I talk to a lot of IT people and startup founders. Developers who have built something genuinely impressive, smart solutions to real problems. And almost all of them have the same issue: they have no idea how to talk about what they built in a way that makes anyone care.
It's not just IT. E-commerce founders do the same thing. Anyone who is deeply close to what they've built tends to pitch from inside their own head, explaining what the product is rather than what it does for the person listening.
The result usually sounds something like this.
What spam pitches actually look like
"Hi, I can grow your sales by 500% in 30 days guaranteed."
"We are X, an AI-powered all-in-one platform with 47 features including real-time analytics, automated workflows, and seamless third-party integrations..."
Everyone has seen these. Nobody reads past the second line. The problem is not the product. It's that the pitch is entirely about the sender.
Nobody cares about your product. They care about what it does for them. That's the whole shift. Everything else follows from it.
1. The ten-year-old test
Write down what your product does in the simplest possible version. No jargon, no technical terms. Imagine someone with zero background in your industry, zero commercial knowledge, ten years old. Can they read what you wrote and understand why it exists and why it matters?
If not, that's not their problem. It's yours. Your job is to make people understand, not their job to decode what you're building. The more complicated your explanation sounds, the more people assume it's either too complex for them or not relevant to them. Either way, they move on.
This is not about dumbing things down. It's about doing the work of translation so your audience doesn't have to.
2. Less is more than you think
Don't list ten features. Pick the one or two strongest ones and lead with those. It's better for someone to remember one thing clearly than to hear everything and retain nothing.
The simplest ads work. The simplest slogans work. Think of any brand you remember and the one line associated with it. That line took enormous restraint to arrive at. Everything that didn't make the cut was left out on purpose.
This is not about hiding what your product can do. It's about respecting that the person you're talking to has a thousand other things on their mind. Give them one thing to hold onto. If they want more, they'll ask.
3. Nobody cares about you. They care about themselves.
Think about shoes for a moment. When someone sells you a pair, they don't explain the manufacturing process, the material sourcing, or the quality control steps. They say: these will make you look good and feel comfortable all day. The product is the same. But one version makes you want to buy it.
- ❌Instead of: all-in-one software with automated workflows and real-time reporting.
- ⭕️Try: this saves you five hours a week on the boring stuff so you can spend that time on work that actually matters.
- ❌IInstead of: long-lasting lipstick with transfer-resistant formula.
- ⭕️Try: no more touching up after lunch. It just stays.
The function is identical. But one version makes you picture your life with the product. People buy the picture, not the spec sheet. Think about what problem your product solves and describe the moment after it's solved. That moment is what you're actually selling.
4. Help them picture life with it
Once they understand what it is, help them want it. This is where you describe the moment after the problem is solved. Not the features. The feeling.
What does their day look like without the headache your product removes? What does it feel like to have that time back, that problem gone, that result achieved? Describe that moment specifically. The more vividly someone can picture it, the closer they are to buying.
5. Make saying yes feel small
Once someone is interested, reduce the risk of saying yes. Not with fake countdown timers or manufactured urgency. With something genuinely useful.
A 7-day free trial for the software. 10% off for newsletter subscribers. A small gift with a first order. A discount on the second purchase to reward coming back. Something that makes trying it feel like a small, contained decision.
People also don't want to feel like they're committing to a relationship they can't get out of. Make it clear that trying your product is a small decision with no strings. The question in every buyer's head is: What happens if this doesn't work out for me? Answer that before they ask it.
A 14-day refund policy, a 7-day free trial before any payment, and a clear scope of what's included so there are no surprises. Whatever it is, say it upfront. Don't make them hunt for the terms. The easier you make it to find the exit, the more comfortable people feel walking through the door
6. The part that actually builds loyalty
After someone buys, check in. How are they finding it? Is there anything they need? This is so rare that when it happens, people remember it. They tell others.
Most brands spend everything on getting customers and almost nothing on the relationship after. The relationship after the sale is where loyalty comes from. And loyalty is what makes the next pitch easier because someone else is doing it for you.
None of this guarantees overnight success. Every product and every market is different. But the shift from talking about yourself to talking about the person you're pitching to costs nothing and changes how every conversation lands. Start with them, not with you.
