I found this in a file earlier this week. It was part of a pre-work exercise for a well known professional services firm. We were engaged to help them redefine their corporate value proposition and messaging architecture. I thought it might be useful for the group.

Who Uses It?

Everyone:

• Marketing Teams
• Salespeople
• Recruiters
• Investor Relations.

What You Should Not Do:

Most elevator pitches miss the mark because:

• They are too long–“We have an elevator pitch but it requires a building with 700 floors…”
• They are too technical
• They lead with bragging points or product features — “We are the leading provider with 54 offices in 29 countries.”
• They are ego-centric rather than customer-centric—An elevator pitch is a response to the question what do you (or what does your company) do? When a customer asks this they mean, “what do you do for me? “

How To Do It Right:

• Be customer-centric
• Be concise (30-60 seconds max)
• Be true and “ownable”
• Convey business outcomes, not bragging points or features.
• Show, don’t tell— provide a story that will show a customer what your company will do for them.

Best Practices:

Elevator Pitch Should ‘Tell a Story’ that:

• Addresses: Situation, Impact and Resolution
• Starts with customers; ends with outcomes
• Quantifies your value proposition

Try beginning with a provocative statistic

It should consist of three parts:

1. Situation – cite the dilemma, pain, difficulties or complications that the prospect faces…
2. Impact – quantify the impact that the situation is having on the prospect’s bottom line…
3. Resolution (Solution) – how do you solve the problem?

The post Best Practices for Creating an Elevator Pitch appeared first on Carbon Design.