Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Perfecting Your Pitch with Precious L. Williams

Transcript

Perfecting Your Pitch with Precious L. Williams · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

• 0:00
  3, 2, 1, 0, ignition.
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  Lift off.
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the small biz chat podcast with the number 1 small business expert, Melinda
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  Emerson.
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  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
• 0:23
  you need succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the small Biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Have you subscribed to the small bizchett podcast?
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  Well, it's time every Wednesday we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start
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  and grow a successful small business.
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  And just 20 minutes or so a week you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel your
• 0:52
  business forward.
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  Be sure to subscribe to the small beachhead podcast today.
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  Hey, everybody.
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  Welcome back to the small fish chat podcast.
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  I am so excited to introduce my guest, Ms.
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  Precious Williams.
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  Her nickname is the killer pitch master.
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  She is a 13 time national elevator pitch champion.
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  Besides helping women entrepreneurs and business leader, she's also a top corporate
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  sales trainer, helping sales teams to create killer communication skills craft messages and
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  understand how to pitch and build sales programs.
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  Precious is an international keynote speaker and trainer for global brands including BMW,
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  Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft Harvard University, Columbia, quickbooks, yep, and many more.
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  Her website is perfect pitchgroup.com.
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  So, miss Precious, thank you so much for coming on the small fish tab podcast.
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  I'm excited to be here.
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  Let's go.
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  Alright.
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  Well, you got you know, you gotta tell me, how did you get to become the killer pitch master.
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  I wanna hear the story.
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  So how did I become the killer pitch master?
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  Let me be clear.
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  My back was against the wall.
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  I was an attorney in the great state of New York where I still am, and I had this dream of
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  starting a lingerie company for full figure deep, but it was in plus size by Shanistas.
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  I was £327, dating a very famous Hollywood actor.
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  That didn't even make no sense on paper, let alone in real life, and I knew I couldn't find
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  intimate apparel in my size.
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  And so I had this thought Pervygirl's long array as my family and friends, you know,
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  because that's what they say.
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  Everybody's got family and friends who can when you're from the inner city of St.
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  Louis, Missouri and you're the only one who made it out, that wasn't that wasn't the case.
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  And for those who for those who love me you know, being an attorney, they were like, be
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  safe.
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  I said I didn't come to New York to be safe.
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  I came to make it big.
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  So when nobody would invest in my company.
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  I went all in on curvy girls.
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  Went to an event I couldn't afford in New York City and found myself pitching the producers of
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  MSNBCs, your business with JJ Rams, walked up to them and made a pitch up on the spot, and
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  they loved it.
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  The next thing I knew, I was fishing on your business with JJ Greenberg on February 9 2012
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  right before Valentine's Day.
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  Walked away with $500,000 54 seconds.
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  So my first pitch got me on the show, my second pitch, took me to the next level.
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  And eventually, they told me you should enter pitch competitions.
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  Work?
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  And so I don't 14 tries.
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  I'm a thirteen time national champion.
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  Yes.
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  I'm still black on both sides.
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  No Brazilian butt lift.
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  No 6 back abs.
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  I don't look like Hollywood.
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  And, yes, I beat them at their own game.
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  And that's how I became the killer pitch.
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  My sleigh all competitions.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  Alright.
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  So let's so let's get down to the nitty gritty.
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  What are the elements of a great pitch?
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  The elements of
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  a great pitch, once you get past your name, name of your company, who you are, who you
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  serve, you know, you know, I don't know why I can't think of the last thing, but at this
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  point, We all know what a basic pitch should have, but if you wanna take it into killer
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  pitch mode, the first thing I do with my clients to say is tell them Whatever the
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  challenger problem your target market is having, use their language for how they
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  describe it, not your own.
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  Because sometimes you'll be all over the place, and they're like, I just need this.
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  And when you say it in their language and then follow-up with you have the solution.
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  You back it up with, you know, I don't know, facts figures and statistics.
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  You can bring, a testimony or something like that.
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  The second thing you need to do is start off with a question.
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  Start off with something that interrupts the pattern of boring.
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  So if you're in front of someone and you have you can give it your elevator pitch, tough
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  little questions.
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  Strong statistic or a quote.
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  What you're doing is training them not to listen to what everybody else is saying.
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  You're the difference maker.
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  So once you do that, you also wanna play it all the way through.
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  So as Jeffrey was saying, you definitely wanna have a great story, and everybody's story is
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  not the same.
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  You want to you want to set a scene in the audience's mind of where you want them to go
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  and lead them there.
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  And when you finally have them on the edge of their seats, tell them what to do next.
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  So what is that call to action?
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  And be very specific about that call to action.
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  Whether it's on your website, because you know what's on your website is is a pitch, what's on
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  social media is a pitch.
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  So take them all the way through, but be very clear about what you want them to do.
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  What is your what is your ads?
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  Are you seeking investments?
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  Are you seeking to be featured in media?
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  Are you seeking whatever in particular you're seeking, make sure that that's clear too.
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  And so that's how you truly slay all competition because if you just do the basics,
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  you'll be average, random, ordinary, and sound like everybody else.
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  That's why content is serious, but also marrying that with SEO and and really taking
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  this into overdrive.
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  So should every pitch end with an ask?
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  Should every pitch?
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  I don't think so.
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  I don't think every pitch should end with Just like I think, I don't think every pitch should
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  sound the same.
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  Since there are 6 different types of pitching, you got your elevator, your media, your
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  investor, your sales, your speaker, and your interview pitch.
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  And since you're speaking to different audiences with those pitches, Everyone doesn't
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  get an ask.
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  So if I'm pitching to investors, I'm gonna have an ask.
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  I want them dollars and cents.
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  I want those resources.
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  If it's media, you know, you would love to be featured, but you have to make a compelling
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  case of why you're so different and you have a fresh approach.
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  If you're a speaker, how many people want you to speak for free?
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  But you know it's time to get paid because you have the type of influence that can shift the
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  atmosphere of the rooms that you're gonna be in, and that should be compensated.
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  So I don't think every pitch should have it, but you also have to understand who are you
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  pitching to, and that will dictate what you what you do.
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  So what are the biggest mistakes people make when pitching?
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  Some of the biggest mistakes that I see is that they're boring.
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  They're just going by the book.
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  My name, the name of my company, who I serve.
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  The second thing is they have not focused on their audience.
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  So as Jeffrey said, he talked about, you know, when it's all about you.
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  Number 3, bring some vitality in life to what it is.
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  And most people don't.
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  They're just like, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna dial it up.
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  The fourth thing that I see people do is you can tell they're giving up in the middle of it
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  because they don't think anybody's gonna buy them.
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  Buy from them.
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  They give up, and you'll see it in their social media posts.
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  You'll see it as aggravation or all sorts of things.
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  And believe me, people can read it in in your words.
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  They can read it in a video.
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  They can read it when people are talking about you.
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  So I want you to stand and deliver and really believe in yourself.
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  Because if I had to do it at £327, I know that it can be done, and you have to be and they're
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  they wanna fit in.
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  When you really should wanna stand out for the right reasons.
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  Pitch, please.
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  I I
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  I think that is so valuable what you just said.
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  You said that you can tell that people have given up in the middle of giving their pitch.
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  Mhmm.
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  That that is true.
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  And I never thought about it like that until you just said it, but I've definitely had
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  people themselves to me.
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  And it was like, they came up on them when as they were talking.
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  I I've experienced that.
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  So How often should you switch up your picture or update it?
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  I think it I think you're gonna be in a constant state for the rest of your life.
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  So my Shark Tank pitch is very different from what people saw in MSNBC, and that was 2012 to
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  it was on Shark Tank season 8 in 2016.
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  Those are very different pitches versus what I do now, and also my companies have changed.
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  You had curvy girls' loans array.
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  So who was the focus of Kirby Girl's lingerie?
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  I can tell you it wasn't small women who go to Victoria's Secret.
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  So who was I targeting and showing them Then you have perfect pitches by Precious.
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  You know, we teach the art and science of the killer pitch to now the perfect pitch group.
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  Where we train sales teams at Top Fortune 100 Companies, law firms, law schools, and all of
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  those things.
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  Like, over time, I've changed My audience has changed, and my way of talking to them has
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  changed.
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  And so you when I started, yes, I wanted to help women win pitch competitions.
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  And then it was getting to, institutions of higher learning, Ivy League, top HBCUs.
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  And now the Google's, the LinkedIn, the Microsoft Federal Reserve Bank, all of those,
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  and it was all able to be done because I have a track record of consistency.
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  And if I've had success in all of them, and my clients have had success and always asking for
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  testimonies so people can see.
