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Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win
Craft a sales pitch that dramatically outperforms an aimless feature walkthrough.
World-renowned product positioning and marketing expert April Dunford knows that standing out in a crowded market is the key to getting sales. In Sales Pitch , she shows entrepreneurs, salespeople, marketers, and business leaders how they can achieve success by building a narrative that clearly communicates how your product is different and better than anything else on the market.
Using a simple step-by-step method and compelling case stories, the author of Obviously Awesome guides you through a solid sales pitch structure that helps customers make confident buying decisions, while positioning you to clearly win in the market. In this book you will
● Why you need to be your prospect’s guide in the buying process
● Why a sales pitch is a unique style of story designed to help your customer say “yes” with confidence
● How “do nothing” is the most fearsome competitor you have
● How and when qualification, discovery, and product demos fit into a sales pitch
● How your positioning is reflected in a great sales narrative
● Why your differentiated value is the star of the show
● The eight components of a solid sales pitch
A successful sales pitch is more than a simple product walkthrough, a canned set of discovery questions, or a pushy sales monologue. This book will help you create a winning pitch that gets you better customers—and more of them.
World-renowned product positioning and marketing expert April Dunford knows that standing out in a crowded market is the key to getting sales. In Sales Pitch , she shows entrepreneurs, salespeople, marketers, and business leaders how they can achieve success by building a narrative that clearly communicates how your product is different and better than anything else on the market.
Using a simple step-by-step method and compelling case stories, the author of Obviously Awesome guides you through a solid sales pitch structure that helps customers make confident buying decisions, while positioning you to clearly win in the market. In this book you will
● Why you need to be your prospect’s guide in the buying process
● Why a sales pitch is a unique style of story designed to help your customer say “yes” with confidence
● How “do nothing” is the most fearsome competitor you have
● How and when qualification, discovery, and product demos fit into a sales pitch
● How your positioning is reflected in a great sales narrative
● Why your differentiated value is the star of the show
● The eight components of a solid sales pitch
A successful sales pitch is more than a simple product walkthrough, a canned set of discovery questions, or a pushy sales monologue. This book will help you create a winning pitch that gets you better customers—and more of them.
236 pages, Paperback
Published September 27, 2023
289 people are currently reading
914 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
November 3, 2023
Some valuable insights.
April Dunford builds off the positioning masterclass outlined in her first book to help teams create a sales narrative designed to win. Sales Pitch is a book intended for Product Marketers who take sales enablement seriously. It gives readers context into the challenges buyers face in B2B sales and, subsequently, a framework for approaching sales conversations with impact.
Much of the content presented in this book is what I’d consider table stakes and accepted information for most Product Marketers. The value is in the structure shown.
I had two key takeaways:
1. Emotion plays a vital role in B2B purchases, just like it does in B2C. The main difference is it shows up as fear in B2B: fear of making the wrong decision, being fired, or being judged by peers. Therefore, it’s crucial to give customers as much confidence as possible through data, product value, and demos.
2. The status quo is a significant competitor that often gets overlooked. If customers cannot confidently decide, they simply will not make one.
There will likely be something in this book for any PMM, but it’s not groundbreaking.
April Dunford builds off the positioning masterclass outlined in her first book to help teams create a sales narrative designed to win. Sales Pitch is a book intended for Product Marketers who take sales enablement seriously. It gives readers context into the challenges buyers face in B2B sales and, subsequently, a framework for approaching sales conversations with impact.
Much of the content presented in this book is what I’d consider table stakes and accepted information for most Product Marketers. The value is in the structure shown.
I had two key takeaways:
1. Emotion plays a vital role in B2B purchases, just like it does in B2C. The main difference is it shows up as fear in B2B: fear of making the wrong decision, being fired, or being judged by peers. Therefore, it’s crucial to give customers as much confidence as possible through data, product value, and demos.
2. The status quo is a significant competitor that often gets overlooked. If customers cannot confidently decide, they simply will not make one.
There will likely be something in this book for any PMM, but it’s not groundbreaking.
December 15, 2023
The highest impact thing that I did in 2021 was executing April Dunford’s book on positioning — Obviously Awesome, her previous book — in a SaaS company. The four month effort resulted in the company doubling its annual recurring revenue over the subsequent eight months with no additional marketing spend (for the record, this was a seven-figure sum). Dunford’s methods obviously work (pun intended!)
