How to pitch AIESEC like a pro?
If you want to master the art of pitching, you've come to the right place.
Last updated
If you want to master the art of pitching, you've come to the right place.
Last updated
I'm sure you already Googled and found many articles on how to pitch, what to do, what not to do during a sales meeting, however nothing will ever prepare you enough for what is going to come up during the meeting; every company or organization you're gonna pitch to is different, every single one of them will have different questions, doubts and objections. So with this encouraging thought in mind, let's begin.
No matter which the questions, doubts and objections there will arise, to go through any sales meeting or networking conversation successfully, you should prepare yourself by making sure that these 3 things are ready:
You are in the mental capacity to engage into a conversation (you can try the exercise from above)
Hardcore knowledge of AIESEC & our products
Understanding the business of your potential customer
Once you have these things sorted, to prepare your sales meeting or networking event pitch, make sure you:
IDENTIFY YOUR GOAL. Are you going to get a business card and later going to set a meeting or are you gonna make sale on the spot?
CAN DESCRIBE IN YOUR WORDS THE CUSTOMER’S BUSINESS. Ask a lot of questions while talking to them or have previously read about the company’s reports, vision, mission, values, strategy etc.
HAVE AN IDEA ON HOW OUR PRODUCT SOLVES THEIR "PROBLEM". Use clear statements and statistics and communicate what makes our organization, or your idea a unique solution for them
CONNECT THE DOTS. What are the exact features of the product/solution? How will the potential partner connect with the issue they have and how will our product will solve it? If they say yes: what’s next? How will you be taking it forward?
#1: Is All About Your Attitude If you are excited and confident about it, they will be as well!
#2: Reinforce Your Message Bring with you flyers, PPTs (just have one sent to you in your email, so you have it no matter the situation), branded items (pens, notebooks etc.) to leave behind.
#3: Customize Not all businesses care about the same thing, so make sure to adapt your message accordingly.
Tailoring the message to private sector, public sector and third (NGO) sector
We recommend to start the conversation by asking if they have heard or know anything about AIESEC before and in case they have ask what do they know about us. Next you will find a bullet point like guide to everything you need to know to pitch AIESEC.
We have been operating since 1948 and we've collaborating with global private, public and third sector organizations (currently with over 1,000 organizations worldwide). Try giving them a brief on the history of the organization, as it will both peak their interest about AIESEC and will give them a deeper understanding about our exchange products.
The main two reasons why we believe companies or organizations would collaborate with us are:
contributing to the youth leadership development;
access to our global leaders (that means you as well).
Think on how you can communicate our unique value proposition incorporating the items mentioned above.
We are one of the world’s largest youth run organization with over 40000 Volunteers placed in 120 countries and territories with offices in over 1000 universities. We are an organization with clearly defined values and principles; you share what they are through a personal story (which I'm sure you have), and don't forget to point out that we are an global, independent, non-political, non-for-profit, and youth-run organisation.
I'm sure that you know by now what AIESEC is and what we do, but to refresh your memory and to put it into an easy and clear statement:
We empower one of the biggest youth mobility programs with over 40000 young people mobilized from all over the world that help more than 43000 young people yearly to live practical exchange experiences in challenging environments.
You should connect this information either with concrete call to action like: “you can acquire global talent through us” or “we can help you to build your global brand through employer branding activities (both physical and digital)”. Of course you can and should come up with call to actions that suit your situation and potential partner.
Or you can refresh your memory for the longer version of the AIESEC Way by accessing the article from below.
Return of investment by ensuring and increasing retention rates of employment after the GT
Access to native speakers of languages that are harder to hire in your local market
Access to international talent with (potential) skills in: IT, management, finance, teaching etc.
University campus access to our local entities and members
AIESEC’s commitment together with UN HQs: AIESEC was the first NGO to commit on United Nations SDG initiative, and we signed the collaboration contract in headquarters in NY back in 2015
GV alignment to SDGs: Over 40000 people yearly are (well, were, before the pandemic hit) mobilized across the globe through GV contributing to SDGs
Youth4GlobalGoals: the AIESEC initiative to activate youth towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
GV Stats: Every year we run over 6500 social projects across the world, mobilizing more than 40k young people last year alone. In the past five years over 170k people volunteered abroad with us
Global Partners: Plan International, UNIDO, World Merit, Chen Yidan Foundation (please google them before you mention them to our partners, so you have a general idea what they do) among other like-minded organizations collaborate globally with us
Please fact check the numbers you're going to present! This article was last updated in May 2020, so if considerable time has passed from that, check the current statistics.
Trust and buy in from your partner won’t come from the quantity of information you provide, but actually from how capable you will be to create a dialogue and engage them into a conversation where they can envision themselves winning from being part of the partnership.
Using Simon Sinek’s "Golden Circle: Why, How and What" will guide you to better explain and organise your pitch, don’t forget to add the “who” component from the AIESEC Way.
Data is power, and in this context, data will add the power of validating and confirming our results, our reach and the huge power of our network. Pitching to organizations the number of experiences we deliver globally and our access to more than 1000 universities are stats that will never stop astonishing partners of the big potential and capacity we have as a network.
There’s no better way to earn trust from potential new partners than getting a sense of security that your current (or past) partners have had a good experience. Make sure you always have prepared 1 to 3 examples of successful projects delivered with other companies or organizations.
One of the reasons why organisations choose to partner with us is precisely because we bring the youth component. Find a way to balance “formality” without losing the young spirit of the organization and the young spirit in you, you are the product of what you are pitching! Be honest & have fun with it!
Even though is very important to have key points to highlight and a clear flow to communicate properly the messages you want to deliver, allow the conversation to flow where it emerges and be flexible enough to build upon it to achieve your goal.
Less is more, don’t try to explain the TM processes, Finance Standards, Roadmap, The BlueBook , the OD Model etc. to a partner. Internal information isn’t relevant and can generate more confusion.
Being an NGO or being a youth run organization doesn’t makes us less than the other organization we are sitting with; having a partnership implies we are both equal and we are both adding something unique to each other. Therefore no matter these differences, don’t under-price or underestimate during your speech the achievements and stats the organization can bring to the table.
Acronyms are super useful inside the organization, however for externals are hard to comprehend.
We can get quite passionate and inspired about what we do as an organization, but still don’t forget that to keep it highly professional. You should be capable to translate our passion and mainly our impact into business language.
