4 Steps to Pitching Yourself

Do you find it hard to present yourself in short? If so, I really understand you. As humans, we are complex but sometimes that is in the way for what we want to say. In this post, I want to share with you one of the best pitching methods I have ever come across. It is called the NABC method and it was developed at the Stanford Research Institute. I learned it at Uppsala Innovation Centre, which is one of the leading business incubators in the world. I want to go through the cornerstones of it, but let’s look at an example. This is a pitch for selling social media marketing to companies:

“Do you also want to use Facebook to sell more of your products?

I want to run your Facebook account for a month. I will plan and post relevant posts to your audience that will increase your sales.

In my last gig, I helped a company raise their revenue from Facebook sales by 13 % in one-quarter.

Yes, there are companies out there doing similar things. But with me, you will pay a monthly subscription so you won’t have to pay up front. Also, if I don’t increase your sales from Facebook with 5 % in a quarter, you will get your money back.”


In this post, I want to go through the cornerstones of a good pitch. This is something you can use to make a good introduction to yourself in an email, on LinkedIn or at a networking event.

Need

The core of being able to pitch something in the first place is the need that the organization or person has. If the person won’t agree with this part, then they won’t be interested in what you have to offer.

In the above example, I asked the question if they wanted to increase sales from Facebook. Increasing sales is a need for any business and lot of companies are still trying to figure out how to connect with their audience on social media. There is a good chance that our prospective employer/client will be interested in increasing their sales.

Approach

In regards to the approach, I wrote that “I want to run your Facebook account for a month. I will plan and post relevant posts to your audience that will increase your sales”. In this part, you need to be super specific with what exactly you do. Reduce all that complexity about what you really do. Tell the story about your approach in as few words as possible.

helicopter view of skyscrapers
Benefit

What does it mean to hire you? What can you promise?

In the above example, I wrote: “In my last gig, I helped a company raise their revenue from Facebook by 13 % in a quarter”. The benefit is super clear. We will increase revenue and we even give an estimation on how much. Try to turn your benefit into a quantifiable outcome. Something you can measure.

Competition

Lastly, address the competition. We all know there will be other job hunters. Why are you different from them and how?

In the above example, we wrote:

“Yes, there are companies out there doing similar things. But with me, you will pay a monthly subscription so you won’t have to pay up front. Also, if I don’t increase your sales from Facebook with 5 % in a quarter, you will get your money back.”

a helicopter view picture of someone running and a video team filming her

So basically, we have the monthly subscription and you have the money back guarantee. This makes us believe that this person has confidence in their work. This can be anything you like that you think will set you apart from the competition like:

– Languages you know

– Skills or experience you have

– Your approach to work

Adjust for Time

This process, the NABC process can be used to present something for 30 seconds, 10 minutes or even a full day. If I would prepare a ten-minute presentation of the above quote, I would go deeper into every cornerstone of the process. But, I would probably spend most my time on the need and the benefit.

a picture of a pocket watch

So you can think about how much time and attention you are likely to have right now. If you have never met the person and you meet at a networking event, 30 seconds is enough.

 

You can even just cut the pitch off right in the beginning. For instance, in an email you can write:

Do you also want to use Facebook to sell more of your products?

The obvious answer is yes! Everyone knows.  I would be curious to know, how? So I might respond a short yes. This method is great. It creates a curiosity in the recipient, they only have to answer really short and we only get responses from people that have the same need.

Have fun with it, play around and experiment. Rewrite and test.

Feel free to comment on this post below with your NABC-pitch or send it to my email! I would love to hear your pitch.

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