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  I'm not talking about myself.
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  You've heard what they said.
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  Go to my LinkedIn and see those 300 testimonials, and you'll see the depth and
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  breadth of them.
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  So I don't have to speak for myself, but if you do want me to, I can.
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  But let them talk for me.
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  It's a done deal.
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  So but but let's say you your your fan club is not standing by you when you're
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  giving Okay.
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  Which would happen before?
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  Mhmm.
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  I know it's it's rare for you, though, but let's just say your hype people aren't around
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  you.
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  How can you convey value or the value that you provide in a pitch, because that's the element
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  that I think is missing a lot of times.
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  People talk about who they, you know, who they serve and the results they generate, but they
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  don't talk about the the secret sauce kinda, you know, in the pitches.
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  And I was wondering if you could talk a
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  little bit about that.
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  Well, most definitely.
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  So when I started pitching, I didn't sound like anybody else, and normally people are thrown
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  off by that because they think that there's this system and I wanted to show that there was
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  a human.
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  There's human is.
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  There's there's energy and there's funk and there's noise.
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  So you're not talking to a robot.
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  You're not talking to someone who got everything out of a book.
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  When I started pitching was 13 years ago and they told me I was too fat, too black, no Ivy
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  League degree.
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  No one's ever gonna listen to me.
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  So challenging them by also challenging my mind, I know where I belong.
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  And just because y'all can't see it, I know my target market just needs to see me.
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  So that means what's in those social media posts?
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  What is in the place that I'm going to?
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  And also, showing the behind the scenes.
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  So when people people think that speakers just get up there and that if you just have a story,
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  remember, your story has to match the audience.
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  It's not every story under the sun.
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  And if you're still in the struggle of that, you don't need to be on that stage talking to
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  that audience because they're gonna feel it.
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  So remember, the stories have to mask audience.
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  So what I do at LinkedIn is not something I would do key noting a woman's event.
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  Totally different.
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  Right?
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  And so people can see that But in the beginning, I didn't have, I didn't have a
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  cheerleading team, and I had to keep cheerleading myself and proven once and for all
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  that when your visionary as a CEO, you're constantly gonna be fighting with people until
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  they're on your team.
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  So that belief in yourself and knowing what you can do because you did it Most of us did it for
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  ourselves before we were able to showcase it to others.
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  And once we were able to do that and then get the cheerleaders, that's great, but most people
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  don't start, most people start, trying to do it for themselves.
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  They get lucky, but they also have to invest in themselves.
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  They also have to get, great coaching and training.
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  And also don't get Don't get messed up by your own mind that only wants to hear a yes.
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  I tell you some wen some queens like you have have pulled up on my big girl panties and said,
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  I know you can do better than that.
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  Since most people don't say it to me, you know, I gotta listen.
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  Like, yes, ma'am.
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  Very.
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  Listen.
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  I only say things like that to people that are coachable.
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  Please believe, and I am.
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  Because I do not waste my time or effort with people who I don't think are gonna hear what I
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  have to say.
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  So I appreciate you acknowledging me for having been just one one smidge of someone that gave
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  you some encouragement.
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  One day.
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  But I'm gonna oh, I I could just keep talking to you for so long, but I have to ask you this
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  last question.
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  What is the best business advice that you have ever been given?
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  I'll give you 2, but I know you said Fortune favors the bold.
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  And in this world, you've got to be bold, and you've got to defy, and you've got to go
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  against the grain.
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  And number 2, shoot for the moon.
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  And if you don't make it, you'll fall among the stars.
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  I love that.
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  Thank you so much, Precious.
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  You are just such a gem and I appreciate so many things about you, but you give killer
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  advice.
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  So thank you so much for being here.
• 13:53
  Hey there, side hustlers and future business moguls.
• 13:56
  Are you ready to uplevel your game?
• 13:59
  Get ready for the small biz lady university 1 day virtual startup boot camp on January 16th,
• 14:05
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• 14:07
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  friend.
• 14:13
  Join us for just $97 at smallbizladyuniversity.comforward/startup boot
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  camp.
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  Get in the fun.
• 14:21
  Let's hustle.
• 14:24
  Thanks for listening to the small
• 14:29
  biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 14:34
  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and join us next Wednesday for more
• 14:39
  fantastic information and interviews.
• 14:42
  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
• 14:46
  website succeed as your own boss.com.
• 14:50
  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.