Is the elevator pitch a lost art?   So many times we show up, start talking with a prospect and we just end up verbally throwing up on them and everyone walks away confused.   An elevator pitch should be something you can give in 30 seconds to attract the attention of the potential prospect.  It should lay the foundation for the relationship and establish professionalism and credibility to you for your prospect.  These can be used in cold calls to prospects, quick conversations at a trade show, opening lines to speed networking at events, emails or LinkedIn messages.  

 It has 3 main purposes:

• Turn suspects into prospects
• Qualify a suspect for interest 
• Set an appointment or future engagement 

An elevator pitch is broken down into 5 key components:

Who You Are 

 

   This is the easiest part.  Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be or you will confuse the person you are talking to.   This is a simple statement such as "Hi, my name is Kameron and I am with XYZ Company."  

 

What You Do 

 

Most people look past the importance of this part.  You are going to lay the foundation of your entire engagement with this one statement.  Every subsequent conversation and interaction is going to be based on this one sentence you are going to tell them.   Keep it concise and directly to the point.  Here is an example.  

”XYZ is the largest name brand unified communications provider in the world” 

 I'll let y’all fight over who gets to use that one.  But, it makes a great point.   If you make a claim and it goes untested, you win and get to keep it.  You will also be using this statement a lot in your sales engagement so be confident that it is exactly what you want it to be.  

Why Clients Should Care 

 

This is the money-maker sentence.   It now goes from boasting about what you are and whom you represent to why the prospect should listen going forward.   If this doesn’t grab their attention then either you need to work on your statement or you are talking to the wrong prospects.   

 “We help partners create residual revenue faster than any other UCaaS provider in the market.”

 Pro Tip: Be careful about what you promise in this statement.  You will be held accountable for it in the future.  If you are not sure what your benefits are ask around.  You can ask your TSB/TSD, your clients, or your partners why they think you are amazing.   You should have at least one of the following 5 benefits in this statement.   

1. Profit
2. Prestige 
3. Pain Relief
4. Preservation 
5. Pleasure 

Proof Of What You Have Done 

 

What good is bragging about what you can do if you cannot follow up with examples of what you have done?   Remember, you need to keep this to a sentence or two.  This is where people get tripped up and end up rambling for hours about themselves and how great they are.  Give them a taste of what you do and don’t end up feeding them a whole meal.  You want this to get them excited to meet or engage with you more in the future.  If you tell them everything now, why would they come back and ask for more? 

 

 “We have a partner in the Midwest who sell premise phone systems just like you.  They brought us 10 of their clients and in 2 months we closed 8 of them and put $5K a month in their pocket.”  

 

Pro Tip:  If you don’t know exactly what the person does use more of a general statement about what you can provide.  You should know your industry and what makes most people tick and get excited.  

 

Get Permission To Move Forward

 

ABC, always be closing.   This is the very first close you will have out of many in a sales engagement.   Asking for permission to move forward on something that is very easy to commit to gets the prospect in the habit of always saying “yes” early and often. When it's time to get the final commitment you will have had hundreds of approvals along the way.  This will make it feel natural and easy to everyone involved in the sales process and they will thank you for an enjoyable experience versus them trying to run away everything they see you.  

 

“I would love to see if this is something we can do for you.  Do you have 30 mins tomorrow to discuss how our organizations could work together and find the same success for you?”

Lastly, practice.   You should be able to give this pitch in your sleep and not even think about it.   It should be muscle memory and come off your tongue feeling natural and easy.  If it's forced, keep practicing or change it up.  Feel free to reach out or post your elevator pitch in the comments below. Let's see who has the best one.