Anyone who works in a Business-to-Business sales environment knows that the key to success lies in the ability to provide a fantastic sales experience – which begins from the very first point of contact with the potential buyer. Usually, that first contact with a prospect will include what is referred to as an “elevator pitch;” but many people don’t know what an elevator pitch is or what it needs to include to grab the attention of your prospect and get them to agree to a meeting with you.
Here are a few tips for crafting an elevator pitch that will entice potential leads and make them hungry for more information.
What is an elevator pitch?
Let’s start with the basics! An elevator pitch is a short, pre-prepared speech or overview that explains what your organization does, clearly and succinctly. 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 roughly 100-150 words). All too often, when someone is asked what they do, they’ll jump right into a long speech about how they started their business, why they love it, etc. Unfortunately, your potential lead will more than likely be too put off by a lengthy speech to be even remotely interested in your product or service!
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?
First, keep it short
Remember that an elevator pitch isn’t a conversation, so keep it as short as possible. You want to use your pitch to induce interest and intrigue and entice your listener to want to learn more about your product, business, or service.
The goal is to craft something that will stay in their mind long after they’ve left, and make them wonder if your product is the one that can help them solve their needs. Use a question or a quip to really get them thinking, if possible.
Include the essential information
Remember that while keeping it concise, you do need to include all of the relevant and important information about your product and/or service. Information such as:
- Who you are and what you do
- Identifying a potential buyer’s problem and how your business can solve it – and do a better job of it than anyone else
- Your company’s unique selling proposition, or USP
- A call-to-action (CTA) that persuades the client to continue the conversation and move the sales process forward
Use your pitch creatively
So where can you use your new, finely crafted elevator pitch? Think a bit out of the box – you don’t necessarily need to limit yourself to person-to-person networking events.
A few ideas are:
- Your website’s tagline
- Your “About” page
- Real-life conversations
- Business cards
- Pitching to media
- Pitching to other bloggers
- Your email signature
- Social media profiles
The places that you can share your elevator pitch are really endless, so get creative and think about where your pitch might be seen – and absorbed – the most.
Give yourself options
Since you really will be able to use your pitch anywhere, it’s a good idea to prepare multiple variations of it. Depending on the situation, length of time you have, and the context, you might choose to use different variations of the pitch for each conversation (or text, etc.).
And, like anything else, practice makes perfect! Remember, how you say it is just as important as what you say. If you don’t practice, it’s likely that you’ll talk too fast, sound unnatural, or forget important elements of your pitch. You want it to sound like a smooth conversation, not an aggressive sales pitch; so try to practice it regularly if possible.