Presentation is everything when selling ideas to owners.
By Jennifer Paulson
Have you ever felt compelled to take horses to a new, large event that’s outside your normal competitive calendar but felt uncertain that your owners would agree? Or have you found a horse that would fit perfectly into your program and aligns with your goals, but you’re not sure you can convince one of your customers that buying the horse is in their best interest, too? What about working with your sponsors—have you had ideas to share that you want to be part of to build their brand?
More than likely, you answered yes to at least one of those questions. The answer to solving those problems and others like them lies in your pitch. Just like a creative director pitches ideas to brands, you’re in charge of pitching your needs to your customers.
Pitching can be nerve-wracking. It can feel uncomfortable and intimidating. However, when the outcome is in the best interest of all parties (yours, your customers’, and their horses’), it feels more natural, authentic, and relatable.
Here are five tips to improve your pitches to your customers. They might seem out of the ordinary for your business as usual, but if you’re pitching something new, trying new tactics might be in order.
1. Understand Your Customer.
As a solid, reliable professional, you know your customers and what makes them tick. You understand their goals with their horses, their aspirations, and their limitations. Bring all of those insights together to align your needs with theirs.
For example, if you know they want to expand promotion of their stud across the country, it’s a great opportunity to pitch taking offspring to a show on the other coast to reap big rewards in the long term. Or if you anticipate they caught “futurity fever,” nurture that new interest by showing them prospects that fit your goals and their ideals. Using a teamwork, service-oriented approach can be key to leading a customer in a direction you want to take them.
2. Tell a Moving Story.
If you have a long-term relationship with your customer, draw on memories built together to outline the natural trajectory of their horse life. Build the story around your relationships with the owners and their horses—you started here, together you achieved this, and now the next step together is your pitch. Making it personal and compelling makes a pitch hard to decline.
3. Practice Makes Perfect.
It sounds strange and uncomfortable, but practice your approach to your conversation with your spouse, a trusted friend, or a business partner. Let the other person play devil’s advocate and ask tough questions your customers might bring up. This isn’t a time to be sensitive—constructive criticism can help elevate your pitch to being nearly bullet-proof. It should be so strong that your customers say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” or even that it’s their own excellent idea.
4. Rehearse and Record.
Yes, it sounds a bit bonkers. But, hear this one out. When you record yourself, as cringe-worthy as it might be to listen to your own voice, you can identify weaknesses in your tone or word choices that might not sit well with your customer. You can ensure that every word and phrase is chosen specifically for the situation at hand. Once you’ve identified all the key phrases and how to use your voice, you can record again to fine-tune and make it sound less manufactured and more organic.
5. Time and Trim.
A pitch that’s too long can seem more like a hard sell than a friendly collaboration. It can also lead you to jumble your thoughts and stumble over your words. As you listen back to your recorded efforts, think about what you can leave out. Does your pitch go off track? Do your words create unanswered questions that need to be resolved? Include the necessary details, but don’t draw things out any longer than necessary.
6. Be Ready for Questions.
No matter how prepared you are, be ready for your customer to bring up concerns or questions you haven’t considered. Take a deep breath, consider their concerns, and answer honestly. The basis of your relationship with your customer is honesty, integrity, and shared goals. Their questions might uncover a side you hadn’t considered or even lead to a bigger opportunity than you expected. Keeping honesty and integrity at the core helps your business in the short and long term.
