An elevator pitch is a critical component of your salesmanship. It illustrates your ability to confidently describe what you do and why people should care. The key to doing this successfully is one word. Brevity. You need to be brief. Long winded elevator pitches are the worst. Your pitch needs to be 30 seconds or less. So the more concise you are, the better.
There are 4 questions that every great elevator pitch answers. In this article we will explore them and show you exactly how to create the perfect elevator pitch.
What do you do?
This question is self explanatory. You need to concisely explain what you do and who uses your product or service. “We are a real estate company that provides services to homeowners and investors”. It can be that simple.
What problems do you solve?
This is the most important question to answer. If this answer is weak, you’re done. Businesses exist because they solve problems. So your product or service better have a solution to a real problem or it will be hard for people to buy into your pitch. “95% of businesses in our industry spend over $500 a month to do ABC service. We do it for $10 a month and 3X faster”.
How are you Different?
Successful businesses have unique selling propositions. They have elements of their business that no other company has. This can be a tough one to come up with particularly if you’re in a competitive industry. The key is to find a measurable degree of separation you have above the competition. This can be something within your process that makes your business different. It can be a unique feature that only your product has. It can be a form of intellectual property, like a patent. Whatever it is, you should include it into your pitch. “We are the only company in the world that produces (fill in the blank)”.
What’s in it for me?
What’s in it for your customers? What’s in it for your clients? What’s in it for your investors? What’s in it for your partners? This is where you summarize the pitch and explain why people should care about what you’re selling. Your customers want to know what benefit they get out of your product. Your clients want to know what benefit they get out of investing in your service. And so on and so forth with investors and partners. You have to make it clear what people will get out of it. This is where knowing how to sell anything, comes into play. Nonetheless, the key is to speak about product advantages only. Do not discuss features. Do not discuss benefits. Discuss advantages that potential clients or customers will receive by investing in whatever you’re selling.
“Our product will reduce your stress, improve your efficiency, and increase your bottom line by over 30% in less than 3 months or your money back”.
So let’s put my example elevator pitch all together and see how it looks:
ABC Real Estate provides services to homeowners and investors. One of the problems in our industry is overspending. 95% of homeowners spend over $500 a month on their home. We’ve created a way for them to spend $10 a month and get the results they want 3X faster. ABC Real Estate also happens to be the only company in the world that services over 50 states. And our clients rely on us because of how well we reduce stress, improve efficiency, and increase profits by over 30% in less than 3 months or their money back.
