You never know when an opportunity will present itself. If a potential client is ready and willing to listen, they expect you to share everything they need to know about your company in whatever time they have available. And as time is money for any business leader, that amount will likely be short. A vital business asset, a thirty-second elevator pitch is the ultimate tool for capitalizing on these tiny (yet massive) opportunities. Here we’ll explore how you can develop your own.
WHAT IS AN ELEVATOR PITCH?
An elevator pitch is a brief and persuasive description of all the wonderful things your company does, why it’s important, and how it can help the person you are talking to – sandwiched into a thirty-second soundbite. The term comes from the hypothetical situation of being asked to persuade someone to want to know more about your business in the time it takes to ride an elevator with them.
HOW TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE ELEVATOR PITCH
If summarizing your entire business in thirty seconds seems daunting, try focusing on these details to get moving in the right direction.
A. Start with the problem – Although you may be chomping at the bit to talk about how much experience you have and all the extraordinary technical tools at your disposal, there’s only one thing any business leader is focused on at any given moment – the problems keeping them from reaching their goals. Typically these will be related to one of three things; time, money, or peace of mind. So you want to pique their interest by offering to solve a current problem they are likely to be dealing with.
Ex: “Is IT tying up valuable resources you could use to grow your business?”
B. Provide the solution – If you’ve “struck a nerve” by identifying a pain point that your potential client is struggling with, it’s time to let them know you have the cure.
Ex: “We oversee your company’s entire IT infrastructure freeing up time and money that could go towards improving your bottom line.”
B. Give an example – Many companies can say they’ll fix your problem but are they doing it day in and day out? Showing social proof will strengthen your case immensely and inspire confidence that you can do what you say you can.
Ex: “We recently started working with a company that doubled their marketing department staff with the money we saved them from outsourcing their IT.”
C. Showcase your Unique Selling Point (USP) – One of the main reasons pitches fail is that they are very general. A million companies could claim to provide the solution to the problem we came up with above. A USP is the key feature that sets you apart from your competition. The reason why only you can truly help. If you can, try to boil this down to one key word or phrase. Then try to incorporate this word as often as possible throughout your pitch. Whether it’s expertise, the latest technology, or excellent customer service, master this part of your pitch, and you’ll surely have your potential customer’s attention.
Ex: “Our experts have extensive CTO experience, so we’re not just fixing computers; we can provide guidance and goal-based planning based on years of experience, so your IT is developing alongside your needs.”
D. End with a Call-To-Action (CTA) – Finally,you don’t want to just pitch and walk away. Instead, you’ll need to end by asking for what you want. Before your time is up, try to secure a future point of contact or meeting to ensure you can answer questions, follow up, and expand on your initial conversation.
Ex: “Would you have 15 minutes at some point this week to talk to our team of experts so we can share specifics on how we could help you leverage technology to achieve your goals more quickly?”
Once you’ve ironed out the details, have your entire sales team practice making this information second nature, adaptable to various scenarios, and conversational.
Still need some help? For more insight, contact OSR Manage today, so we can help you make your sales messaging sharp, straightforward, and concise.