The sales pitch: after discovery, never before.

The simplest rule and the least followed: no pitch until the stakes have a number and the pain has a name. A pitch at minute five answers a question the prospect didn’t ask. A pitch at minute twenty-five answers what they just said.

The sign you pitched too early: the prospect asks for the price right after.

A discovery pitch fits in a minute. Any longer and it’s a demo.

• The problem, in their words: “You told me you lost a client in September and the pipeline isn’t replacing them.”
• What you propose, in one sentence: “We set up a flow of qualified meetings, ten a month, on your target.”
• The proof: “For a landscaping firm your size in Lyon, that meant three clients signed in four months.”
• The difference and the step: “We don’t sell lists, we qualify before the meeting. If that resonates, let’s look at the numbers with your partner on Thursday.”

• The catalog pitch: every feature, in the order they appear on the website. The prospect remembers none of them.
• The pitch without their words: you describe your product instead of describing their problem.
• The pitch without proof: “we’re the best” isn’t proof. A number, a comparable client, is.
• The pitch without a step: it ends, and silence settles in. Every pitch closes with a proposed next step, with a date.

A demo shows how it works. A pitch says why it matters to them. The demo comes after the pitch, often on a second call, with the decision-maker. Demoing during discovery burns the argument before the person who signs is in the room.