In today’s article I’m going to show you how to craft the best elevator pitch that’ll shock and awe your prospect and have them begging you for more information.
Whether you work for someone else or own a small business, you will at some point be asked…“So what do you do?”
It’s inevitable.
If you haven’t been asked that yet, you will. Believe me. And having a well-crafted elevator pitch will make you sound both interesting and professional.
But first, what is an elevator pitch?
According to Wikipedia:
“An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).”
So, what do you say then when you’re asked what you do or what your business is about?
Well, most people would start to spew out verbal vomit, jumping right in and starting to talk about how and why they started their business, why it’s their passion, their work schedule, how they love working for themselves, and how they’re the best in the industry.
Boring! Who cares?
In order to create the best elevator pitch for your business, you first have to realize that your elevator pitch’s focus should not be on you or even your product or service.
The focus of your elevator pitch should always be the benefits to your prospect or client.
How are you going to help them? How does your product or service affect their bottom line?
Your elevator pitch should be benefit focused.
So, instead of saying something like, “We sell the best insurance products”…include something like, “We show families how they can protect their assets and save money”.
Did you notice how the latter is benefit focused? If you say that to someone, the logical thing for that person to do is ask, “How?” And that’s how you can continue to schedule an appointment with an interested prospect.
Remember to Keep It Short
You have to remember that an elevator pitch is not a conversation, so keep it short.
You want to use your elevator pitch to arouse interest and intrigue. You want to entice your listener to want to learn more. So your goal is to craft something that will stay in the minds of your listeners even after they’ve left.
Be creative.
Use a question if possible.
Where to Use Your Elevator Pitch
So where can you use your new, finely crafted elevator pitch?
You can think a bit out of the box. You don’t have to limit yourself to person-to-person networking events.
According to Darren Rowse at Problogger, a few places that you can share your elevator pitch are:
- Your Website’s Tagline
- Your About Page
- Real Life Conversation
- Business Cards
- Pitching to Media
- Pitching to Other Bloggers
- Email Signature
- Social Media Profiles
The places that you can share your elevator pitch are really endless, but I’m sure you get the idea.
Give Yourself Options
You’ll probably have many, many opportunities to share your elevator pitch.
And you know, as well as I do, that you won’t always get the perfect opportunity to share your pitch. Sometimes you’ll have 30 seconds to share your pitch…sometimes you’ll have 10 seconds.
Prepare some options and multiple variations of your pitch.
For example, our full-length elevator pitch here at KangoMedia is, “KangoMedia helps small businesses make a big impact online with a professional image that breaks into new markets, generates leads, and makes more sales through effective web design and development.”
A shorter version is as simple as “KangoMedia builds websites that work for their clients.”
Of course, our elevator is always a work in progress. We are continuously tweaking it…as should you.
We Want to Hear Your Elevator Pitch
Do you have an elevator pitch or are you currently working on crafting one?
We’d love to hear from you!
Be sure to share your elevator pitch below and share this post with your friends.