YML Goes Off-Script with Pitch Lab

Y Media Labs CEO Ashish Toshniwal and team

No matter how amazing your business, your products and services don’t sell themselves. You need real people making real connections in way that shows you truly understand and care. But just how do you make those connections? 

Do what Y Media Labs did.

Make Magic in Your Next Sales Kickoff Meeting 

With a portfolio packed with mobile apps, websites and other digital experiences created for Google, PayPal, Universal Music Group, and other powerhouse brands, Y Media Labs delivers best-in-class digital products to the world. 

This award-winning design and technology agency has been hailed by the likes of Steve Jobs (yeah, that Steve Jobs), featured by TED Talks, and called “one of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley” in The Wall Street Journal.

Founded by Ashish Toshniwal in 2009, YML is now home to 400+ innovative designers, strategists and engineers around the globe. 

Their Ask

Although YML is a best-in-class agency producing a ton of mind-blowing work, every savvy salesperson knows it’s not always your product or service that makes your company stand out from the pack. You, the salesperson, are the differentiator.

In short, how you sell is more important than what you sell. 

YML’s VP of Growth and Brand, Stephanie Wiseman knows this well. She’s helped many organizations gain a competitive edge and delight customers—and not just with remarkable digital products. Remarkable client facing teams are part of the game. 

She was looking for a fresh way to strengthen team bonds and core skills within the agency.

Pitch Lab delivered.

Their Solution 

YML team members were already keen on innovation. So it was natural for them to embrace the idea of innovating and improvising when it comes to sales. As one of our mantras says, great salespeople know when to ditch the slides and improvise.

Our Approach

The big takeaway of our YML workshop was trusting yourself when you decide to ditch the slides. 

No matter how painstakingly you prepped for your presentation, you need to dump it if it isn’t what your prospect is looking for. As this stellar team knows, there’s nothing worse than ignoring your audience’s non-verbal cues and plowing through your pitch just because you spent a ton of time creating it.

No one is going to know if you go off-script. But it may be tough to forget a really lousy meeting.

Look at audience body language for clues that you’re losing engagement. Tear down the fourth wall if needed, telling your prospect you feel like you’ve lost them. Asking what you can do to get back on track.

Sure, going off-script can be a little nerve-wracking. But it can also lead to magic. 

YML’s Feedback

When the VP of Growth and Brand is happy, everyone is happy. And Stephanie was happy. Here’s what she had to say:

“Pitch Lab was the perfect team-building activity for YML’s sales and marketing teams. The content was not only informative and helped build the teams’ empathy skills, but created a fun activity for our remote teams. 

Jay was communicative and thoughtful at each step of the process. Most importantly, it left our business development and marketing teams with a set of tools to use during client presentations, pitch meetings, and brand-building activities. 

I recommend Pitch Lab to anyone looking for a new, fun way to build their team's core skills.”

How Will You Create Magic During Your Next Sales Strategy Meeting?

Smart sales leaders know their teams thrive on fresh input and activities to keep them at the top of their games. Pitch Lab delivers a unique learning and development workshop at the intersection of education and entertainment, particularly well-suited for quarterly sales kickoff meetings.

No matter when we’re booked, our client’s needs are always the same. They’re looking for a way to help their client-facing teams stand out from the competition, build stronger connections and win more deals.

As we say, Pitch Lab is funny training that delivers serious sales results.

Want to learn more? Click here to see if our workshops are right for your team.