Making GREAT Elevator Pitches

An elevator pitch should be more than a rushed summary of what you do. The invitation to describe our business in a few words can often mean we speak quickly and throw in as much information as possible! A good elevator pitch is memorable, snappy, instils excitement and acts as a conversation starter.

There's a simple formula for making great elevator pitches that I'd like to share with you today:

Step 1: Bin your old elevator pitch!

Step 2: Decide on an intriguing lead-in.

The lead-in is an opening statement that should draw the other person in. It should tell a relevant story to your prospect and it should be memorable. Make it salient by quantifying it. For example, "Small companies use our services to save an average of €300 per year on their insurance" or "Retailers take our sales training and report an average 10% increase in sales after taking the course"

Step 3: Be different!

Follow your lead-in with a strong differentiator. Make it very clear why your company stands out from the herd. Your differentiator should be credible, exciting, interesting and defendable. The best way to decide your differentiator is to make a list of what you do better/differently to the competition and choose the one (max 2) that is most important TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. Then summarise the difference in a snappy sentence.

Step 4: Turn it around

The next step is to figure out if the prospect might be interested and to get more information on their needs. Just ask a simple open-ended question like "How do you manage your insurance/accounts/marketing/etc at the moment?" or "How important is this area to your business?" or "What results are you getting in this area?"

Step 5: The call to action

Once you've established the prospect's needs (and assuming they have a need for your product/services) use that moment to ask for a meeting.

Step 6: Practice makes permanent

Practise your elevator pitch until it sounds completely natural. Remember you may be using it with an individual or a group so make sure it works for both!