research before choosing an investor to pitch to as it could lead to more success if you get it just right. There’s no point in pitch to a potential investor that doesn’t match your figures, forecast or customer focus, it will just mean that your presentation falls on deaf ears.
Think About The Design
A well-designed pitch could make the difference when it comes to investors saying yes. If you have a well-represented presentation with a quality design any potential investor will see you as a professional who is able to apply themselves. A messy presentation could lead to investor worrying that you apply the same care and attention to your business and put them off making any sort of investment. You could use Beautiful.AI to create amazing presentations that are going to ensure the best quality and impression.
Encourage Conversation
Just because a pitch is a presentation it doesn’t mean that there can’t be a conversation. At the end of the day a good, well-presented sales pitch is a two-way street where both parties partake in the speaking. By allowing your potential investors to ask questions throughout or in designated question times in the presentation will mean that they have more confidence in finding out the information they want. Try keeping your presentation short of sweet so any question they think of is fresh for both you and them. It’s best to make sure you have prepped yourself for any potential questions such as questions about forecasted sales, figures, marketing, employees or future products. Showing that you have the answers to hand shows that you are prepared and are invested in your own business.
Use Social Media
Now that social media is widely used by so many consumers it’s a good idea to include them in any sales pitch that you are making. It’s been proven that ninety per cent of successful salespeople is now using social media to gain sales and secure investments from their pitching. Try using social media facts and figures such as followings, shares and likes gathered on any of your businesses pages and also share some relevant content and comments that have been made with potential investors so they can see how you’re utilising social media. It will be sure to give you the confidence that you’re able to move your business forward with the times.
Have A Bigger Picture
In order to have that successful pitch, you need to be thinking about the bigger picture and have a centralised point that you can return to. It’s no good spieling off idea after idea and hoping that the investor understands and follow what you are saying. You should have one ultimate the goal that you can refer back to throughout your pitch. It shows focus and will lead your business to success when pitching. Having one point that you are able to return to often means that you won’t lose track when speaking about your pitch and answering questions.
Keep The Points To A Minimum
It’s been said that people can only hold on to three points at any one times and successfully remember them so alongside having a big picture and one main point to your pitch it could be a good idea to make sure you stick to around three smaller points. By sticking to a structure like this it allows you to keep control of the pitch and ensure that you have an effective plan of action when it comes to delivering it. It will allow you to plan and time the presentation effectively and also guide you with any questions or conversations that may arise.
Understand When To Tweak
No pitch is ever going to be the right fit for every single investor out there so it is vital that you understand when you need to tweak your pitch. In some cases, you may use your pitch and it is unsuccessful, you shouldn’t let this feel like a waste and learn from the mistakes, by tweaking your pitch to be successful for a similar investor. Especially if this is the type of investor you are looking for. You are bound to find out what works and whatdoesn’t just by getting out there and using your pitch.
Do you have any other ways to help a business pitch to potential investors? Please share them in the comments section below.
