A.P.E.Q.O. stands for: Attention – Permission – Explanation – Qualification – Objective

You have to divide the Sales Pitch into 3 parts.

The first part is where you attract the attention of the prospect, and he agrees to listen to what you have to say. This is the Attention and Permission stage of the sales pitch, and it lasts for 10-15 seconds.

The second part is where you explain your product, qualify your prospect andbuild rapport with them.  The Explanation and Qualification stage of the sales pitch lasts for 3 – 10 minutes.

The third part is where you’ll finally achieve your Objective.  This stage of the sales pitch lasts for 2 minutes.

Let us dive in.

In this sales pitch example, we will be calling on behalf of our client which is a Social Media Advertising Company. We will  call the company XYZ. Our prospect is Mr John Miller, Owner and CEO of the company, Z technologies. Depending on the country we are calling to (for example UK, or US) we are going to call the prospecteither with his first name or with Mr and his last name.

There’s something that many people don’t know. You either call someone with their first name alone or with their last name and title. So in the case of our prospect, we’ll either call him John or Mr Miller. YOU NEVER PUT A TITLE BEFORE SOMEONE’S FIRST NAME.  So, the objective of this sales pitch is to organize a discovery call between Mr John Miller and our product specialist, Mr Francois Delon.

Sales Pitch Part 1: ATTENTION AND PERMISSION

So, you’ve passed the secretary and now have Mr John Miller, your prospect, on the phone..

Here’s what you’ll say

Hello John, 

I am calling you from the company XYZ, we are an advertising agency based in Paris, France. We offer Strictly Performance Based Facebook, Instagram and Google ads, SPECIALISED FOR E-COMMERCE companies like yours.

The reason why I am calling you is because we identified Z technologies as a company that could potentially benefit from our services. 

Can I have three minutes of your time John?

That is the first paragraph, and the first words you are going to say. It should not take longer than 10-15 seconds!!! No one is going to listen to you longer than that.

Notice the following.

First off, I don’t say my name. Nobody cares who you are or what your name is.

I go straight to the point and explain and explain exactly what we do.

I use the words: “ The reason why I am calling you” , I guarantee you everyone is going to listen to you when you say these words.

And then I ask him if he has 3 minutes for me.

THAT’S IT.

It cannot be longer. The longer it gets, the more anxious the prospect gets. So we go straight to the point and  use the phrase the reason why I am calling you is…. And then we ask for his Permission to hear us out for 3 minutes (at the end there might be 5 or 10 minutes but does not matter).

And then we stop, shut up and wait for his answer. (The power of silence!)

If he says yes, relax, take a deep breath and move on to stage 2.

If he says no, ask why he’s saying no.

1. Here are some responses you may get. You may get a true reason for saying   For example, John may say “ I am driving my car now”, or “I am in a meeting” .After hearing these, ask him when you can call him back and call him back when he says you should.IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to call him back at the EXACT TIME he tells you, not a minute later, because if you do,  he won’t want to hear from you. Since he was the one that told you to call him back, and you messed up.
2. You may get a true reason for no with a real argument Be prepared to receive objections and get your answers ready. It is good when you get a real objection because it means that the prospect is interested.
3. You may get an excuse. If you see you’re getting an excuse,   address it directly. You can tell him, for example.

“John, that is not the reason why you don’t want to  use our services; if you are not interested in listening to me, it’s ok, just let me know, and I am not going to call you back again.”

He hangs up on you. That is a very rude thing for the client to do. . Whenever a client hangs up on me, I call them again and pretend the line dropped. HOW DARE THEY?

Sales Pitch Part 2: EXPLANATION AND QUALIFICATION.

Now that you have the client’s permission to explain what you have to say for the next 3 minutes (or more), explain it smoothly and audibly. Deliver a calm and analytical sales pitch.

Thank you, John.

My name is Alex and I am the sales account manager at the company XYZ. As I said, weoffer Strictly Performance-Based Facebook, Instagram and Google ads, SPECIALIZED FOR E-COMMERCE companies like yours. 

That means, ROI on 0 risk. 

We do it through …….

The goal of this call is to organize a Discovery Call between you and Mr Francois Delon, our Product specialist. So we can  explain to you exactly how our solution works. In order to do so, I need to ask you 4 questions:

1. Are you placing Facebook or Instagram ads currently, or have you done so in the past? If yes, how happy are you with the R.O.I. of those ads? 
2. On what other Social channels are you placing ads (LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter?) or want to do so?

3. Do you have an agency that helps you place social media ads?
4. How much do you spend on ads on averag (approximately)?

Thank you for your answers. 

As you can see here, you take your time to introduce yourself and gradually explain what you have to say. Relax and explain calmly what your company will do for the prospect.

After you explain calmly what your company does, use the words:” … the goal of this call is…”  EVERYONE IS GOING TO LISTEN when you use these words. Now you’ll go to the qualification questions.

The qualification questions serve 2 different goals.

Firstly they qualify the prospect; this means that depending on the answers he gives, we can reject him as a potential prospect or qualify him as a possible future client.

The most important reason for the qualification questions, however, is the second goal.

The second goal is to BUILD RAPPORT with the client. The qualification stage is when you’ll build rapport and a relationship with your prospect and warm up the call.  The end goal is to establish communication with him and be a welcomed caller in the future. This part is very important, and the whole sales process depends on it. Not only for the upcoming Discovery call, but also for the whole sales process till the end.

Sales Pitch Part 3: Achieve our Objective

Thisis the final part and when we achieve our objective. And our objective here is to book a Discovery call between Mr John Miller and Mr Francois Delon, our Product specialist.

Are you available for this call on XXXXXX at XXXX o’clock? 

(If he says he’s not, ask him which day he will be available.) (If he doesn’t give you a time, then send an email with more information and ask him when you can call him back. Or you can ask him to give you 2 or 3 different slots when you can book a call.)

Thank you. (Your meeting is booked for XXXXXX (or I am going to send you an email now and  call you back on XXXXX at XXXX o’clock). 

So… here we are at the final step of our sales pitch , which is to reach our Objective. And our objective is to book a Discovery call between Mr John Miller and the Product Specialist from Z technologies.

( Here’s a piece of advice, have access to the calendar of Mr Francois Delon or have his calendly available. So that way, you will be able to book a meeting on the spot. You are going to use the momentum and book a meeting. Finally, verify the date and time for the pitch.)

TRY TO AVOID bookingpossible slots with John if you don’t have access to the calendar or the calendly of your client (manager). If a meeting cannot be booked on the spot, then send an email asking Mr John Miller for his available slots. You will follow up on this email, book the Discovery call and achieve our objective.

Please keep in mind that every sales pitch should be constructed to fit  your style. Use the information here as a reference on how to build a telephone sales pitch. That does not mean that your sales pitch should be exactly the same as the examples here. Every person has a different sales way and style so , create a sales pitch that feels good for you. And don’t forget to follow the A.P.E.Q.O. principle.

Look  below for 2 more 2 sales pitch examples

A sales pitch example 1 

Hello XXXXX, 

Thank you for accepting my call. 

My name is XXXX and I am calling you from the company XYZ regarding our product relationship management system. Our solution gives your sales team UNPARALLELED visibility and control over EVERY ONE of your products and channels. 

We can really help your business by making sure every one of your products is available and selling as it should. We can also increase your catalogue sales by +20%, cut your stock holding -5% and reduce your marketing costs -10%. 

The reason for this call is to organize a secondary Call between you and Mr Frank Jones, our retail expert, so we can explain EXACTLY how our solution works. 

To do so, I need to ask you 4 questions first. Do you have 2 minutes time for me? 

YES.

Ok, thank you. 

1. Do you sell to retailers or distributors? (VAR out of interest for the time being!)
2. Are you currently using solutions such as product relationship management systems or customer relationship management systems? 
3. Are you managing more accounts now than before? Did you notice  a growth in online retail? 
4. In case yousee our solution, could add value to your organization, how fast would you take a decision to apply it? 
5. Would the necessary budget be there? Coop (or trade marketing) budget? 

NO, I am not interested. 

Ok, can I ask you why you are not interested? 

Answer, depending on the response. 

NOT NOW

Ok, when is a good time to call you back? 

Ok, thank you. In the meantime, I am going to send you an email with more information about our solution. I am also going to attach a PDF 

Mr XXXXX, is XXXX a good slot to book a call with you? 

A sales pitch example 2 

Hello XXXX, 

I am calling you from XYZ a company that provide Data collection, preparation and enhancement services to ensure your data is ready for your Digital Technologies platforms.

My name is XXXX and I sent you an email on the XXXXX regarding this. 

Did you had the opportunity to read my email? I sent it on the email address XXXXXX. (Pause for an answer) 

The reason why I am calling you is because we strongly believe that XXXXX could benefit from our services and specifically from our price competitiveness. 

XXXXX. can I have 3 minutes of your time? ? (Pause for an answer)

XYZ works traditionally with a variety of industry verticals,  but our key focus is on AI/ML technology and solution providers. 

We offer Big Data Services   which means we offer services from Data Crawling, Extraction, Digitalization and Training Data Creation, to Catalog Cleansing, Data verification, De-duplication, Content Moderation and Transformation. 

Now why us:

For 1 reason only which will significantly benefit your company. 

XYZ is a provider of Data Management Services but most of all ….

….. We are cost-efficient, and this reflects on our prices as we provide quality services for 10% of the price you pay now

XXXXXX the goal of my call is to organize a 30 min online conversation between you and our XXXXX, Mr XXXXX, so he can explain the services we offer  And how we can be of value to you.

In order to do so, I need to understand: 

1. Your Product Portfolio and Market share.
2. Do you have an in-house Data Science Team? Are they involved in Data collection and enrichment?
3. Where and how you get your data enrichment done?
4. Do you have an existing outsourcing partner? If so, what services do they provide? 

Please give me 2 ,or even better ,3 possible slots for when we can have this online call. 

Thank you. 

Recap for an effective telephone sales pitch:

Keep it short.

Use the phrases: “The reason why I am calling you”, “…. The goal of this call”,” …. My intention is ….”

Use your prospect’s name

Be confident

When you have the permission to explain, take a deep breath and explain calmly.

Use the power of silence.

ACTION: PLACE THE CALL – DELIVER YOUR SALES PITCH