A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pi…
Brought to you by Composer—the AI-powered trading platform | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business — April Dunford is a speaker, mentor, podcaster, best-selling author, and beloved returning guest to the show. Last year, she joined me on the pod to discuss product positioning and differentiated value. Today, April offers invaluable insights from her latest book, Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win. We go deep on the art of effective pitching and selling, and April shares the specific framework she’s used to successfully pitch products at companies like Google, IBM, Postman, and Epic Games. Together we discuss: Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Overcast, and YouTube. Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT. Where to find April Dunford: • Website: https://www.aprildunford.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprildunford/ • Newsletter: https://aprildunford.substack.com/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) April’s background (03:46) Fixing poor positioning with storytelling at Help Scout (12:22) Pitch components: setup and differentiated value (14:13) Wrapping up the sales pitch (15:56) Handling objections effectively (19:13) Understanding buyer’s mindset and market perception (25:46) Avoiding FOMO as a sales strategy (29:28) Lenny’s stressful experience buying community forum software for Airbnb (31:04) Empowering champions within client businesses (34:36) Who this framework is useful for (36:38) Advice on working cross-functionally (38:59) Differentiated value defined with examples (44:16) Selling with calm confidence (46:19) Qualifying leads (48:31) April’s thoughts on category creation (53:05) Geoffrey Moore’s “bowling pin strategy” (55:21) Conclusion of the setup phase: sharing the perfect world (57:11) The follow-through: differentiated value with proof and objection refutation (1:00:21) Why sales pitches fail (1:01:30) Best practices for pitch testing (1:05:32) General timeline for positioning and pitch creation (1:06:50) Marketing’s role in the process (1:08:38) The impact of developing a killer sales pitch (1:10:39) Andy Raskin’s positioning framework (1:15:50) Lightning round Referenced: • April Dunford on product positioning, segmentation, and optimizing your sales process: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/april-dunford-on-product-positioning-segmentation-and-optimizing-your-sales-process/ • A Quickstart Guide to Positioning: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/positioning • Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning So Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It: https://www.amazon.com/Obviously-Awesome-Product-Positioning-Customers/dp/1999023005 • Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win: https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Pitch-Craft-Story-Stand-ebook/dp/B0CHY6BNDN • Help Scout: https://www.helpscout.com/ • Mastering Jobs Theory with Bob Moesta: https://www.positioning.show/mastering-jobs-theory-with-bob-moesta/ • The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta-co-creator-of-the-framework/ • Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/ • Salesforce Completes Acquisition of Sales-Enablement Company LevelJump: https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/leveljump-and-salesforce/ • How to become a category pirate | Christopher Lochhead (author of Play Bigger, Niche Down, Category Pirates, more): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-become-a-category-pirate-christopher-lochhead-author-of-play-bigger-niche-down-category/ • Siebel: https://docs.oracle.com/en/applications/siebel/index.html • Qualtrics: https://www.qualtrics.com/ • Bowling Pin in Product Development: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bowling-pin-product-development-ashok-das/ • Inside the Tornado: Strategies for Developing, Leveraging, and Surviving Hypergrowth Markets: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Tornado-Strategies-Developing-Hypergrowth/dp/B000AAN4VM • The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-power-of-strategic-narrative-andy-raskin/ • La Product Conf: https://www.laproductconf.com/ • Thiga: https://www.thiga.co/ • The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision: https://www.amazon.com/JOLT-Effect-Performers-Overcome-Indecision/dp/0593538102 • The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation: https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Sale-Control-Customer-Conversation/dp/1591844355 • The Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results: https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Customer-Selling-Influencer-Multiply/dp/1591848156 • Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind: https://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Mind-Anniversary/dp/0071359168 • Parasite on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Parasite-English-Subtitled-Kang-Song/dp/B07YM14FRG • Snowpiercer on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70270364 • Lamy AL-star fountain pen: https://www.amazon.com/Lamy-Al-Star-Fountain-Graphite-L26F/dp/B000R309UQ • Muji gel pens: https://www.amazon.com/Muji-Point-Black-0-38mm-Japan/dp/B01N8QNC59 Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. You're currently a free subscriber to Lenny's Newsletter. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Older messages
Scaling Duolingo, embracing failure, and insight into Latin America’s tech scene | Gina Gotthilf (Latitud, Duoling…
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Listen now (97 mins) | Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian's new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Hex— Helping teams ask and answer data questions by
Building beautiful products with Stripe’s Head of Design | Katie Dill (Stripe, Airbnb, Lyft)
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Listen now (94 mins) | Brought to you by Sidebar—Catalyze your career with a Personal Board of Directors | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian's new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for
How to build a killer sales pitch
Thursday, October 19, 2023
And why your real competition is “no decision”
Inside Linear: Building with taste, craft, and focus | Karri Saarinen (co-founder, designer, CEO)
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Listen now (100 mins) | Brought to you by Mercury—the powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank | Composer—the AI-powered trading platform | Pendo—The all-in-one platform for product-
Brian Balfour: 10 lessons on career, growth, and life
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Listen now (102 mins) | Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian's new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Wix Studio—The web
You Might Also Like
🚀 Globalstar to the Nasdaq
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Plus $RKLB CEO becomes a billionaire, DIRECTV $SATS debt deal called off, TEC's $160M Series B, and more! The latest space investing news and updates. View this email in your browser The Space
Theory Two
Friday, November 22, 2024
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. Theory Two Today, we're announcing our second fund of $450
🗞 What's New: AI creators may be coming to TikTok
Friday, November 22, 2024
Also: Microsoft's AI updates are helpful for founders ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
behind the scenes of the 2024 digital health 50
Friday, November 22, 2024
the expert behind the list is unpacking this year's winners. don't miss it. Hi there, Get an inside look at the world's most promising private digital health companies. Join the analyst
How to get set up on Bluesky
Friday, November 22, 2024
Plus, Instagram personal profiles are now in Buffer! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
10words: Top picks from this week
Friday, November 22, 2024
Today's projects: Remote Nursing Jobs • CopyPartner • Fable Fiesta • IndexCheckr • itsmy.page • Yumestudios • Limecube • WolfSnap • Randomtimer • Fabrik • Upp • iAmAgile 10words Discover new apps
Issue #131: Building $1K-$10K MRR Micro SaaS Products around AI Search Optimisation, Fine-Tuning Image Models, AI-…
Friday, November 22, 2024
Build Profitable SaaS products!! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
(Free) Trial & Error— The Bootstrapped Founder 357
Friday, November 22, 2024
Today, I'll dive into the difference between a trial user and a trial abuser and what you can do to invite the former and prevent the latter. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
💎 Specially for you - will never be repeated again!
Friday, November 22, 2024
The biggest Black Friday sale in Foundr history...but it won't last forever! Black Friday_Header_2 Hey Friend , We knew our Black Friday deal was amazing—but wow, the response has been so unreal
Northvolt files for bankruptcy
Friday, November 22, 2024
Plus: Slush 2024 takeaways; Europe's newest unicorn View in browser Sponsor Card - Up Round-31 Good morning there, European climate tech poster child Northvolt is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy