Nearly all business ideas are born out of the recognition that a gap exists in the current state.  The gap can be found in the cost of execution, the service level provided, a product performance, or an inconvenience.  Not all business ideas are new technology.  In fact, most business ideas are alternatives or improvements to existing solutions.

 

If you have a business idea and the desire to pursue developing your idea into a business venture, you will need to have a “pitch” to help others understand your business idea and the potential it offers as a business.  A pitch can take on many forms; however, generally, the elements of a great pitch should involve enough content to help the listener understand your value proposition, the market opportunity, the customer you target, the work that must be completed, the time it will take to complete that work, the capital required, the return on capital if successful, the key milestones to measure success, with a financial forecast for the business over time.

 

Building your pitch takes time, research, and review.  The best pitch is developed through collaboration and review allowing others to collaborate, offer their opinions, and being willing to incorporate those changes will result in a strong, well-organized pitch.  Additionally, finding a qualified coach to help develop your pitch and your business idea is wise.   It accelerates the work to be done and provides a safe space to bounce off new ideas and received constructive input to improve your pitch.

 

Once you have a strong pitch, your next step is to develop your presentation style and practice, practice, practice.   Practice will improve your timing and get you comfortable with the content to the point it becomes second nature.  While you will have slides or handouts, a great pitch should flow without the slides or handouts.  These tools are designed for the audience, not your reference.  Remember, you are pitching your business. Nobody knows it better than you.   Don’t rely on your slides or handouts to tell the story.  Tell the story and allow the materials to support your story.

 

Value Proposition

 

The value proposition must be compelling and clear for a great pitch.  The key question for listeners is “does this business idea have enough value that customers will pay for it?”  Regardless of your idea, you don’t have a business, if you can’t describe and deliver value customers are willing to buy.  As you think about your value proposition, we suggest you categorize the idea in terms of the problem to be solved or the value to be realized by the customer.  Let’s explore these concepts.

 

Problem to be solved:

 

Think about your own experiences.  Your car won’t start.  The problem to be solved is getting your car started.  You might call AAA or a tow service.  You might ask someone to help you jump start the car and then take it to a service center.  But, regardless of how you solve the problem, you evaluate all types of potential solutions.  In the end, you pay someone to resolve the issue and repair your car.

 

Thinking about the problem to solve offers you a few opportunities.  First, what opportunities exist today that would solve the problem your business is trying to solve.  Do customers have alternative opportunities to solve the problem.  Just as you had alternatives to solve your car problem, do customers see your idea as only one opportunity or an alternative opportunity?  Secondly, thinking about how your product or service solves the problem will help you value your idea.  If your approach solves the problem faster, more completely, or cheaper, it is a competitive idea.  If your approach solves the problem but is more complicated, more difficult, or more expensive, your idea is not competitive with alternatives.  Finally, thinking about how your idea solves the problem will refine your thinking and often lead to new applications or adjacent opportunity for your business.

 

For example, applying this concept to your car that won’t start, think about making a choice between a service center that offers towing service and repair service versus a service that comes to your car and repairs it at the location.  Both solve the problem but in a very different manner.

 

As you think about the problem to solve and your solution, consider what will differentiate your idea from the alternative solutions.  Test these alternatives with those who are collaborating with you and build the best of these into your pitch.

 

Value to be Realized:

 

A second way to evaluate your value proposition is to consider the value realized by using your product or service.  As an example, your phone provides tremendous value that moves well beyond simply making a call.  While the primary objective is to make calls and receive calls, phones have evolved to provide many other values.  Texting, photos, email, games, search functions, and file storage are just a few of the values a consumer realizes when he purchases a phone.

 

Particularly if you are offering a product to solve the problem, what value is realized from your product that might be adjacent to the primary reason people will purchase it.  Is it smaller, faster, more convenient, less expensive, cooler, packaged uniquely, branded, or niche?  As you think about your idea, (product or service) what is the value realized by those who buy it?

 

Value is a challenging idea; however, a few places to consider when presenting value.  First, is your product less expensive than the alternatives, more convenient than the alternatives, completely revolutionary to the market?  Does it offer a more complete solution?  What about your product differentiates its’ value?

