Your Elevator Pitch

One of the keys to getting people to buy your stuff is developing a clear statement of what you do.  Give people a vision of what they would get if they bought your product or service.  Or even what they could expect if they hired you.

For example, if I told you that ABC Company does collaborative development of a comprehensive suite of innovation practices to dramatically increase rates of success in innovation delivery and adoption…um, do you know what ABC Company does?

Or how about this one:  XYZ Firm develops affordable real-life solutions for important issues faced by most businesses in today’s fast-changing marketplace.

Now before you accuse me of making these descriptions up…I want you to know they are real.  I just changed the name of the company.

Translate this into our everyday conversations with people.  When you meet a person at a professional association meeting and they tell you, “I leverage technologies to create interactive solutions for my clients.”  What the…?

Hey, I’m a plain English kinda girl.  When Wally Bock writes, “My Working Supervisor’s Support Kit helps bosses do better.”  I get a vision – buy this kit, give it to your supervisors and they will get better at managing the workforce.

I know developing a concise pitch can be hard.  But there are really only three main elements:

  1. Describe who you are and what you do.
  2. Tell them your goal.
  3. Explain why you’re unique.

If you’re looking for some help in creating or refining yours, check out Harvard Business School’s Elevator Pitch Builder.  It walks you through the process of building your own elevator pitch and provides some tips to consider when you’re using it in business situations.  I really liked the section at the end where it does an analysis of what you’ve created and provides an estimate of how long it would take you to say the pitch.

Take a few moments to think about your elevator pitch.  Every company out there should help “increase rates of success” and “develop real-life solutions”.  That’s a no brainer.  Make sure it clearly tells potential customers what you do.

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