Why “Pitching” in Business Doesn’t Work

In various business magazines, on websites and in the press you will often see references to “pitching” for business.
You’ll see articles and book with titles like “ How to Give a Winning Pitch”, “Pitching to Win “ and “ How to Write the Winning Pitch”.
I even wrote a blog a while ago called Are you Pitching to Win, or Pitching to Lose?
Now you might not agree with me but I’ve come to the conclusion that pitching for business just doesn’t work.

If you look up the meaning of the word “pitch” you get things like

to throw,

to fling or hurl,

to toss,

to plant in a fixed position

to plunge

to lurch………..

and this is what happens in most business pitches.

They “throw “or “fling” or “toss” information at the prospective client and hope that it sticks and that they get it. They often “plunge” straight in and “lurch” from one point to the next without any consideration for how their message is being received and then wonder why it fails. If you’ve ever been on the end of an aggressive pitch then you know how unpleasant it can feel. It’s often done in an aggressive style because by it’s very nature “pitching” is pushy and that’s why so many people are uncomfortable doing it. They don’t like being “pushy”.

To be honest it’s more of a surprise that any win by presenting information in this way but then too often there’s not a lot to choose.
Pitching in this way stems from the biggest mistake that people make in presentations that we talk about in Part Two of the Winning Business Presentations Mini- course. ( See sign up box on the right).

There is a much better and easier way to win.

What if instead you could draw people to you and engage with them in a way that feels comfortable and genuine which means that they want to do business with you?

A great way to do this is through stories.

People love hearing stories so tell your story in a way that connects and engages with your audience.

Instead of just talking about the results you’ve achieved tell the stories of the clients you’ve achieved success working with because people remember stories long after the “pitch” has been and gone.

Until next time.
With best wishes for your success,

Cath

Cath Daley Ltd.