Is Your Elevator Pitch – A Happily Ever After???

You will soon learn that sales is my passion...   This one is not just for sales people.  If you are in sales and marketing this should be a given.  But this should be mandatory for every person in the company.  It is the company’s responsibility to make sure everyone can say a 15 second & 30 second intro about the company.  If this is too challenging let me know.

I have been on thousands of sales calls, networking meetings and all in between...  I can not tell you how many people have no idea how to give a quick snippet of what they do.
I am talking highly seasoned sales and marketing professionals.  Is that possible???  Well I am here to tell you that it is a REALITY!!!  You can disagree if you want… but good luck in convincing me otherwise.

Let me give you some of my quick thoughts on what is known in the world as an elevator pitch...  It is called an elevator pitch because it is suppose to be able to be said in the length of an elevator ride.  Short, simple and powerful.  The term is now unique selling proposition to many.

The Mistake…  Companies and people talk in a corporate voice.  We make this... or our product is this...  That is the worst possible time you can spend with 15 seconds.  You may be saying, why would that be bad.   I want you to remember this every time this comes up.   Tell what you solve not what you sell.

First, you have no idea the level of person you are speaking with so you have to assume it is a “C” level person.  C level people don’t have time to talk to anyone.  So you have to really bring it to get any attention and a chance to be remembered.   It better be a real value, address or solve a problem.   Here is the test I use.  If you can say “so what” after it and it means nothing, then it means nothing.   My company makes copiers and we service them…  SO WHAT!!!  Who CARES!!!  BORING!!!  Then they got off that ride thanking God it is over.

OK Great One, What Needs To Be In An Elevator Pitch… Obviously the best would be to ask questions to better understand the targets needs etc, but time does not allow.  So we have to make a value impact statement upfront.  It needs to be about what we solve and do for your clients.   Use the Whats in it for them.  It needs to be open ended to start dialogue… NOT END IT.

If I were in real estate I might say... I help my clients gain wealth by buying & selling of property.

So let me end with my own and you can pick it a part.  “Chad, What do you do?”  I help my clients engage their audience through several platforms that help them attract & retain their customers.   This gets someone to turn toward me and engage me.  “How do you do that…???”   Everyone wants to engage clients and increase the qty of customers.  I then want to lead to questions.  What methods do you currently use to attract & retain clients etc.  So I can get a baseline to tailor my pitch… BUT if I were really on an elevator I would say… Through several integrated marketing vehicles…  (and then go into a short synopsis of services).  So you see, I answered the question of what first and how second. 

I have had people jump off an elevator so we could talk between floors.  So there is power in this.

Most people only tell the how and therefore do NOT garner any attraction or attention.  Typically detraction.  So from now on, make your pitch a real Once Upon A Time, where they will be on the edge of their seat to know how the story ends... I promise it will be a happily ever after…

Lets hear your elevator pitch and what makes it good.  If you want help and are brave enough... tell us about you, your difference, target market etc  and we will help craft one for you.

Chad Rothschild
www.chadrothschild.com

Comments

[Chad Rothschild]

Doug,

Thanks for the note. I read your article on Marketing Profs. I love Marketing Profs and am a member and think anyone reading this should look into it. http://www.marketingprofs.com/

Where I do agree with you. I love the idea of making humor to really break the ice. Take the situation for what it is and actually something I do all the time.

Especially in warm calling (calling of prospects - more on that in another post). It is a great way to break tension and more importantly gain awareness & attention.

People will remember that.

Where I disagree, Even though most people do not care what you do when they ask. Your mindset should never be that.

I believe that 99% of sales is won by the attitude of the salesperson...never or 1% on that of the prospect or customer.

So it is the job of the person giving the elevator pitch to be above the noise and give a compelling reason for the other person to care.

I have personally garnered dozens of appts that lead to sales using an elevator pitch and so can anyone if they BELIEVE they can.

Doug, good article and would love to connect and share more thoughts, ideas, insights and best practices. Maybe we can discuss some of my other articles and would love to hear your feedback. I could forsee some good discussions.

Chad Rothschild
www.chadrothschild.com

[sterndoug]

Chad:

Some good thoughts here. Especially the need for sales professionals to speak and write clearly and concisely.

I'm not sure, however, I agree with you totally on the elevator speech.

I wish I had a nickel for every time a marketing director asked the elevator speech question: "What if someone asks, 'What do you do?' and you have 20 seconds to answer? What do you tell them before the doors open and one of you gets off?"

Since professional service providers tend to spend a lot of time in their head, they're ready to pitch at the slightest glimmer of interest from another human being (prospect). The brain is the default filter for everything.

Lawyers, for example, might offer an elevator speech along the lines of "I add value to leading privately held companies by addressing the sophisticated legal issues relating to complex ownership succession."

Or, they might turn themselves upside down and inside out figuring out, as one expert recently put it, how to "spark interest in the potential client without sounding like a salesperson."

The question, however, is not about wanting a snappy summary of how you make a living. It's not about re-framing the question from the other person's point of view to come up with a non-pitch pitch.

While all of that is good (especially the part about not talking about yourself), it's based on a flawed assumption, one that assumes that everyone is being cognitive all of the time.

Read more here: http://xrl.us/MythOfTheElevatorSpeech

DOUG