 

If we revisit the phone example, there are two major phone offerings with some smaller players who compete in the same market, Apple and Android.   Apple offers the benefits of working seamlessly with a family of technology products inside an ecosystem that simplifies the user experience.  And, Apple has a brand identity that speaks to the innovation and cool design.   Androids offer a more generic platform, at a lower cost with all the same features as Apple.  Androids tend to focus more on pragmatic design like large screen formats, folding phones, lower purchase points, and interfaces that are compatible with multiple accessories in the market.  Both offer great value; however, their approach to the consumer is very different.  It is very important as you define your value proposition, understand where you fit with the customer, and what defines your value.

 

Market Opportunity

 

Defining your market opportunity starts once you have decided on your value proposition.  For example, if we use the example of your car not starting, if your car is a high-end performance car like a 911 Porsche, you are likely to want a high-performance service center do the work.  And if you are a high-performance car service center, your market opportunity is defined by the number of high-performance car owners in the area and the number of high-performance cars.

 

Once you define your value proposition, you should be ready to list the key attributes of your perfect customer.  Attributes are things like, age, location, income, or behaviors.   If your idea is a better fishing rod, your market is fishermen.  If your rod is designed for bass fishermen, your market opportunity is bass fishermen.

 

The key issue to solve when defining your market opportunity is specificity.  Specifically, who will benefit from your service or product?  Specificity can be challenging; however, if you are struggling to get specific, you might consider revisiting your value proposition.   If your value proposition is too broad, you will struggle to be specific in about your market opportunity.  Keep in mind, that if your idea appeals to everyone, it is very likely that your idea will have a lot of competition or perhaps one or two very large competitors who are already solving the problem.  Either situation makes starting your business a challenge.

 

Here is the good news, search engines allow you to get very specific once you understand your value proposition.  The data available online is an amazing source that aids you in defining your market opportunity.  However, coupled with that online search capability is risk.  When you use search engines, check, and verify the integrity of your findings.  Do so by gathering multiple sources to confirm your market opportunity.

 

Customer Target and Attributes

 

Now that you have defined your market opportunity, it is time to drill down to the customer you are targeting. Customer targets are the specific people you want to find that have the highest probability of wanting your product or service.  To find these customers, you must first identify the key attributes that qualify them as potential buyers.

 

Customer attributes are so important to your business.  Just as important as your value proposition.  In the high-performance car example, if you are the service shop owner, you don’t want to waste time or money promoting your shop to people that own a Toyota Camry.

 

Understanding customer attributes can be challenging.  A great approach is to start with the alternatives to your product or service.  Who are the people buying that product or service and what do they have in common.  In the car example, they all own cars; however, how many own high-performance cars?  As you define the attributes of your perfect customer, think of it in terms of what things are common to the customers that will likely want to know about and buy my product or service and how large is that population of customers?

 

 

Work to be done

 

With your value proposition complete and a strong point of view on your customer and their attributes, it is time to think about the work to be done.  The work to be done generally involves labor, money, and time.

 

 

 

There are a few things to consider with labor:

1. Specialized labor, required if there are specific skills like engineering, programming, design, or research required to develop the product or service.
2. Sales, Marketing, Administrative labor, involving people that will help develop the sales propositions, lead the marketing efforts to target customers, and organize and manage the administrative tasks in the business.
3. General Labor, people who might not need special skill sets but are important to the business and daily operation. General labor could be assembly labor, answering calls, organizing, or supporting specialized labor.

 

When you begin thinking about labor, it is easy to fall into a trap of limiting the labor expense; however, I encourage you to not think about what you can afford today.  Try to think about your business in its final form.  What will it look like when you are successfully running the company?  Why go through this exercise?  In doing so, you will have a better grasp on the real cost of operating your business.  Having clarity on the eventual organization of the company will be necessary when you begin forecasting the financial results later in your pitch.  As Steven Covey says so well in his book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” (Covey, 2013), “start with the end in mind”.

 

It is not easy to envision all the labor you will need in the company; however, a reasonable method of thinking through it is to build your organizational chart by function and estimate the headcount.  As an example, in a scientific instrument company, the organizational chart might look like this.

 

In this simple chart, the listener can quickly see your vision of the organization in five years.  The idea that you have a revenue target, headcount target, revenue per employee target, and a payroll as a % of GP target will provide the listener and you with a baseline expectation.  Now you can easily walk them back to the current state of the company and talk about key milestones for each functional area.  By the way, nobody expects it to be a perfect prediction of the future in five years.  They just want to know you thought about it.

