17 November Elevator Pitches: Marketing Yourself in an Instant November 17, 2020 By sma Business Tips, Marketing business growth, networking, small business 0 ELEVATOR PITCHES: MARKETING YOURSELF IN AN INSTANT November 17, 2020 | Business Tips, Marketing | business growth, small business, networking By Kimberly Stevens, NPI, Inc.'s Marketing Coach Elevator pitches help business owners provide service highlights in a quick, precise manner, which is perfect for today’s fast-paced flow of information. Whether you’re new to the elevator pitch or just need a refresher, here are some tips for crafting one like a pro. Purpose of an Elevator Pitch The main purpose of an elevator pitch is to grab the attention of prospective clients on the fly. You can use it at the coffee shop, at trade shows or anywhere else where you want to reach more people in less time. Ideally, you want to make your pitch last between 30-60 seconds (around the length of an elevator ride). If you run too long, you’ll lose interest. If you undershoot it, your audience may leave with more questions than answers. Content of Your Pitch The most difficult part of creating an elevator pitch is trying to “trim the fat” in your conversation. You want to be able to cover all the information you need, without feeling as though you’re cramming it together. Some important items to remember when creating your speech are: Your name and the title of your business What you do What you’re looking for A call to action for the client Ending with a call to action is crucial for engaging the person you’re talking to and prompting them to take the next step in hiring you. You can ask a question as simple as, “Is there anything I mentioned that you would like more information on?”. Or you can ask follow-ups about a specific item mentioned such as a service or deal that you offer. Tailoring Your Pitch While it’s good to have a standard pitch at your fingertips, you might find that it needs restructuring to be useful in multiple scenarios. Each situation you use your pitch in is different, and there’s no time for irrelevant information. You want to keep your audience as engaged as you can, which means you may have to tweak some of your talking points on the fly. You can learn more about a person by asking questions about them. This helps make the conversation more personal and doesn’t make them feel as though you’re selling to them. Practice Your Pitch Often You’ll be able to fine-tune your pitch as time goes on, but you should also practice it often when first starting out. You can bounce ideas off of your friends, family or even your co-workers. When you feel a bit more confident, you can begin to test the waters on potential clients. Don’t get discouraged if everything isn’t completely polished right away. Head back to the drawing board and continue to improve your speech. Use Materials with Your Pitch Along with trying to engage your listeners with your speech, you should also incorporate supplemental materials like a business card or flyer. You can use them to highlight different talking points, and they’ll help listeners follow along better. Customers can take these items home with them to review and refer back to. Plus, handouts make it easy for customers to get in contact with you later. Be Confident While You Talk Last, but definitely not least, it’s important that you stay confident as you give your speech. Speak clearly and don’t rush! Consistently practicing your pitch will help smooth out any bumps and make you sound more conversational. Elevator pitches are easy to do and easy not to do. Take the time to create yours, and add another tool to your marketing kit! Have you always wanted to start your own business? Check out npifranchise.com to learn more about the inspection industry! About the Author Kimberly Stevens, Marketing Coach The baby of eight children, Kimberly learned quickly to master the art of communication in order to be heard. She has been with NPI for more than 15 years and is passionate about getting to know our franchisees. Kimberly is a certified marketing and business coach, trainer and speaker, leading training seminars, one-to-one coaching and more. She's a high-energy, fiery red head and an eternal optimist. Her greatest joy is celebrating our franchisees’ victories! Comments are closed.