This is a tricky topic because you cannot sell something without having the perfect pitch. The problem with the pitch is not whether you will do it or not, it’s a question only of when you will use it.
The best way to do this is by taking it slow and letting the customer get to know you and your product or company first before launching a pitch.
How to do this?
This is where newsletters and social marketing come into play. Once you get people to join your newsletters and email lists you have to set up a schedule of mails they will receive from you.
Those emails should start off letting them know about you and the company. Build a relationship with your subscribers and send out emails and newsletters that have nothing in them about selling them anything.
After a few emails, you are building trust with your subscribers and you have a potential lead. Now, the time is right to lay out the pitch. Up until then, you are marketing and doing it semi-aggressively without seeming to do it at all.
Once it is time to pitch, it should be a no-holds-barred pitch; remember you are talking to someone who is listening to their friend and not a salesman. The key to avoid being pitchy, however, is to focus on benefits to the customer, not just features of the product.
Keep your pitch centered on how the product makes the prospect’s life easier or how it makes the prospect feel better. Identify the problem your product solves and build your pitch around the solution your product provides.
The difference there is immeasurable as people are more prone to listen to and trust their friends as opposed to a stranger trying to sell them something.
Coming on too strong will most likely drive your potential customer in the other direction, so slow and easy is key in getting the pitch across.