Ask five different employees to tell you in 30 seconds or less what it is that your company does and you’ll likely have five different responses.
While at networking functions, making sales calls and just talking to the guy in the office building next to you, you need to be able to say who you are, what you do and how you offer a solution. You need an elevator speech.
An elevator speech or 30-second pitch is an overview of your company, product or service. The idea is to be able to communicate your message in the time that it takes to ride on an elevator.
In order to demonstrate what a good elevator speech looks like, let me first begin with a poor one.
As a business analyst in the automotive industry, I manage the support, improvements and developments for several statistical and engineering systems focused on product quality. I am currently working on a quality system used as a workflow system for vehicle quality countermeasures worldwide.
Did your eyes glaze over? Do you have an idea of what exactly this person does for a living? Do you know the benefit he is providing to the consumer? I don’t. And for full disclosure, a friend of mine stated the above when I first asked him what he does. I still have no clue what he does.
Let’s move on to what a good pitch looks like.
As I’m writing this entry, I realize while we often help our clients perfect their own pitches, we have never taken the time to write our own. So, here goes:
As partner of Gray Public Relations, I help business owners use the power of PR to reach their business goals. Whether it’s increasing sales, advancing a cause or raising funds, we help to frame the issue and tell the story. We do this by working with the media, internal audiences and other constituents. Our clients include more than a dozen businesses from a variety of industries – all wanting to take their company to the next level.
How did I do? Am I clearly articulating the benefit clients receive by working with Gray Public Relations? Am I clear, concise or am I rambling? Using industry jargon? Does the speech project credibility?
As I often try to follow my own advice, I will periodically review the pitch and modify as needed. Trying out the pitch is a surefire way to see if it resonates. Are people listening intently or are their eyes wandering? Do they have that, “oh, I get it” look demonstrating to you that they now understand what you do?
Listed below are tips to develop your own winning elevator speech:
• Be confident and passionate about what you do
• Write and modify your pitch as needed
• Be clear and concise and avoid industry jargon or acronyms
• Demonstrate how your company, product or service benefits people and solves a problem
• Sounds credible by touching on your experience
• Be consistent. All team members of a company should essentially communicate the same elevator speech
Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to the perfect pitch. Just be sure to avoid phrases such as workflow processes, ….