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Richard Kovacevich, former CEO of Wells Fargo
What is a great elevator pitch?
It is a short statement you make about your business that captures the questioner's attention, raises their interest and helps them see you as someone they want to know more about, so they can use you or recommend you. Your pitch, therefore, must engage, intrigue and perhaps even inspire. Your questioner must see you as different, special — and valuable.
To achieve that goal in a few seconds means you must know:
- What business are you really in?
- How do you benefit your customers?
- Why are the benefits you provide exceptional or even unique?
The formula for the perfect elevator pitch
When you know what business you are in, and how you benefit your customers and clients, you can put that into a simple three-step formula.
Step 1: Ask a rhetorical question that focuses on the problems your marketplace faces, and that you can fix. A question will automatically stimulate thought, so they will pay attention.
Step 2: Follow with a simple statement such as, "What I do is to..."
Step 3: Focus on special values that clearly state how your customers or clients benefit in ways your listener probably won't have thought of.
Excellent elevator pitch examples
Here are a few examples of how a great pitch would go:
- "Do you know that most home sellers get less than they deserve? I am a realtor who markets homes and negotiates contracts, so my clients get the highest price and the best terms possible. I also do it in their preferred time scale and with the absolute minimum hassle."
- "Do you know how much food/raw material/merchandise finishes up on the factory floor? I make packaging products that optimize my customer's production processes, so they minimize their costs, get more product out the door and maximize their profits."
- "Do you know that most accident victims get short-changed by their insurance company? I use the law to make sure my clients get absolutely everything they deserve and need, not just straight after the accident, but forever."
The bottom line
A great elevator pitch generates business. Know these principles, follow the three steps, memorize your pitch and practice it to make it perfect.
Rhett Power is the co-founder of Wild Creations and the author of "The Entrepreneurs Book of Actions."