As part of that project, however, I had to implement something that I’d heard Dunford talk about in podcasts, that was downstream of Obviously Awesome but was not covered in the book itself. Because I had to piece it together from multiple podcast interviews, I was not able to execute it exactly as she had done.
This book covers how she does it. It is far better than anything we did, it is more complete, and it is absolutely necessary, in my view, if you finish the positioning exercise that Obviously Awesome covers and you do B2B sales.
This is not a 101-level book. It is more useful if you have some familiarity with typical software/enterprise sales. That knowledge is necessary to recognise how Dunford’s approach diverges from a typical enterprise sales pitch, and what might be tricky about that divergence. If you do not have such sales knowledge (but you need to work closely with sales to execute this), I highly recommend reading SPIN Selling first, which introduced the primary elements of a typical enterprise sales pitch that are in widespread use today. And if you still want to dive in further, go read The Challenger Sale — which Dunford has told me was one of the more influential books she’s read in her career.
This book builds on both books. But SPIN Selling is more critical than The Challenger Sale if you are a non-salesperson intending to work with the sales org (say, you are a marketing leader).
One key contribution that Dunford makes is that she integrates Market Education with Positioning and then with Discovery. This is a subtle art. Once you understand how and why she does it, you’ll appreciate what she’s accomplished here.
Dunford has said that nearly every company she’s executed this playbook in — either in-house or as a consultant — has seen their sales increase propitiously. I executed a shitty version of this book, and managed to double ARR. While I haven’t tested this exact playbook yet, I’m confident it will work.
Five stars.
As part of that project, however, I had to implement something that I’d heard Dunford talk about in podcasts, that was downstream of Obviously Awesome but was not covered in the book itself. Because I had to piece it together from multiple podcast interviews, I was not able to execute it exactly as she had done.
This book covers how she does it. It is far better than anything we did, it is more complete, and it is absolutely necessary, in my view, if you finish the positioning exercise that Obviously Awesome covers and you do B2B sales.
This is not a 101-level book. It is more useful if you have some familiarity with typical software/enterprise sales. That knowledge is necessary to recognise how Dunford’s approach diverges from a typical enterprise sales pitch, and what might be tricky about that divergence. If you do not have such sales knowledge (but you need to work closely with sales to execute this), I highly recommend reading SPIN Selling first, which introduced the primary elements of a typical enterprise sales pitch that are in widespread use today. And if you still want to dive in further, go read The Challenger Sale — which Dunford has told me was one of the more influential books she’s read in her career.
This book builds on both books. But SPIN Selling is more critical than The Challenger Sale if you are a non-salesperson intending to work with the sales org (say, you are a marketing leader).
One key contribution that Dunford makes is that she integrates Market Education with Positioning and then with Discovery. This is a subtle art. Once you understand how and why she does it, you’ll appreciate what she’s accomplished here.
Dunford has said that nearly every company she’s executed this playbook in — either in-house or as a consultant — has seen their sales increase propitiously. I executed a shitty version of this book, and managed to double ARR. While I haven’t tested this exact playbook yet, I’m confident it will work.
Five stars.
October 25, 2023
Honestly one of the best marketing books I have ever read. The perfect sequel to Obviously Awesome discussion on positioning. Sales Pitch clarifies concepts from Obviously Awesome particularly a company's differentiated value.
If you want a book with actionable insights to create a solid foundation for your marketing and sales pick this book up.
If you want a book with actionable insights to create a solid foundation for your marketing and sales pick this book up.
December 11, 2023
Best book to level up your sales game
"Sales Pitch" is a great read if you want to up your selling game. It's full of good tips on how to make your pitch stick. The book breaks things down so it's easy to get and use right away. Definitely a thumbs up from me for anyone in sales or marketing, and sturtup founders
"Sales Pitch" is a great read if you want to up your selling game. It's full of good tips on how to make your pitch stick. The book breaks things down so it's easy to get and use right away. Definitely a thumbs up from me for anyone in sales or marketing, and sturtup founders
November 6, 2023
great framework for sales pitch development
I’ve been in the field nearly 30 years and run product marketing or consult on pitch development . In my view, April hit it right on the head and it’s useful to see what is involved in pitch development articulated in this way. A real contribution to the product marketing arena.