 

Once quick thought on organization.  Just because you had the idea for the business doesn’t mean you have to be the CEO. Perhaps your true gift is product development, and your passion is developing.  Hire a CEO in your future company and focus on what you do well.

 

A large part of the work to be done is determining your time to market.  How long will it take to develop the product or service you envision for the business and what are the key milestones that determine success.   It is difficult to determine time to market in many instances when new technology is involved; however, in many cases, entrepreneurs are optimistic, even when it comes to services.  Don’t underestimate time to market.  Nearly everything you do going forward will hinge around your time to market assumptions.  Be conservative.

 

 

Money:

 

With an organizational vision in place, it is time to think about capital (money).  There are many forms of capital.  It is helpful to think of capital in three primary forms:

 

1. Start-up capital which is used exclusively to start the business and has a high level of risk.
2. Investment capital which is used to launch the company in the marketplace.
3. Working capital which is the cash generated by the company for on-going operations.

 

Start-up capital is just as it sounds.  It is the money you need now to get started with the business. During the start-up phase, the company will probably not be generating sales.  Even if the company does have some revenue, it may not be profitable or cash positive.  It will be investing in development of the idea into a product or service.  Start-up capital is difficult to raise and many times you will be pitching to your family and friends to invest.  The challenge with start-up capital is risk.  The returns are often out in the future and based on your best estimate of the time it takes to get to the Investment capital stage and begin generating sales.

 

If possible, start-up capital should come in one of two forms, when possible, your own money is the best form and debt is the second-best form.  Why? Your own money comes with no strings and illustrates your level of commitment to the business.  People never question entrepreneurs that have invested in their own success.  Even if they don’t buy into your pitch, they will respect your decision.  The second-best option is debt.  The advantage of debt is that it does not increase in value with the success of the company.   The disadvantage of debt is that you must pay it back. 

 

Using debt to finance your start-up has another advantage when you get to the investment capital stage.  Debt is not dilutive to ownership equity.   When you approach the investment stage for raising capital, it is very powerful to have paid off all the debt and take a company to investors that is ready to launch.  By not involving other shareholders in the start-up phase, the decision to bring investment capital into the business will only impact your ownership.  It makes decisions like selling stock for investment capital or taking on more debt for investment capital much easier.

 

In your pitch, it is very important to define the start-up capital required for you to be successful.  Because start-up capital is difficult to raise, you don’t want to underestimate the capital required.  As you develop your capital model, consult the most on your start-up capital and be sure to build a defensible position for the capital required.

 

Investment capital is required once you have a product or service, and you are ready to go to market, but the company is still in a small or pre-sale stage.  In other words, you need working capital until such time that the company generates its’ own working capital.  Investment capital should be developed with the end in mind.  In simple terms, how much capital is required to hire the right people, manufacturer the product, take the product or service to market, and support the customer and business overhead. 

 

Investment capital can come in the form of equity where you sell stock in the company to investors or debt. Debt can be difficult to secure since the business is launching and the risk is high; however, there are resources like the Small Business Administration.  The SBA connects entrepreneurs with lenders and funding to help them plan, start and grow their business.  

 

The key step in raising investment capital is to have a clear understanding of the business, the market opportunity, the customer targets, and the value proposition.  With the information in hand, you can build a business plan to present to investors.  In the plan, you can detail timelines, sales growth, margins, expenses, profits, and working capital over a 3–5-year window.

 

If you decide to raise investment capital in the form of equity, it is important that you work with an attorney to develop a buy/sale agreement for stock and a method of valuing your company today and in the future.   Remember that selling stock in your company will always be the most expensive capital you raise once the company is successful. So, be very cautious about selling stock in the early stage of your business.

 

The last form of capital is the best.  Once the business is operating successfully, it will generate working capital.  Working capital is the amount of cash and other current assets a business has available after all its current liabilities are accounted for. Understanding how much working capital you have on hand to pay bills as they come due is critical to the success of an organization.  To determine your working capital, you will need the help of an accountant and a forecast for your business.  A key milestone to define for your company is when you will be working capital sufficient.

