How to Handle Pitching for Business, by Video Conference Call

Written by Theo Crowther

Your Image:

I shadowed some business pitching video conference calls made for my parents’ digital marketing company, NerveCentral Limited. Whilst shadowing the calls, I made some notes of my observations regarding how to get results when speaking with prospective clients. Read on to find out what I learnt…

When in a business call, be it with clients or prospects, pay attention to your overall image: you must make an effort to look smart and sound professional. Be aware of your body language, for example, making sure that you’re holding yourself assertively with shoulders held back, so that you’re not slouching. Also ensure that you’re speaking clearly, using confident words and positive, powerful phrases. Wear smart clothes in a style and colours that are respected in business. Navy blue communicates professionalism, especially when worn with white or a similar shade. Studies have also proved that wearing glasses transmits a perception of intelligence, leading to increased respect. So a well put-together image will raise the chances of a prospecting call going very well.

Research & Planning:

Make sure you do your research properly about the people and company you will be speaking with. If you research their business, you will have a much better understanding of their business and of what they might need from you, along with how to interact on your call. Refer to other customers of yours who might be relevant to them and their market or business-type. This will make the prospective client more interested, and will increase their engagement with you, because they will realise you have experience with similar customers who have the same kind of business challenges and problems.

Before your call, put together a carefully focused list of points you need to cover, and of questions you need to ask. Planning beforehand in this way, and making a list of questions you want to ask the prospect, will make flowing through the call significantly easier. Finally, remember you may have to adapt your tactics, but keep calm and don’t worry! If you keep your cool, you will master the call.

Build Trust from the Beginning:

Make sure you’re addressing call participants by their first name, if they’re happy with that. You should address them by their preferred name regularly, throughout the call. This will not only help the call participants to feel more comfortable and heard, so that they will garner more trust for you as a result, but it also increases your perceived levels of self-confidence. If a prospect trusts you more, they’ll be more likely to bring business to you!

Ask each of the prospect’s professional positions in their company, even if you already know. Asking more about their position and their work will show that you’re interested in what they have to say, and that you’re listening. People like to feel heard and noticed!

Answer the questions your prospects put to you, as much as possible. This will additionally build trust, will prove to them that you are willing to listen carefully to their needs, and will help demonstrate your expertise. Let the prospects fully explain what they want to, and don’t interrupt them. If you mishear anything, politely ask the prospect to repeat themselves.

Take plenty of notes, as your prospect chats, but not so many that you might appear as if you’re not listening. Importantly, if you don’t have an answer to one of your prospect’s questions, because you don’t yet know the answer, be honest and upfront: just say, ‘That’s a great question. I’m going to have to look into that after our call, but I’ll get back to you by the end of the week with a useful response.’

This might seem intuitive, but try to keep an open mind regarding accepting business opportunities when they arise - especially in the early days of your business. You never know when you might hit the jackpot with a profitable new client or business relationship. This way, especially when starting out, you will also discover what type of projects and jobs you enjoy most. This can help you structure your business around generating income from projects and clients that resonate the most with you, and that are the most meaningful for you.

Communicate Fully & Reassure:

Reassure the prospect that what you are advising will help them in their business. Never assume that your prospect will understand everything that you’re explaining, or that they will already know concepts that are second-nature to you. By reassuring the prospect that the information you’re giving them is important and will be ultimately useful, you will help the prospect understand the critical points and message that you are trying to convey. This will lead to the prospect trusting you more so that they are more likely to work with you now and again, in the future.

Further Engaging Your Prospect:

Remember to stay ‘on-topic’ to keep the flow of the call going, and to avoid wasting anyone’s time. This skill is very important, because you need to be able to control the call with regards to intelligently guiding the prospect along. If things get off-topic, or you’re not meeting the schedule you had planned, guide the conversation back on schedule between the prospect and yourself. Having a loose structure and timetable in a call can make or break your chances of success, when the time available is naturally limited.

This said, it’s still a useful tactic to try to give your prospects some brief personal information about yourself throughout the call, to increase the chance they feel a connection with you. People prefer to ‘buy from people, not robots’ after all. Humour can even help, as long as you only communicate this way once or twice, to avoid giving the impression that you’re not treating the call or their needs seriously. These communication tactics are great ways to break down any awkward barrier between yourself and your prospect, to help put both of you at ease.

Negotiation:

It is extremely important, during a business call, to project your confidence. This will not only make the prospects respect you more, but they will be more willing to listen and engage in conversation with you. Experts always seem confident, afterall. This is especially critical during negotiation.

Negotiation is one of the most important business communication strategies. Negotiation skills will serve you when you’re trying to reach a deal and agreement that both you and your prospect are happy with. Because both parties need to settle on a deal that works for each of them, you will both have to negotiate until both parties are comfortable with the agreement. Be sure to pay focused attention, until you have closed the deal. Listen hard, but stick to your guns too. Pause where necessary, because this is a great negotiation tactic! Don’t agree to an order sum or project scope if you know you’re not comfortable with it, because you won’t take the project seriously otherwise, and you'll find yourself resenting the business arrangement.

It’s useful to have a list of common responses / answers noted in front of you, especially if you’re new to making business proposal presentations. If the prospect then asks a particular question that you’re stuck with, there will be less discomfort and awkward hesitation because you’ll have your answers to hand. This will make the call flow much more professionally and successfully.

Provide Work Examples & Free Useful Information:

Ideally before your call, but otherwise after the call, send the prospects several examples of your work with other companies, especially those that are in the same industry or line of business. Sending your prospects samples of your work and other customer case studies is a highly successful way to prove what you are capable of, which increases the chance of you closing a deal. Nearly all sensible prospects will want to see evidence of what you can offer them, before they decide to work with you.

Another fantastic strategy is to, ‘give away some useful information for free’. This has been proven to raise the chances of engagement and trust, due to the principle of reciprocity. If you use this approach, it’s important that the information and advice you give prospects without charging is:

Genuinely useful, and teaching them something they can use to apply in their own business. Make sure it’s something that can be applied easily.
True and that it works.
Not too lengthy, but not too short, in content.
Packaged professionally, for example in the form of a well put together article or e-book, video, audio file or presentation.
Sent to your prospect after your call, so that you create another point of contact with them. This keeps your company and services at the forefront of their mind.