I’ve been in the field nearly 30 years and run product marketing or consult on pitch development . In my view, April hit it right on the head and it’s useful to see what is involved in pitch development articulated in this way. A real contribution to the product marketing arena.
November 10, 2023
Great framework for sales narratives, great handy book to have next to me while I work; saw the presentation for this book and it’s really stuck with me
November 28, 2023
Another example of a 200 page business book that should have been a blog post. I saw April speak at a conference and she was amazing, leading me to buy her book, but beyond her conference presentation there wasn’t a ton of new, helpful information. I’ll likely incorporate some of her lessons into my work, but would recommend just reading the cliff notes on this one.
February 13, 2024
This is a clear example of what should have been just a blog post that was turned into a book.
It's worth mentioning that the book is mostly intended for corporate B2B sales with an existing user base as well as sales and marketing departments. That's a very particular size of company. There is constant mention of the author's experience with startups but this book is intended for companies that are long past the startup stage. So, there is no real value for startups that don't have huge sales and marketing departments yet and try to find their right target customer group. The book is purely about corporate sales and how to improve an existing pitch or completely reform one.
This book is a stark contrast to the first April's book on positioning. While the first book was brilliant, this one is a repetitive bubbling. There is not enough content for the whole book. Even for a short one. While the main idea in the book is pretty good—though obvious and not anything eye-opening—one may notice in the book all possible tricks used to make it longer in both text and page counts.
Many times a bunch of sentences following each other are the same content rephrased in each one. There is a constant deja vu feeling while reading the book. Inside, 3 sections of the book are almost verbatim to each other. There are whole pages of text that have only a couple of sentences worth of useful, new, or nonrepetitive content.
In the end, April brags that she structured the book the same way she structured a sales pitch. I.e. she used her own guides to write a book. That's the main problem of the book, I think. A reader wanted a book, not a sales or promo pitch. A reader already bought the book. So, it's time to fulfill the obligations that follow the sale. But April is still stuck in the sales pitch mode and instead of providing really useful and properly structured content, she tries to sell this content.
It degraded the quality of writing and delivered the same idea over and over and over with differently structured sentences as if trying to persuade others to buy it.
The book really should have been a blogpost or just a presentation.
It's worth mentioning that the book is mostly intended for corporate B2B sales with an existing user base as well as sales and marketing departments. That's a very particular size of company. There is constant mention of the author's experience with startups but this book is intended for companies that are long past the startup stage. So, there is no real value for startups that don't have huge sales and marketing departments yet and try to find their right target customer group. The book is purely about corporate sales and how to improve an existing pitch or completely reform one.
This book is a stark contrast to the first April's book on positioning. While the first book was brilliant, this one is a repetitive bubbling. There is not enough content for the whole book. Even for a short one. While the main idea in the book is pretty good—though obvious and not anything eye-opening—one may notice in the book all possible tricks used to make it longer in both text and page counts.
Many times a bunch of sentences following each other are the same content rephrased in each one. There is a constant deja vu feeling while reading the book. Inside, 3 sections of the book are almost verbatim to each other. There are whole pages of text that have only a couple of sentences worth of useful, new, or nonrepetitive content.
In the end, April brags that she structured the book the same way she structured a sales pitch. I.e. she used her own guides to write a book. That's the main problem of the book, I think. A reader wanted a book, not a sales or promo pitch. A reader already bought the book. So, it's time to fulfill the obligations that follow the sale. But April is still stuck in the sales pitch mode and instead of providing really useful and properly structured content, she tries to sell this content.
It degraded the quality of writing and delivered the same idea over and over and over with differently structured sentences as if trying to persuade others to buy it.
The book really should have been a blogpost or just a presentation.
April 3, 2025
April Dunford's "Sales Pitch" presents a compelling framework that fundamentally reframes B2B selling from a vendor-centric push to a buyer-centric guidance model. Its core argument posits that the primary obstacle in complex sales isn't overcoming objections, but rather navigating buyer indecision fueled by overwhelm and fear of making a poor choice. Dunford contends that traditional pitches, often mere feature walkthroughs, exacerbate this issue, failing to provide the necessary clarity or differentiation.
The book's central contribution is a structured, repeatable narrative framework designed to build buyer confidence. It strategically separates the pitch into two phases:
The Setup: Focuses on establishing market context and aligning the buyer's perspective before introducing the product. This involves:
Leading with a unique Insight into the market that highlights the problem behind the problem.
