Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win Paperback – September 27, 2023

Loved it!

I thought it was a really nice follow up to Obviously Awesome w/ really useful practical guides. The end “Sales Pitch” product April describes reminded me a lot of how we did it at Moat, and I believe that thoughtful repetition of deck, demo w/ narrative is what got our product situation to $100m in ARR and an $850m exit. Up until I read her work, I hadn’t seen that process put to paper in such an accessible way. I’m super excited to see this available to other founders who are building a Sales Pitch that way, or have built the Sales Pitch and want to see how to get sales to use it. But really anyone in GTM would benefit from this read.Tl;DR, I think April uncovered a real gap that exists in the GTM teams of many b2b saas companies. The gap where great positioning/messaging gets thrown out the window when sales decides to take the pitch their own way. I think mostly because they don’t feel confident in the quality of that pitch + story, so this is a great framework to build QUALITY and close that gap.Highly recommend!

(This is literally my first review ever, and my first Amazon order was in 2005. That's how highly I think of April and this book.)I am one who believes in spending extra effort on the foundational high-leverage elements of business. I also value strong frameworks as a way to develop these elements. If you do too, then you cannot skip this book (or April's other book on positioning).You will find many sales books on assorted topics, but I think even some of the best advice will fall flat if you don't nail the elements April talks about. Though the focus of the book is the sales pitch, the framework April takes you through will be highly valuable in other areas of your business too.I've been looking for ideas for a pitch structure for a while but nothing has really grabbed me. Finally, April has presented a structure that makes a lot of sense. It "makes sense" because if you know anything about psychology, April's approach is one that is aligned with how were are all wired to think. This is not about gimmicky manipulative tricks. It's about presenting information in a way that people can process it.You may find assorted "tips" on sales pitches elsewhere, and some of them may be good even, but without a framework for how to apply them they are of limited value. April's work especially shines because she is adept at creating great frameworks that anyone willing to do the work can follow and get incredible value from. Even better, these frameworks are battle tested through years of experience.If you want to truly level up, buy this book and follow April's work. Then apply it.

Once we saw her workshop pricing, we had to know more. And, wow, are we glad we did! Her books are well worth the read. April tells interesting & entertaining stories to walk you through her proven formula. In revamping our sales material, we've been touching the edges of these concepts. Now we feel that we have a detailed formula to improve our win rate and begin to pitch larger customers. After reading the digital version, I am buying paper copies for our sales team. We are excited to being this journey! When it comes to forecasting, I am conservative, but our instinct is that the ROI on this reading material will easily be in the six digits. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom!!!

A useful short book on moving from a marketing perspective to crafting a good sales pitch. If you have followed a structured Gotomarket strategy and plan, this book works really well with that work. If you have not figured out your positioning and differentiation this book teaches you why your sales will be difficult. A very useful tool for the thoughtful revenue generation team.

I do not precisely align with the typical B2B target audience of April, primarily due to my profession as a dog groomer, operating as a solo entity. Despite this, I have discovered that her methodologies are equally effective for smaller-scale businesses.April’s inaugural publication served as a revelation, elucidating new prospects in positioning and scaling. This insight has empowered me to highlight the value of my specialized services in grooming doodles, currently priced at $200/hr, and demonstrate a clear return on investment to my clientele by the tips I receive on the top of the grooming bill.This specialization has resulted in universal satisfaction amongst all parties involved—owner, dog, and groomer. The value is unmistakable, with clients consistently seeking my services, filling my schedule weeks in advance, driven solely by word of mouth and the content on my website, negating the necessity for additional marketing strategies.By refining my focus, I have managed to tap into a niche segment of the market experiencing exponential growth, thereby establishing a mutually beneficial arrangement for both my clients and my enterprise."Sales Pitch" is poised to enhance my existing operational blueprint, allowing me to share this refined approach with fellow groomers. This will enable them to showcase their expertise to potential clients, ultimately catalyzing the initiation and expansion of their ventures.The comprehensive guidelines delineated in April’s book instill a sense of confidence, assuring me of the simplicity in executing the necessary steps to either meet or surpass my anticipated revenue objectives.I highly recommend April’s books.