What is your elevator pitch?

If a potential new client asked you what you do, how well would you sell your business and more importantly yourself?

Communication is fundamental to the success of any business. How a business highlights its experience, empathy, expertise and its history of problem-solving is key. It needs to sell the value it adds and sometimes quickly.

Have you considered how well you do this?

If so what tactics do you use? How powerful is your website, does social media come into your communications mix. Do you use testimonials and referrals to show clients all the help you have given people in the past?

These are all excellent tactics but we should never underestimate the most powerful marketing technique on this planet and one we can all use, word of mouth.

How many of you have developed a business elevator pitch to make sure people are aware of your business proposition and the value it adds?

What's an elevator pitch, and how can it help your business?

Imagine an elevator door opens. And there stands a potentially great client. It's the chance of a lifetime. But that chance only lasts as long as the elevator ride - you have less than a minute to make an impression. Hopefully, you've got a well-crafted elevator pitch ready to give.

An elevator pitch – also known as an elevator speech – is a quick synopsis of your background and experience. The reason it's called an elevator pitch is that it should be short enough to present during a brief elevator ride.

This speech is all about you: who you are, what you do, and what you want to do for clients

Your elevator pitch is a way to share your expertise and credentials quickly and effectively with people who don't know you or clients you may not have seen for a while.

How to create your elevator pitch

The elevator pitch is not the hurried presentation of a full-blown business plan. It's an introduction, an overview, and a pitch - and a short one at that - meant to capture the attention of a potential client.

Here are 10 tips to keep in mind as you craft your elevator pitch:

1. Keep it short and highlight the value you add
Have a hook to attract the client
Pitch your value and ideas
Don't forget to highlight what makes you different
Don't use technical or industry jargon
Practice on family and friends and be bold even existing clients
Use the same tactics for print to ensure you have a consistent message especially on social media
Revise and adapt as you gain confidence
Be sure you believe in it
Listen to clients reaction, do they value certain elements if so major on them next time.

If you get your elevator pitch right and you cascade this on to your clients they can pass this on to those they know using the power of the spoken word.

You will also grow in confidence as you articulate the value you add and why you’re worth the price you charge.

I would urge you all to have a go now and see how you get on.

* John Joe McGinley, Glassagh Consulting, February 2020.

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