 

Key Milestones

 

Key milestones are necessary for you and your investors so everyone understands how success will be measured.  Examples of key milestones might include:

 

• Development time to protype or final product
• Time to market
• Hiring timelines
• Customer interviews or focus group responses
• Marketing Strategy
• Financial Budgets
• Customer Opportunity funnels and conversion rates
• Cash Flow or Profit targets

 

As you build your pitch, think about the key milestones that investors will care about if they decide to support your company.  These might include:

 

• Return on Equity Schedules (ROE = Net Income/Total Shareholders’ Equity
• Return on Capital (ROC or ROIC = Net Income/ (Debt +Equity)
• Cash Flow and Working Capital Projections
• Sales Forecast and Margin Forecasts
• Breakeven Analysis
• Fixed versus Variable expenses
• Development Costs
• Intellectual Property or Assets.
• Financial Budgets pushed out 5 years

 

 

 

Future Forecast

 

Working through key milestones leads you into the last portion of a great pitch.  What is the business forecast.  Forecasts are 100% financial; but, if you have not done a good job of pitching the company to this point in the presentation, your financial forecast won’t be taken seriously.

 

On the other hand, a good pitch will generate a lot of interest in the financial forecast because the listener is now wondering what’s in it for me?   If they are a lender, the forecast illustrates the risk of loaning the money.  If they are an investor, they will see the return potential of the company over five years.

 

It is critical that you build a forecast for at least a five-year period and that the forecast be as realistic as possible and based on the key milestones and investment necessary to succeed.  In developing the forecast, be realistic, set achievable targets and work backwards.  Again, with the end in mind, think about what success looks like in five years.  How profitable is the company?  Why?  What are the expenses and margins?   How many customers will be converted and how many leads do you need to generate to win that many customers?

 

A good forecast considers the primary drivers in the company and speaks to the scale and breakeven point of the business.  Here is a simple example. 

 

 

The table starts with an Average Selling Price (S Price) and the Number of Customers Sold.  These are easily used to determine total sales by multiplying Average Price x Number of Customers.

 

COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) is the cost of production.  It equals sales minus Net Margin.  As you can see, net margin increases as the business grows.  Growth should make us more efficient plus the fixed cost of COGS will not change with growth initially.

 

Total Expenses are represented by Sales, Marketing, Administration, Development.  Again, initially, these are a higher expense relative to sales.   As we grow, we spend more; however, as a percentage of sales, the expense is declining in all cases.  We can discuss these assumptions and make fast adjustments to reflect how the assumptions impact returns.

 

Finally, we show income from operations and net income. The difference here is 38% to represent taxes, interest expense and other below the line expenses.  Net Income is the bottom line.

 

Naturally, listeners can question the assumptions and suggest improvements or assess risk.  The challenge isn’t to be 100% right on the forecast.  The challenge is to represent what you believe is highly probable and explain why by outlining the assumptions.  If you did a good job with your pitch, listeners should believe your forecast.

 

It is important to take the income statement and work through some balance sheet assumptions as well.  In our example, if you assume an initial equity investment of $10,000,000 and a debt investment of $10,000,000, you can build a balance sheet quickly with a few more assumptions. 

 

 

The Attributes of Great Presentation

 

In closing, it is important to focus on the attributes of a great presentation.  A good pitch must be flawless in execution.  As the presenter, you are being measured as much or more than your presentation.   Many confuse a good pitch with high energy or charisma; however, a good pitch is a pitch that communicates to the listener, generates increased interest from the listener, and leads to quality questions and follow up from the listener.

 

When you pitch, come prepared, know your material, have a defendable position, and prepare for questions in advance.  With a good coach, practice, and collaboration, you can anticipate most questions.  Consider and prepare your answers in advance.  If you don’t know the answer, acknowledge the questions, and promise follow-up.  Your credibility is critical to your success.

 

As you prepare your pitch decks (1-, 5-, and 15-minute versions), use white space, don’t crowd your slides with text, use images that convey your idea.  Remember, you are presenting, and you don’t want you audience to be reading while you are pitching.  You want them to listen to you.  Your pitch deck should support your presentation does not make it for you.

 

Practice does make perfect in the case of a pitch.  So, practice, practice, and practice again to get ready.  Prepare a 1-minute pitch, a 5-minute pitch, and a 15-minute pitch.  Think of the 1- and 5-minute pitch as the pitch that will inspire listeners to follow up and ask for more.

 

The most important attribute of a great pitch beyond the content you worked so hard to generate, is you.  Dress appropriately, even if your generation is casual, dress for your audience.  If you want to be received as a good investment, look like one.

