Feature your Goal
State what you do and a Unique Selling Point
Always have a Follow-up Question
Your Elevator Pitch
Regardless of your business or professional objectives, having an elevator pitch is important. A good elevator pitch will be able to sell you, your idea, and your business to the people that matter. They are especially effective at networking events.
It is not just events when having a good elevator pitch is important, however. A good elevator pitch can be used in other places as well, like when you introduce yourself at a meeting for example, or pitching an idea to your boss.
So how do you get your elevator pitch to help you succeed?
What should your Elevator Pitch do?
Feature your Goal
Your elevator pitch should feature your goal. Do you want to promote yourself as a C-level professional, promote your business and what you sell, or sell your idea to investors? Your goal should be a clear part of the pitch.
State what you do
When putting together your elevator pitch always state what you do. Do you help CEOs find talent? Maybe your business supplies car accessories to local garages. Perhaps you have an idea for a new distribution company at a reduced cost to the market leader?
Feature your Unique Selling Point
Your pitch should also feature your unique selling point (USP). What makes you or your business stand out among the competition? What do you do well? From a C-level executive viewpoint this will be your value proposition. In this respect you may want to cite what you love.
So if you were looking for investment in your new startup business, you might want to try something like this:
“We’re looking for investment in ‘XYZ Shoes’ a new fashion design company, specialising in casual shoes for women. Where predict a 4% market share as we feature creations from some of the leading fashion designers in Europe.”
Here we have stated what we want (investment), what we do (design casual shoes for women) and our USP (market share and creations from leading designers).
Ask a Question
To round off your elevator pitch, ask an open ended question. The question should ideally engage the person you’re talking to about what you do. So in our case above, a good question could be:
“So how do you source stock for your company?”
It is key to take into account your audience when formulating a good elevator pitch question. There would be no point asking about stock sourcing if the person you’re talking to is in marketing. Instead you should ask about them about what they do. They might have a few tips for you and showing an interest is important to forming good working relationships.
Making your Pitch Memorable
Practice makes perfect where elevator pitches are concerned. The perfect pitch sounds natural and unrehearsed, and yes delivers the message. When putting together your message, think about:
Your audience in relation to your objective – If you’re pitching a new idea to your boss, you will not be using the same elevator pitch that you would use a networking event
Statistics – A statistic is not only a good USP but it is also a good talking point
The question – This will hopefully at the very least start a discussion
Follow up – If you promise something such as a phone call, a brochure, a promise of information, ensure you deliver. Good reputations are forged this way.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Using your Elevator Pitch to Succeed
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