B2B startups guide to the first customer pitch
You only need 9 slides, and one is blank.
The First Pitch
The first customer pitch is a crucial stepping stone for a startup trying to land an enterprise deal. Crafting a compelling and effective pitch requires a combination of clear communication, understanding the prospect, and showcasing the unique value your startup brings to the table. In this article, we'll delve into the key elements of a successful first customer pitch and provide a comprehensive outline of slides to help startups make a lasting impression.
(Please note, this is not for a pitch deck to a VC or investors. There are a ton of places you can find those. If you need a recommendation, send me a DM on X or LI. )
Bonus: There is a link to a power point template at the end.
In my advising role with startups, I see many customer presentations from founders. Here are some challenges I find too often.
Lots of information
Not tailored to prospect or their challenges
Confusing messages (What does your product do?)
Lack of story telling or flow
Too much time spent on unnecessary things - introduction, background, funding details, product features etc
And the biggest sin of all - no time for questions or discuss next steps.
I was recently at a founders pitch where startups were presenting. They had 3 minutes. This particular founder could not move to Slide 2 in these 3 minutes. Lost opportunity. Granted, this is a bit extreme, but I am sure you will relate.
If you are a founder, trying to sell into enterprises, you have to do the initial selling yourself. Until you reach a level of pattern match, you should not hire a sales person, let alone a VP sales. You may argue you are not trained in sales, or you are a techie. But the reality is, you are the seller in the early days.
Here are some key things to remember:
Enterprise sales can be complex especially if you have a high ACV.
You may be solving a very significant pain point, but it does not mean that the prospect is ready to embrace …..yet. They may be in the middle of other business priorities.
No enterprise deals will close in one meeting. It will take 2-5 meetings depending on the product, the industry and the stakeholders involved. More if you are going for an OEM play. Don’t go with the aim of closing quickly.
Create a mindset of building confidence that you and your company can deliver the value.
Even if they are interested, they want to reduce risk. So give that confidence that you are in it with them.
Learn as much about the prospects business context and challenges upfront.
The Audience
Your first presentation might be to actual users. For example, if you are a SAAS for sales operations, then you might be giving a demo to the sales Ops team.
You might have buyers or influencers in your first meeting. Sometimes they may be in a second meeting. Let’s say you successfully presented to the sales ops team, now the VP Sales wants to learn more.
You may be required to present to finance or legal or compliance. I once had to give a presentation to the legal department of a public company to explain data flows and who has access to sensitive information.
Your Goal
The goal of the first pitch is to get a second meeting.
Your goal is not to get to a close. That may happen in the second or third meeting. You could get lucky but don’t count on it. You should do some homework on the prospect upfront. Find out their business, their business model, what makes them successful, what are they using now. How can you get this information? If you got a warm introduction to the prospect through someone, then you can simply ask. Otherwise, you can research on the web, look at their web site, scour through social. Look at press releases. Review their 10K if they are public company. You will likely not get perfect information, but be as knowledgeable as possible.
Your first pitch is successful if
prospect believes you understand the market
they think you understand their specific pain points and context
you have demonstrated expertise
your solution could potentially work and give value
Here is the suggested sequence of slides for the first pitch.
Cover Slide
The cover slide should include
Your logo
Your company name
Brief tagline. This tagline will help people box your company e.g. aah, I see you are in the collaboration for hybrid space.
Also include some background imagery to evoke an emotional response related to your core value proposition
Briefly introduce yourself and move on to the first slide.
Slide 1 : Introduction
This slide provides a very brief introduction to your company. Keep it really short. It should not take more than a minute to deliver.
Explain why you are here e.g. We were introduced by X, or
We solve problems for company in your industry.
Most importantly, share your story about the company and why you started.
e.g I used to work in sales operations, and I felt this pain.
Or, I worked in IT where I solved this problem, I thought others might have it too, or
I spoke to 10 similar companies, and then decided to build this product.
This allows you to create a connection with the prospect that you are in the same space and that you can empathize with them. Your prospect should be saying that’s me too.
Avoid sharing details about you the founder, your history, your office locations, your product offerings, your funding. All that is for later.
