The elevator pitch, which can also work perfectly well on an escalator, is one of the oldest sales conversations in the book and still a handy marketing tool.
An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in the products and services your planning firm offers. The pitch should be conversational rather than jargonistic; keep long-winded statements to a minimum.
As the marketing landscape becomes more cluttered, having a quick, sharp message that anyone in the can deliver business – whether it’s a director, a planner or a support staff member – to explain what you do is crucial in my opinion. Louise Lakomy, a partner with Sydney-based Crystal Wealth Partners agrees.
“All businesses should have one,” she says.
What are the benefits of the pitch?
The whole concept of the elevator pitch is to distil your messaging into its most simplified form. Moreover, the pitch should be designed so that you or your staff can deliver it in a variety of scenarios. Lakomy adds: “We get a lot of referral business, as we’re very client-centric; however, I’m confident our staff can, in 30 seconds, outline the services we offer and how we help our clients change their financial futures.”
A good elevator pitch can make it easy for your audience to understand what you do. At the same time, I’ve written before that delivering consistent marketing messages is a challenge for many businesses. Your elevator pitch attempts to address this challenge.
Writing a good elevator pitch
There are a few critical points to crafting a strong elevator pitch:
- Align it with your overall marketing message: Fashioning a good pitch starts with ensuring you understand how it fits with the rest of your marketing messages. As with all good marketing, consistency is crucial, so use messages such as your mission statement, why statement, value proposition, and unique selling propositions as your starting point. It will make the process easier.
- Develop different options: The best way to find the right words is to start writing them down. Aim for one or two succinct sentences that spell out very clearly what it is you do. Then start adjusting the pitch until it feels like it works for you. Ideally, you should be able to articulate the pitch in 10-15 seconds, even less.
- Involve other people: I’m sure there are others in your business or in your network who can contribute. So, round up a small group, either to write the elevator pitch or to road-test your version. Try to keep an open mind to the approach.
- Share it: Make sure the whole team knows about the pitch and is comfortable with it. Invariably, your staff members will add their language and communication styles. That’s perfectly fine, if their version still encapsulates the critical messages about your firm.