Guiding buyers through Alternatives (including the status quo) by grouping them into logical approaches and discussing trade-offs.
Defining the Perfect World solution criteria based on the buyer's needs, implicitly mapping to the vendor's differentiated value.
The Follow-Through: Transitions to the vendor's solution, demonstrating its fit against the established criteria through:
A brief Introduction of the product/company.
A focused explanation of Differentiated Value, showcasing only what sets the solution apart and the features enabling it.
Providing Proof (case studies, validation) to build credibility.
Optionally handling common Objections proactively.
Concluding with a clear Ask for the next step.
Dunford compellingly argues that by "teaching customers how to buy" – providing market context, clarifying choices, and anchoring the conversation in unique value – vendors can effectively combat buyer inertia and position themselves as trusted advisors, significantly improving win rates against both direct competitors and the pervasive "do nothing" alternative. The framework offers a pragmatic antidote to generic, feature-led selling.
The book's central contribution is a structured, repeatable narrative framework designed to build buyer confidence. It strategically separates the pitch into two phases:
The Setup: Focuses on establishing market context and aligning the buyer's perspective before introducing the product. This involves:
Leading with a unique Insight into the market that highlights the problem behind the problem.
Guiding buyers through Alternatives (including the status quo) by grouping them into logical approaches and discussing trade-offs.
Defining the Perfect World solution criteria based on the buyer's needs, implicitly mapping to the vendor's differentiated value.
The Follow-Through: Transitions to the vendor's solution, demonstrating its fit against the established criteria through:
A brief Introduction of the product/company.
A focused explanation of Differentiated Value, showcasing only what sets the solution apart and the features enabling it.
Providing Proof (case studies, validation) to build credibility.
Optionally handling common Objections proactively.
Concluding with a clear Ask for the next step.
Dunford compellingly argues that by "teaching customers how to buy" – providing market context, clarifying choices, and anchoring the conversation in unique value – vendors can effectively combat buyer inertia and position themselves as trusted advisors, significantly improving win rates against both direct competitors and the pervasive "do nothing" alternative. The framework offers a pragmatic antidote to generic, feature-led selling.
July 18, 2024
April Dunford's "Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win" is a great go-to guide for nailing sales pitches without the usual cliches.
She's like your savvy friend who knows all the tricks to make your product shine in a sea of competitors. What's cool about this book is how April breaks down the whole sales process into simple steps.
She has some new ideas on how to tell a story that grabs attention and convinces people your product is the one. No more standard pitches—she's all about creating a narrative that gets folks excited to buy from you.
I particularly appreciated Dunford's insights on positioning and the art of storytelling in sales. She convincingly argues that in today's competitive landscape, being your prospect's trusted guide is paramount. This approach not only builds confidence but also addresses the inertia of "do nothing," your fiercest competitor. Moreover, Dunford demystifies the process of integrating qualification, discovery, and product demonstrations into a cohesive sales narrative. Each chapter is packed with great advice that resonates deeply with anyone looking to elevate their sales game.
This is a solid book on sales for sure which I will reference frequently.
She's like your savvy friend who knows all the tricks to make your product shine in a sea of competitors. What's cool about this book is how April breaks down the whole sales process into simple steps.
She has some new ideas on how to tell a story that grabs attention and convinces people your product is the one. No more standard pitches—she's all about creating a narrative that gets folks excited to buy from you.
I particularly appreciated Dunford's insights on positioning and the art of storytelling in sales. She convincingly argues that in today's competitive landscape, being your prospect's trusted guide is paramount. This approach not only builds confidence but also addresses the inertia of "do nothing," your fiercest competitor. Moreover, Dunford demystifies the process of integrating qualification, discovery, and product demonstrations into a cohesive sales narrative. Each chapter is packed with great advice that resonates deeply with anyone looking to elevate their sales game.
This is a solid book on sales for sure which I will reference frequently.
February 11, 2025
Good overall book on sales.
One thing that I’ve liked is how the author explains that buyers don’t necessarily want you to talk about their problems in detail—often, they don’t even fully understand their own needs or challenges. What they really want is a guide to lead them through the decision-making process, making it as clear and easy as possible. The goal is to eliminate confusion and create a no-brainer decision by providing a structured, step-by-step explanation that shows them why your solution is the obvious choice.
That makes more sense to me then the common marketing theory focused on pain point and problems.