Slide 2: Key Challenges
If you have done research on this prospect, then list out the three major challenges this prospect might have. If you do not have the research, then share what typical challenges are faced by this type of company.
This is the villain in the story that everyone wants gone.
Pause here.
Clarify if these are pain points they are facing. This is crucial. If these are not their pain points, the rest of the presentation is useless.
Ask them what other pain points they have.
This is a pivotal point in your presentation. If they are nodding heads, a major battle is won.
Slide 3 : Ideal Solution
Now show them the ideal solution. What would be a perfect scenario.
How about….a solution that does XYZ.
You are not talking about your product. You are just highlighting that if a perfect solution were to exist, what would it look like or what it would do.
This is the “What if …” slide.
The reason for doing this is that the customer is looking for a solution. If they agree that this is the perfect solution, then when you reveal your product, they will come to the conclusion that your product meets the perfect solution criteria. Rather than you telling the customer that your product is great, let them come to that conclusion. That has power.
Slide 4: Product introduction
Now that you have clarified the key pain point, shown the ideal solution, its time to take off the curtains.
Show 3 bullets on what your product is. Highlight the 3 key features in your product that provide the ideal solution from the previous slide. Your product may do 100s of things. No need to list everything here. Just focus on the key features that are tied to the pain points.
Slide 5 : Product Features
Now show how the product works. You can include a couple of screen shots. You can additional slide to support the key feature, but try to stick to one slide.
Showcase the big differentiating feature.
Slide 6 : Testimonials If you have case studies or testimonials, then show them. Customers want to work with products that have been used before, ideally in their own domain.
You may have a horizontal solution like collaboration, but choose quotes from customer from the same industry.
When I was at iCharts, prospects would ask me if anyone in their industry had purchased our product. I think it was health care. My reaction was this is a horizontal solution and can work with any data. But business customers don’t think like that. They want to know if you understand the nuances of their industry e.g. compliance, privacy rules, data volumes, data quality etc.
Slide 7 : Getting Started
In this slide briefly mention, how a customer can get started. How long will it take? How long until they see the first evidence of value. If there is integration, or migration involved, mention that.
You want to show that your product is ready to go with minimal effort from them.
Slide 8: Value and Benefits
This is the closing slide. Show the value proposition and the benefits customer will receive.
You will want to tailor the value proposition to the audience.
User - What value does a user get? How soon? Buyer - What value does buyer get? Budget owner? Whats the ROI? Payback?
Influencer - Why your solution is better? Why should they make this investment?
Slide 9 : Next Steps
Make an empty slide with nothing on it. You can title it Next steps.
This is the time for questions and clarifications.
Confirm, what has not been covered? Is there anything they have not seen?
Confirm if this can help them with their pain point?
Very important - before you finish, confirm the next steps?
If they want a followup, which is a good sign, ask who else should be invited and confirm a date. Yes, get a date and time that works for everyone right there. Send a followup meeting invite ASAP.
Most likely, they may want to invite other stakeholders or their bosses to the next meeting. Ask who is in point to get a mutual time. Then stay in touch with that person.
You may get the next meeting soon or maybe after a month. Do not be surprised. Enterprise sales can be a long game. Be patient. Work with their rhythm. Do not try to be pushy and force them along. That’s a sure shot way to be ghosted.
Landing the Pitch
Crafting the deck is one part. The rubber hits the road when you pitch it. No amount of slide magic is going to help if you do not deliver it effectively.
Bring some energy. Do not be monotonous.
Do not read out the slides. Summarize 1-2 sentences for each slide and just speak those.
Minimize your ‘ums’ and filler words.
Do not ramble. Max 3-4 sentences at a time.
Pause every couple of minutes. Clarify and ask questions. Let the audience speak
Rehearse each slide a couple of times.
Finish your presentation early. 20 min if the meeting is for 30 min. 40 min for an hour long meeting. Leave ample time for questions.
The template above is a general guideline. Use your judgement on the level of detail. The first pitch is always about confidence building and the outcome is a followup where you can initiate the closing process.
With practice you will get better.
Click on this link to get your Powerpoint template. PDF version is also included.
Each slide has speaker notes.
If you are interested in reviewing your customer pitch deck, please schedule a time using this link.