“What does your business do?”
Your answer to this question can make or break your next opportunity – everyone you meet has the potential to not only become a client/customer/lead but also connect or refer you to their own network.
This is why you need to work on your own elevator pitch response – it’s as essential to a business as a logo or website!
Read more: 6 Ways to Get Great New Clients
What is an elevator pitch?
An elevator pitch is your succinct description of what your business does and offers, designed to educate your listener and lead on to the next stage of your conversation (ideally an enquiry!).
You likely won’t have a full minute to pitch your product and business – instead, prepare a mini-intro to be followed by an organic discussion to provide more information.
Stop selling
Effective elevator pitches don’t use hard-sell tactics, instead choosing to educate the listener. If your language is persuasive enough, you’ll be able to convince them that your product or business would make a great asset to their life.
One sentence to rule them all
The first key is to brainstorm a single sentence – how can you describe your business and what it does as succinctly as possible?
What, who, why, where?
What do you do or provide? Who is your target audience? Why do you do what you do? Are you local or international?
Answering these can provide you with the framework for your elevator pitch.
For example, Hub Australia provides premium coworking spaces and communities to businesses designed to help them grow and connect.
Read more: Want to Grow Your Business? Get the Basics!
Be adaptable
Your elevator pitch may differ if you’re explaining to different people – someone who perfectly fits one of your member personas may understand what you do already, in which case you can focus your differentiators.
If you’re talking to a friend or someone who has no knowledge about your industry, you’ll likely need to provide your pitch in layman’s terms.
Having a few different versions memorised ready to adjust or expand at any moment means you’re truly prepared for whoever you may meet!
Keep it simple
Jargon can be alienating – if someone is open and curious about what you do, make sure you talk to them as an equal rather than overwhelming them with acronyms and industry-speak.
The primary purpose is to educate, not to close the deal.
For those already identified as prospective clients, you can expand into an advanced elevator pitch – perhaps you have statistics that showcase your expertise or seniority, or other information that will set you apart as an industry leader.
For example: “Hub Australia is the largest Australian owned coworking provider. We provide premium workspaces to businesses in Australia so they can grow, alongside a community of 3,500+ members across 4 states.”
Practice
Delivery is half the battle – you can have the best words in the world, but you need confidence in your memory and delivery.
Not everyone can be a great public speaker, but conveying that you are confident in your product and service is an essential skill that can pay for itself a hundredfold.
It may be worth investing in training for yourself or your team to develop your speaking skills to be equipped with the talent to represent your business with confidence.
Know your CTA
If your elevator pitch is the result of a chance encounter, know the next step you want – do you want to give them your business card, or tell them to follow you on social media?
Perhaps you’re speaking at an event you’d love to see them at – whatever the action, don’t be afraid to close your conversation with the request so your new prospective client or partner knows the best route to take to find out more!
