How to Incorporate Sales Traction When You Don't Have One (Yet)?
Does it work?
When it comes to pitching a business idea or product, having sales traction is often seen as the most important aspect. However, what happens when you are pitching a new product or idea and don't have any sales traction yet? How can you effectively pitch without relying on actual sales numbers? Most importantly, can it be done? Based on the number of startups getting funded at pre-seed stage and some closing 8-figure investments make me ponder and threw me back to the drawing board to figuring out how to do it.
Highlighting the Problem
In persuasion, highlighting the problem is the first step because it shows how much research you have done in finding out the pain points your target audience is experiencing. Even without sales traction, you can still make a compelling pitch by focusing on the problem you're solving. How well the problem is conveyed is through research that can be subtly included during story telling of the problem or through certain stats. So now the question is, how to make your problem statement compelling?
Resonance
Everybody talks about resonating with your audience or connecting with your audience. What does this even mean? When incorporated into a problem statement, it reflects the target audience’s reality or the pain points in your audience’s shoes. It can’t be an “Oh yeah, that happens.” moment, it has to be “Oh My God! Yes! I go through that every day!” moment. This is the degree that I would aim for in a problem statement because I want my target audience to be getting angry about it and feel that I am speaking their truth. This is what resonance done right can be like and it should be what a problem statement should strive for.
Use Real World Examples
Real world examples help snap listeners to a reference point as they could quickly understand the reference and even convey the severity of the issue at hand. You see this being commonly used in news headlines recently as they compare unemployment level equivalent to the Great Depression or Housing Bubble in China comparative to the 2008 housing market crash. All these are great examples of a problem statement that uses strong resonating real world examples to convey the severity that you can employ in your pitch.
Keep It Clear & Simple
Finally, when writing a compelling problem statement, it's important to keep it simple and clear. Avoid using jargon, technical terms, or complex language that may confuse your audience. Instead, use simple, straightforward language that is easy to understand. Keep your statement short and to the point, and focus on the most important aspects of the problem.
Typically, I favour the tactics above to highlight the problem in order to convey traction when there isn’t one. Stay tuned to our substack as we continue to explore ways to better a pitch deck and convey traction even if you don’t have one.