To create a successful sales pitch to your senior management team and the board, you should:

1.   Make sure you have a good proposal with a sound focus on the emotional drivers that matter to your audience.

2.   Focus on selling to the thought leaders on the senior management team and board before you present the proposal. This might take months of meeting informally, sending copies of appropriate articles, telling better practice stories and more to awaken interest. It is worth noting that the thought leader of the senior management team and board might not be the CEO or chairperson.

3.   Read two books, Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds and Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte, and adopt their practices.

4.   Use Guy Kawasaki’s “10/20/30 rule” for a sales pitch presentation. Have ten slides, make sure it lasts no more than 20 minutes and ensure all content is no smaller than 30 pitch.[i]

5.   Practice your delivery. The shorter the presentation, the more you need to practice. An important pitch to the board should be practiced more than 10 times.

6.   Make sure you prime the thought leader to speak first, after you deliver your presentation. Your proposal now has the best possible chance for a positive vote.

[i] www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M13SObffog

The toolkit is on sale (over 40% discount)

How to sell  the need for a forecasting tool is explored in  “An Annual Plan in Two Weeks or Less Toolkit” (Whitepaper + e-templates).

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Beyond Budgeting – an agile management model for new business and people – Bjarte Bogsne, at USI

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