Pitching isn’t about preparing for a single day event, like a Demo Day, it’s a constant, on-going, iterative process. You are going to need to pitch your business for the entire life of the business.
Although you may have given your pitch a thousand times, to each new person, it’s brand new. You must have your messaging 100% down and deliver with the same enthusiasm, every time.
This worksheet will help you develop your positioning statement and your pitch using David Mandell’s five components of a positioning statement framework.
Start by writing down—briefly—what your company does.
If you remember one thing from this module, make it this: nobody cares about what you do, they only care about how you’re going to help them.
When someone asks about your business, don’t tell them what you do (the statement you wrote above). Instead, share how you are going to solve their pain points and make their life easier.
If you think about it, businesses are built on pain. When you can connect with a customer’s pain and understand what they’re dealing with, only then will give you permission to go deeper and share more about your company.
Below, begin to write out your customer’s pain points, the emotions attached to those pain points, and how you would verbalize that message.
Pain Points |
Emotions |
Communication (how will you connect?) |
When you’re developing the positioning statement for your pitch, make sure to have very specific answers to these five components of this positioning framework.
TARGET AUDIENCE
If you are trying to sell to everyone you will sell to no one. You need to specifically identify your target audience.
Pivot Desk's target audience: Commercial real estate brokers and entrepreneurs
Write your target audience below:
PAIN POINTS
Clearly identify your constituents’ pain points and be able to communicate this back to them.
Pivot Desk's customer pain points:
Write your customer's pain points below.
VALUE PROPOSITION
Clearly identify what are you offering to your constituents that helps make their lives easier.
Pivot Desk's value proposition:
Write your value proposition below:
COMPETITORS
You may have competitors in the traditional sense, but competitors don’t necessarily mean other companies; they can be whatever is distracting your customer from using your product or service (Examples: time, hanging out with friends, time on their phone, etc.).
Pivot Desk's competitors:
Write your competitor(s) below:
DIFFERENTIATORS
What makes you so different - and so much better - that your constituents should care about what you do?
Pivot Desk's differentiators:
Write down your differentiators below:
Here is Pivot Desk’s positioning statement:
We provide a matching marketplace that help brokers find space for companies that aren’t ready to sign a long-term lease. We help growing companies either find the right space for the size of their business without a long-term lease or share their leased space to partially cover the cost.
Write out your positioning statement below:
Remember, the pitch is about connecting emotionally, identifying with your constituents' pain, and giving you permission to share more about what you do. If you can’t open up an emotional window within your target audience’s mind and connect with their pain, they will not care about you.
Don’t get stuck thinking that the pitch you write here is final. It’s not. You’ll be iterating on this pitch and testing it for a long time. Give it a go.
Pivot Desk pitch to entrepreneurs:
Real estate is static; businesses are dynamic. When you’re out there busting your ass to build your business, the last thing you want to do is to bet your business on a 5-year lease, when you don’t even know how big you’ll be five months from now.
Pivot Desk helps you grow your business the way it should grow, not the way real estate dictates, by helping you share extra space with a business that needs it, or finding the right space for now without committing to a long-term lease.
Begin to draft your pitch below:
Simplifying your pitch will be the hardest part of this process. It's important to get rid of any extra words that don't connect with your customer's pain point or clearly communicate how you'll make their life easier. Here are some ways to test your pitch.
1. Read your pitch out loud. Does it feel conversational and easy to say?
2. Use these questions to evaluate and simplify your pitch:
3. Now start testing your pitch on others who don't know your business and get their feedback.
*PivotDesk was acquired by SquareFoot a sub-organization of Industrious
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