One thing that I’ve liked is how the author explains that buyers don’t necessarily want you to talk about their problems in detail—often, they don’t even fully understand their own needs or challenges. What they really want is a guide to lead them through the decision-making process, making it as clear and easy as possible. The goal is to eliminate confusion and create a no-brainer decision by providing a structured, step-by-step explanation that shows them why your solution is the obvious choice.
That makes more sense to me then the common marketing theory focused on pain point and problems.
February 24, 2025
Good, easy read. After reading this book, this marketer feels ready to begin writing a sales pitch from scratch. I wish the book (or accompanying website) provided tangible examples of what a slide presentation that follows the author’s methodology could look like. While the concepts are not exactly novel, I appreciate that the author brought sales and marketing concepts together in developing her methodology. Great illustration of how a sales pitch comes together by leveraging your product/company’s positioning.
October 16, 2024
I really enjoyed this authors first book, Obviously Awesome.
It is still one of my most recommended books for people who have questions on positioning.
This book does not have the depth that the first book did. I was expecting more due to how much I enjoyed the first book.
If you are brand new to crafting a sales pitch - there are some nuggets in here for you. If you are familiar with stories types and pitches, I would look elsewhere.
It is still one of my most recommended books for people who have questions on positioning.
This book does not have the depth that the first book did. I was expecting more due to how much I enjoyed the first book.
If you are brand new to crafting a sales pitch - there are some nuggets in here for you. If you are familiar with stories types and pitches, I would look elsewhere.
October 3, 2025
Great follow-up to Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It. For now, this will be my go-to blueprint for building a sales pitch.
November 21, 2025
Quick read with very solid advice and easily implementable. The magic here is that it integrates positioning and storytelling with tactical recommendations on how to run a discovery and demo / pitch call, including slide-by-slide and section recommendations. The work, of course, is in defining your positioning, unique value, all that. But this is a good canvas and we'll be using it to refine our sales deck and pitch process.
March 20, 2025
A book I keep going back to for it's practical advice. Dunford knows her stuff and provides a clean clear framework that works! I've used her approach time and again as. Product Marketer and now as a consultant. Proven and effective! A natural next step to applying wisdom from her other book, Obviously Awesome, another of my favorites and go-to's for advice.
February 1, 2024
this book focuses on how to pitch complex products. the author explains the position of the buyer, who, if working in a large corporation, might simply delay and cancel the purchase to avoid the cultural complications of large scale change.
March 21, 2024
Not nearly as good as Obviously Awesome. Would have been a better book if she brought more consideration of to the architecture of a pitch like she did with positioning. Much more down in the weeds & also implictly targeted at large Enterprise sales teams.
May 28, 2024
I love the simplicity and it is a good add on to the 1 Page Marketing plan. There were some repetitions but the book was short and lots of practical value for setting up Product positioning in small and large business.
October 6, 2023
Tips från Peter Gustavsson
November 26, 2023
A simple easy read on how to craft pitches with good examples and quotes sprinkled around the book
December 1, 2023
Perfect guide to crafting a winning sales pitch. And also gives you advice on implementing and measuring success.
January 13, 2024
perfect overview
Couldn’t ask for a simpler overview of the sales process. I’m using this in every call I have going forward
Couldn’t ask for a simpler overview of the sales process. I’m using this in every call I have going forward
January 18, 2024
I whisk more books were like this. I’m used to take notes on pages of the book to find the most important insights and get rid of the fluff. Well, with Sales Pitch, i found that almost every page has notes! So much knowledge in this book.
February 17, 2024
Not groundbreaking by any means, but solid. It would have been really great to actually see a pitch deck included too with some of the examples
February 19, 2024
Very good stuff.
March 19, 2024
Genuinely one of the best marketers out there. If I make more money this year, it’ll have a lot to do with her
May 20, 2024
A great guide to building a sales pitch. Works really well after reading April's first book on positioning. A good resource to refer you to when actually crafting the deck too.
May 21, 2024
Tight. Systematic. Will definitely pull this out when I am constructing a pitch/positioning. Biggest takeaway was that your number one competition for any sale is the client buying nothing.
June 23, 2024
Great book that builds in the positioning work in Obviously Awesome. Very easy to digest and contains many great nuggets of wisdom.
I am going to distribute copies to many colleagues at work.
I am going to distribute copies to many colleagues at work.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews