A salesperson recently came up to me after a training session and asked, “What does a perfect first sales meeting look like?”

While the word perfect is both subjective and elusive, this is the basic framework I gave her to ensure a great first meeting.

Ever wondered what would happen if a stand-up comedian crashed a serious pitch competition posing as a founder?

Recently in Boulder, CO, Pitch Lab had the opportunity to do just that at the NextCycle Colorado Pitch Competition.

Bob Iger transformed Disney with a radical approach: "You only get three."  This counterintuitive rule became the foundation of Disney's remarkable reinvention and holds the key to unlocking your sales team's full potential.

For sales leaders, the lesson is clear. When your team is juggling competing priorities, they're essentially prioritizing nothing.

As an entrepreneur pitching a new concept, telling your origin story at the beginning of your pitch is one of the most powerful ways to:

• Differentiate yourself from your competition

• Build stronger connections with your audience (investors, employees, customers)

• Reveal your character and build trust

As a sales leader, have you ever stopped to consider what you could learn from the world of stand-up comedy?

While closing deals and making audiences laugh may seem worlds apart, the parallels between perfecting a sales pitch and crafting a killer stand-up set are striking.