Elevator Pitches: The Secret Weapon of Entrepreneurs

Imagine having a single tool in your marketing arsenal – more powerful than the rest. You can use this skill to capture new clients in minutes, build awareness wherever you go – and ultimately gain confidence in your own campaigns.

You can probably guess from the title that I’m talking about elevator pitches – but what the heck is a elevator pitch, and why do I keep hearing that it can be the most effective marketing tool?

Wikipedia defines an elevator pitch as:
“An overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds and 100-150 words).”

Let me redefine it for you.

You’ve pitched something before, whether you know it or not. If you have a business, generate ideas or if you’ve marketed anything in your life – then you have a brief idea how to pitch something.

Now the key step: refinement.

Master your pitch and learn how to hit the hot topics with your audience in about the same time it takes to go from the 1st floor – to the CEO’s office on the 15th. That’s the key; it’s about knowing it so well that you can lay out the most persuasive and drawing benefits of your concept – that means you know what needs to be said and what doesn’t.

Are you convinced yet? It’s easy to read this and say – “that’s a great point,” but half of you are probably thinking it’s a bit too much to get into. Well don’t worry, because I’m not going to let you leave here asking yourself how to make your own elevator pitch.

So let’s take a look now, what makes an elevator pitch that will have your prospects jumping with anticipation?

Pretend you’re walking up to your new prospect and you’ve got that pitch ready and memorized. It’s going to be about 90 seconds of high-adrenaline, benefit packed pitching and you’re more than ready. You take a quick glance over your pitch points, and can’t help but smile because you know your pitch meets the important criteria. You remember back to that one blog post you read, recalling the key points that make your pitch so effective:

First, Your Pitch Is Complete and To-The-Point
The most important benefits and points of the concept are explained. Leave the prospect with more answers than questions.

Second, Your Pitch is Really Easy to Understand
Cut the tech talk and industry related jargon – save it for the boardroom. Your pitch is meant for more than a discussion about your ideas, it’s meant to persuade and inspire action. So keep it simple enough to pitch both your great nephew and your grandmother, you only have 90 seconds and there’s no time to lose focus on your goal.

Third, Your Pitch Connects With the Audiences Emotions
In most cases you’ll be appealing to your prospects greed. Who doesn’t want more money, more assets or a better lifestyle for themselves, hit those hot-buttons. You can also appeal to emotions like social responsibility, or happiness.

Fourth, Your Pitch is Absolutely Irrefutable – Everyone Wants’ a Piece
When you walk away from your prospect you’re going to know you did everything because you made your pitch as irrefutable as possible. Make the prospect feel as if they are giving something incredible up if they don’t pursue it.

Your pitch should be fresh, let it change with your business and your views – but keep it powerful and refined. Practice is more than important here because if you decide to make the elevator pitch your secret weapon – then you’ll need to practice it at every chance. Pitch to your friends, your family, your co-workers and anyone who will tolerate it – but don’t just walk away unsatisfied, gauge the reactions and learn how to present to the audience in front of you.

Give it a shot, write down a quick couple points right now, and pitch them to yourself (the potential client) in the mirror. Try and pitch those points to one new person every day until you’re comfortable and then I’ll be waiting to hear it myself.