Your Elevator Pitch - 9 Tips to Make Your Impact Between Floors
The elevator pitch. Everyone is talking about it: in boardrooms, business networking groups and around the water cooler. Though the idea has been around for years, the recent popularity of business breakfasts and networking groups (and speed-dating) seems to have brought the elevator pitch to the fore again. You eat your bacon and egg, pass your business cards around the table, and then you have one or two minutes to excite your fellow breakfasters with what you can do for them.
The elevator pitch was born in the consulting and investment world; named after the idea of pitching an idea to your boss during a 60-second (or less) elevator ride.
Preparation is everything. Of course, you know what you do, but can you really articulate what truly differentiates your business (and the benefits for a potential client) in the moments after the doors slide closed?
By writing your pitch down, refining it, and learning to deliver it naturally, you will be ready when your big moment arrives!
As a copywriter, involved in business networking, I have developed elevator pitches for myself and others. Here is what I have learned. (Including a sample elevator pitch that you can customize with your own details.)
1. Start with the classic copywriter AIDA mnemonic: Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action. Write down your best ideas and form them into a logical structure.
2. Brainstorm your business, write down what you do, what differentiates you and what defines your unique offer (your USPs).
3. ‘Plan for small buildings’. Keep your elevator pitch brief, powerful and passionate; solve a problem and emphasise the benefits you will bring.
4. Your elevator pitch should be goal-orientated. What do you want your listener to do next?
6. Put your elevator pitch aside for a day or two, then refine. Repeat as necessary, probably several times.
7. Conclude with a call to action: always ask if you can call your subject, have their business card or do something similar.
8. Practice your elevator pitch out loud until it comes naturally.
9. Refine your elevator pitch some more as necessary. Once you have perfected your basic pitch, you can also customize it for different target audiences.
To give you an idea of a sample elevator pitch, here is mine. Feel free to use this as a guide but please change the details and tailor it to your business. After all, there is only one Al Hidden Copywriter.
The doors have closed: here goes…
[Awareness]
‘I am Al Hidden, an experienced freelance copywriter serving Gloucestershire and the rest of the UK. I write for businesses like yours that need to define and differentiate themselves in writing, but which don’t have the time or specialist skills to do it themselves.’
[Interest]
‘I write website content, technical copy, client case-studies, brochure copy, press releases and other PR writing: the communications that organisations like yours use to persuade or inform readers and get them to respond.’
[Desire]
‘My USP is offering big-company experience and skills combined with small-business service. You’ll benefit from my having more than 25 years of experience in technical sales, marketing, technical writing, public relations and copywriting across several different sectors. When we work together, clients like you enjoy cost-effective, creative copywriting when they need it. Without costly overhead when they don’t.’
[Action]
‘Imagine how my copywriting could differentiate your business? May I have your business card so I can contact you to arrange a brief introductory meeting?’
Now write your elevator pitch. When it’s done, just get out there and actively look for opportunities to deliver it. With time it will become second nature and, because so many people struggle to deliver a concise, engaging pitch, you’ll be head and shoulders above the competition when it comes to differentiating your business in elevators, parking lots or business networking meetings.
Copyright 2008 Al Hidden
Al Hidden is a freelance copywriter based in Gloucestershire, England. His background is in technical sales, marketing management, technical writing, copywriting and PR. He specializes in technical, marketing, PR, website and SEO copywriting and copy-editing for large and small organisations in Gloucestershire and the rest of the UK.
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