The Five Minute Pitch

Introduction

Making the perfect pitch challenges most entrepreneurs.   In most instances, the initial pitch is 5-minutes or less.

Making the perfect 5-minute pitch includes four key elements:

1. An Opening Statement
2. Business Overview
3. Economics Presentation
4. A Closing Summary

These fundamental elements are outlined here with recommended time commitments for a 5-minute pitch. 

As you develop your pitch and prepare to present, your appearance matters. Dress professionally, maintain your posture, trust your preparation, and deliver a great pitch.  The notion that practice makes perfect is true. Take the necessary time to practice the pitch and ensure you are within the time constraints. If you are comfortable with the content, you will be comfortable in the live pitch.  Remember, your business is bigger than your pitch.  Invest the necessary time to understand and believe in the business.  The pitch is just an opportunity to invite others to understand more about your business.

Opening Statement: 1-minute

Every pitch needs an impact statement. The impact statement calls the audience to attention by piquing the listener’s curiosity and interest. Your impact statement succinctly states the problem or opportunity that your business addresses. Open your pitch with a 15-20-second impact statement.

Great impact statements help listeners understand the magnitude of the opportunity, the rationale for the business, the difficulty of achieving the outcome, and a summary of the economics. Helping the listener relate to the opportunity or problem engages their thought and enables the listener in the business idea. Finally, the impact statement summarizes the consequences of both success and failure.

Once your impact statement has called the audience to attention, the next 40-45 seconds should be used to illustrate your passion for the business and help the audience understand the product or service you are offering.  Help the audience understand why you are personally invested in the business idea. Speak to your personal credibility and skill sets that are critical to delivering the business concept. Convince the listener of your toughness, tenacity to see things through, your passion for the idea, the time and effort you have invested to date, and remember, you are selling yourself and your idea.

The Product or Service: 1-minute

The 4 P’s of marketing, or the marketing mix, are fundamental elements businesses use to develop and implement effective marketing strategies. These four components are product, price, place, and promotion.

• Product refers to the tangible or intangible offering that a company provides to meet the needs and wants of its target market. It encompasses features, design, quality, and branding.
• Price involves determining the correct cost for the product that reflects its value and meets customer expectations while ensuring profitability for the business.
• Place focuses on the distribution channels and locations where the product is made available to customers. This includes decisions related to logistics, inventory management, and the overall supply chain.
• Promotion involves communication strategies to create awareness, generate interest, and persuade customers to buy the product. It includes advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion.

In a five-minute pitch, you will need to cull down the information to the most important four P elements.  A way forward in this regard is to succinctly state your 4 P’s by telling the judges the following:

• ..What you are selling.
• ..Who you are selling it to.
• ..What you are saying about your product or service.
• ..What you are charging for your product or service.

 

Helping the audience understand product, price, place, and promotion engages their interest. Clayton M. Christiansen, in his book Competing Against Luck, makes the case that customers “hire” products and services to do a particular job. For example, you hire a lawn service to maintain your lawn and save time. In presenting your business idea, define the job it does for the customer. In doing so, explain why your business uniquely does the job. i.e., faster, cheaper.

Present the challenges you face to bring the product or service to market. What intellectual property do you own? Are there specific skills required? What time and money requirements exist? At a high level, what steps are necessary? Who are the competitors? Create an insider view for the audience.

Economics: 1.5-minutes

Economics plays a pivotal role in the success and sustainability of startups. In the early stages, startups often face resource constraints and must carefully manage their finances. Understanding basic economic principles is crucial for making informed pricing, production, and resource allocation decisions. Startups must assess market demand and set competitive prices to attract customers while ensuring profitability. Additionally, economic factors such as inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates can impact the overall business environment, influencing budgeting and financial planning decisions. Efficient use of resources, strategic cost management, and a keen awareness of market dynamics are essential for startups aiming to navigate the complexities of the economic landscape and establish a solid foundation for long-term growth. Moreover, fostering a strong understanding of supply and demand dynamics helps startups adapt to changing market conditions and enhance their resilience to economic uncertainties.

