Do you as an entrepreneur have your elevator pitch ready? Having been in the brand-building industry for over three decades you almost expect people to know instinctively why they should have an elevator pitch and best of all, how to write that super important sales tool.
Guess what? They don’t. And to be honest, I don’t even always have my elevator pitch 100% ready to deliver at the drop of a hat. Or worst of all, have an elevator pitch that is not outdated, nor geared for the person I am speaking to, or it could be that I am just completely flushed by the situation. The truth of the matter, which I have learned the very hard way, is that if you think you are too cool for the zoo, the bigger the possibility that you are going to fall flat on your you-know-what!
Who needs an elevator pitch?
In my humble opinion, everyone needs an elevator pitch. Whether you need to get a potential prospect to invest time in your extended marketing pitch or whether you need to sell yourself for a brand-new position as an employee, an elevator pitch will open the door. A board of directors won’t allow you to present your case if you do not make an impact fast. Frankly, if little Johnnie starts his first day at school he has got a small window of opportunity to meet up with a brand new friend. A friendship that could possibly last a lifetime. But it all starts with that short introduction. Your elevator pitch!
Unless you plan on spending a life as a recluse, you need an elevator pitch of some sort to open that door. For now, we will however focus on our pet project: getting our entrepreneurs to be successful.
The origins of an elevator pitch?
The phrase elevator pitch, elevator speech, lift speech, or elevator statement are derived (surprise, surprise) from doing a quick, impromptu pitch in an elevator. There are a couple of theories of the origins of the phrase, but essentially it all boils down to receiving an opportunity to briefly explain what you do and hopefully convince your audience to request more information. In the time it takes an elevator to reach its destination. It could be 30 seconds or maybe even a minute. But it should be fast and attention-grabbing. So much so that your audience wants to hear more.
Why is it important to prepare your Elevator Pitch?
In all the years that I have been involved in presentations and sales pitches, one thing is sure. If you think you are too good to prepare properly and practice the message that you want to get across, the bigger the chance of making a massive flop. No matter how good you have been in the past, you still need to keep on going.
It is almost like planning to run the Comrades. Just because you have already finished it successfully for 10 years straight, does not mean you don’t have to train your heart out. OK, maybe this is a bit over-dramatizing the issue, but it all boils down to the 7P’s of Success: Proper Pre-Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
You often only have one opportunity to get your foot in the door. Don’t screw it up!
Additional Benefits of an Elevator Pitch
The absolute ideal would be to create an elevator pitch as an extension of your extensive marketing plan or brand-building plan, depending on what lingo you use. If you are in a small to medium-sized company, both plans should be the same.
If you spend enough time to create an absolute masterpiece (for a specific time frame and a specific target client profile) you could end up with a brand-new advertising theme. This could be pulled through to your traditional advertising such as billboards and print ads or it could be used in your digital marketing content.
If your passions and the elements that put you in FLOW are included in your 30-second elevator pitch, you are guaranteed to have a cracking theme to take through to your next marketing campaign! It is all a matter of putting in the effort.
Delivering the Perfect Elevator Pitch?
I suppose the term ‘perfect elevator pitch’ is very debatable. Whatever you execute at the specific moment of your opportunity, will depend on the milieu that you find yourself in. The time and place of your conversation should be taken into consideration. You cannot use a highly humourous pitch right before entering your grandfather’s funeral church service. In the same light, you need to adapt the formal pitch that you gave to the University Professor when you pitch to friends-of-friends at a Bachelor Party.
How to Create Your Elevator Pitch?
The reality is that there is never a hard and fast rule with anything in marketing communication. Below are however a few pointers that we would love to share with you that we have used on ourselves and our clients over the years:
AIDA: All marketing communication boils down to the AIDA principle. Grabbing Attention, creating Interest, developing Desire to get your ideal client or customer to execute the Action that you require. Your elevator pitch should get them to the action of ‘tell me more’.
Start with A. What will really get their attention? Really grab their attention! Hint: your first try won’t get you there. Do a Famous 50 if you have to. But keep on going and keep on testing until you get there! If you don’t succeed here, you have probably lost them.
The addVenture Elevator Pitch template. We like to make a fall-out-of-the-tree-easy template for most things that we do. We have created a template that we believe can help you in your continued efforts to hone your elevator pitch skills. It is all about the Why, How & What you are doing. And then, it is important to ascertain how important this process is to you, what the benefits would be to you, and what you would do to celebrate if you do get a ‘win’. And yes, if you were my brand-building coaching client, the last three would have been questions that we would have discussed at length.
Are you keen to learn how to construct your elevator pitch? I have developed a template that I use when consulting my coaching clients on their elevator pitches, which I would love to share with you.
And yes, we’d appreciate your feedback.
