Questions to get inide the head of pitch prospect
Whose opinion do they respect?
In a recent article I shared the importance of asking the WECWD question – that is, (What Else Could We Do? that our competitors won’t do) to give you an edge in wining your pitch.
Below are some of the questions my clients ask and answer about the prospective client, in the weeks of understanding, planning and staging, prior to a Pitch-day presentation.
The ‘Whose opinion do they respect? question is one of the more important questions from the below list. If you know whose opinion a person(s) respects, you can use that insight to help you frame the messages of your Pitch-day presentation.
For example, if the person the prospect respects, is a well known luminary, you could potentially use a short video clip of this luminary, tied into your Pitch-day key messages. Or, you might use a powerful quote that the person has shared in a media article.
Questions to ask and answer to understand a prospect/client prior to a pitch presentation (listed in no particular order)
1. Who are the key decision makers, key influencers and other influencers? 2. Have you done an advanced Google searches on each of the people, their company and their competitors? (In the Google tool bar click on the News button. Recent media articles about the person, the company and their competitors may be listed) 3. What do you they want? 4. What do they need? 5. Why would they not accept your key message? 6. What is so important about what they want? 7. How would their operation look if they got what they wanted? 8. What would it be worth to them in dollars, status, less stress etc, if they ‘bought’ what you are ‘selling’?
9. What are they proud of/afraid of? (one question you can ask in your pre-pitch face to face meetings with a prospect to tap what he/she is proud of is this one: ‘What would have had to happen in your operation between now and the end of this financial year/calendar year for you to be proud of what you and your team have achieved?’) 10. What irritates them/excites them? 11. What are their hopes? 12. Whose opinion do they respect? 13. What do they think of your organisation/division/you/your people? – Can you alter these perceptions? 14. How direct or subtle should you be with this audience?
15. How can you use your past successes to help with this pitch? 16. What ‘style’ will you use; eg. laid back, formal or a combination of both? 17. How would make them say ‘Wow’.
Your CALL to action/HOW to apply for this post: Use and adapt the above question list to help you get an edge in winning your next Pitch-day presentation.
Check out this post on legendary American actor Spencer Tracy and how to use your hands
Great post Michael
Do you have any tips on dress code?
I was once told that it should be “half a peg” above the audience. So I adopted this and I feel quite comfortable doing it. What do you, and anyone else reading this post, think?
Cheers – John