As a small business owner, you should have a concise, memorable explanation of your offering and its value at the ready to share with prospects.
This is sometimes called an elevator pitch or elevator speech.
Whether you’re introducing yourself at a networking event, sharing information with colleagues about your business, or making a sales pitch, you must get your message across quickly to pique the listener’s interest.
An elevator pitch summarises your offering to earn a second conversation with the listener.
There are various situations in which you might share your elevator pitch.
It could be at a conference introducing yourself to potential customers, introducing a new business opportunity to your CEO, during a job search, or during an initial outreach call.
Whatever the purpose, an elevator pitch should be:
By meeting these requirements, you give yourself the best chance of building on this first impression later on.
The name elevator pitch comes from the notion that you should be able to share your message in the time it takes for an elevator ride.
Generally speaking, a well-executed, effective elevator pitch should be around 30 seconds.
This is enough time to present a digestible message without losing the prospect’s attention, sharing who you are, what you do, and what you hope to achieve.
Your elevator pitch should pave the way for further interaction, meaning it should highlight why you are unique while including some kind of hook to encourage further dialogue.
Getting that right in thirty seconds takes practice and preparation.
You should take the time to write various elevator pitches so you can focus on communicating the essentials. Follow this up by reading them aloud to ensure they flow naturally.
It’s helpful to follow a template.
Effective elevator pitches should include these five elements as a guiding rule. However, within this framework, there is scope for various styles.
Take inspiration from the following elevator pitch examples:
Hi, I’m [name, position] from QuickBooks.
Do you find it challenging to navigate all the intricacies of Goods and Service Tax?
Our company founders hated dealing with all the complicated forms, too.
That’s why they created a tool to guide business owners through the process step-by-step.
Do you have 15 minutes this week to discuss how our solution can help your business?
Questions can be an engaging tool to use in your elevator pitches. This one helps to refer to a common pain point that establishes rapport through empathy. The message goes on to provide a solution to the issue before requesting a time to discuss it further.
Hi, I’m [name, position] from [company name]
Did you know that X hours are wasted each week on unnecessary admin in sales teams?
This time would be better spent pursuing leads.
[company name] is a game changer as it automatically takes care of data entry and low-value tasks for you, freeing up time for tasks that matter.
Do you have time for a call this week to hear how we can save you time?
People are intrigued by stats. In this example, an interesting statistic is used to highlight a pain point. It highlights the productivity costs of unnecessary admin before suggesting a tool to provide a solution and improve sales performance.
At QuickBooks, we’re all about removing the stress of tax season.
Laura, a business owner in Sydney, used to dread tax season, spending hours amid mountains of paperwork.
Now that she uses QuickBooks, tax season is painless.
She loves that the software automatically tracks her GST obligations.
Can we organise a chat to share how we can help with your taxes?
Adding customer examples to your elevator pitches can demonstrate credibility. This example portrays a clear ‘before and after’ scenario showing how the product helps the consumer.
Once you have written various elevator pitch drafts of different styles, you should take the time to focus on your delivery.
1. Stick to your outline
When delivering your elevator pitch, try to stay grounded to your initial outline to ensure your message gets through. This doesn’t necessarily mean reciting the pitch word for word as this risks sounding rehearsed. It’s helpful to stick to an outline to hit the main points without going off-topic.
Make the most of your time when speaking by enunciating clearly so that the audience understands your pitch. Overly rushed or mumbled elevator pitches can betray nervousness, threatening the clarity of your offering. However, don’t speak too slowly as this risks losing the prospect’s attention. Getting the right balance takes practice.
It’s a good idea to record your elevator pitch. Play around with turns of phrase, tone, and speed to see what you think works best from the listener’s point of view.
Your elevator pitch should always focus on providing solutions. Everything about your pitch should reflect this positivity instead of focusing too much on the initial problem.
Having that concise, memorable elevator pitch on hand is a fantastic tip for growing a business.
At QuickBooks, we offer more than just our software to encourage you to take the next steps to build on your successes.
From helpful tutorial videos to user guides, we want to help businesses grow with our products.
Head to our small business blog to find plenty of insightful advice on taking your business to the next level.
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