Business Owners / Business Development Professionals pitching for new business

As sellers attending networking events, our main job is to meet the ‘right’ people and then to create fascinating conversations that will not only give us the opportunity to ask for business cards, but also to get a commitment to meet up again.

Your focus at these events should be on creating fun, interesting and useful conversations. You should never sell anything other than yourself and your expertise; your aim is to be useful to others. People are more willing to meet up with meet someone they like and who could be useful.

I believe that you should NOT do a 60 second pitch unless you are specifically invited to do so.

Buyers are attending networking events to meet with their peers, to listen to a speaker or, at certain events, to sell their services. People seldom attend a networking event to buy.

Normally when someone switches from one supplier to another they already have a relationship with the new supplier. Your aim is to be the supplier of choice when this happens so you should focus on creating interesting conversations and building up that relationship.

So when people ask what you do they aren’t asking you to pitch, they are seeking to start a conversation. Your response should only be about 30 seconds and it should contain something they can ask you more about.

• Your introduction has to have a maximum of 3 key words / terms / phrases
• It must sound fresh and full of energy
• It must ‘hook’ in people’s interest so they ask for more
• You must never force the conversation
• Create a conversation, don’t try to sell your products and services
• If they don’t ask you anything about your business, don’t carry on, ask them questions about themselves instead
• See if you can ask the other person about themselves first, as that way you can position your introduction to fit more around them

The best time to use this is:

• At networking events, to create a conversation
• The first time you meet a buyer, to position yourself clearly as an expert
• With your connectors, to give them a concise message to pass onto their contacts

• This assumes you are standing in front of the ‘right’ contact for you.
• Only use your first name as there is more important information you want to get across. Too much information means people will forget or start to switch off.
• Don’t offer up your company name at this point unless it is a recognisable brand name. You will be able to reinforce these details later with your business card and follow-up emails.

For example:

• Hello, my name is Heather

• Focus on 3 key words or terms that explain your expertise. People cannot remember more than 3 things at any one time.
• Try not to use generic words for your industry, e.g. Tax Auditor, IFA, Web Designer, Coach etc.
• Get comfortable using words such as expert and specialist.

Here are some examples:

• I’m a networking and personal brand expert
• You know when your teams cluster together at a networking event and won’t talk to your guests? Well, I teach people how to mingle in a confident and professional manner.

At this point, I would usually be asking the other person to share something about themselves but if you feel the listener is engaged, then you could go on to give an example of a key project you are or have been working on.

For example:

• I work a lot with MBA students; last week I ran a special event for XYZ Business School where I did a networking workshop and then got the students to mix with experienced professionals.

It is important to bring the conversation back to your listener, so ask them a question. This could have some sort of relationship to your key project - but be careful not to start selling.  Remember your aim is to create an interesting conversation.

Here are some examples:

• So what about yourself, what do you do?
• So how about yourself, what is your field?
• Have you noticed any trends at the moment in xyz field?
• Have you seen any changes in the abc market?
• Interesting that the speaker mentioned xxx which I get, what did you think when they said…

Nearly there! Once you have completed this last question and ticked the reCAPTCHA box below, you will be able to submit, preview and make amendments to your pitch.

The aim here is to stay in touch with this person.

Here are some examples:

• I appreciate that you want to meet other people, so would you mind if:
  • We could link up and stay connected?
  • Grab a coffee over the next 3-4 weeks?
  • Have a skype call over the coming months?
• I’ll send you some information about the xyz I mentioned.