Forecasting for startups is critical to strategic planning, enabling them to anticipate future trends, allocate resources wisely, and make informed decisions. Here are crucial elements to consider when forecasting your business:

• Market Research: Thoroughly research the target market to understand customer needs, industry trends, and potential competitors. This data forms the foundation for forecasting sales and demand for your product or service.
• Financial Projections: Develop detailed financial projections, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. These projections should cover at least the next three to five years and consider various scenarios, including conservative, moderate, and optimistic estimates.
• Expense Management: Identify and categorize all potential expenses, including fixed and variable costs. Prioritize essential expenditures and consider how they may evolve as the business scales.
• Revenue Streams: Clearly outline your revenue streams, pricing strategies, and sales channels. Consider how these may change as the startup gains traction and introduces new products or services.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Define and track relevant KPIs to measure the startup’s performance. This may include customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, conversion rates, and other metrics specific to your industry.
• Macro-Economic Factors: Consider external economic factors that may impact your startup, such as inflation rates, interest rates, and overall economic trends. Be prepared to adjust your forecasts based on changes in the economic environment.
• Regulatory Environment: Stay informed about any regulatory changes affecting your industry. Changes in laws or policies may impact your operations, compliance costs, and market access.
• Technological Advances: Anticipate technological advancements that could impact your industry. Embrace innovation and be prepared to adapt your business model to leverage new technologies or respond to shifts in consumer behavior.
• Risk Analysis: Identify and assess potential risks to your startup, both internal and external. Develop contingency plans for addressing unforeseen challenges and consider building a risk mitigation strategy into your forecasts.
• Scenario Planning: Create different scenarios to account for various potential outcomes. This can help you prepare for multiple situations, from rapid growth to economic downturns, and ensure your startup remains flexible and resilient.

Continuous monitoring and adjustment are crucial in the dynamic startup environment. Regularly revisit your forecasts, compare them with actual performance, and adjust your strategies accordingly. Flexibility and adaptability are critical attributes for startups navigating the uncertainties of the business landscape.

Economics is challenging in a five-minute pitch and while you might not be able to address each element of the economics in your allotted time, you can build the pitch economics to encourage questions that provide you additional time to introduce economic data.  The core elements of the economics must illustrate the addressable market, the forecasted revenue and profit growth, and the cash flow expectations for the business.  Allowing the audience time to consider these and ask questions about other economic points is a smart strategy for a five-minute pitch.  In the working example provided here, the pitch includes a closing statement that invites questions on key macro-economic change, regulatory change, and KPI’s.

Closing the Pitch: 1.5-minutes

Closing a pitch effectively is crucial to leave a lasting impression and secure support, funding, or partnership. Here’s a structured approach to completing a pitch:

• Recap the Key Points: Summarize the main points of your pitch. Highlight the problem you’re solving, your unique solution, and its benefits.
• Reiterate Value Proposition: Clearly articulate your value proposition. Remind your audience of the unique selling points that set your product, service, or idea apart from others in the market.
• Address Potential Concerns: Proactively address any concerns or objections that may have arisen during your pitch. This demonstrates your awareness and preparedness to handle challenges.
• Call to Action: Clearly state the action you want your audience to take. Make it explicit and compelling, whether it’s an investment, partnership, collaboration, or support.
• Highlight Milestones: Share any significant milestones achieved by your startup. This could include successful pilot programs, key partnerships, or impressive user metrics. This helps build confidence in your ability to execute.
• Offer Next Steps: Provide a roadmap for what happens next. Outline the steps you propose after the pitch, such as follow-up meetings, due diligence, or further discussions.
• Create a Sense of Urgency: Create a sense of urgency if appropriate. Communicate why acting now is crucial and how the delay might impact both parties’ opportunities.
• Thank Your Audience: Express gratitude for the opportunity to present and for the time and attention of your audience. Acknowledge the importance of their role in your startup’s success.
• Reinforce Your Passion: Re-emphasize your passion and commitment to the venture. Let your enthusiasm shine through, as genuine passion can be contagious and leave a lasting impression.
• Open the Floor for Questions: Invite questions from your audience. Be prepared to handle queries with confidence and transparency. This interactive approach allows you to address any lingering doubts.
• Leave Behind Materials: Provide additional materials or documentation that support your pitch. This could include a detailed business plan, testimonials, or relevant visuals reinforcing your key messages.
• Follow-Up: Mention your intention to follow up promptly with additional information or to address any further questions. This shows your commitment to ongoing communication and collaboration.

Remember to tailor your closing to the specific context of your pitch and audience. Personalizing your approach demonstrates attentiveness and increases the likelihood of a positive response.