How to Craft an Unforgettable Elevator Pitch to Elevate Your Business

If someone asked you right now, “What do you do?” would you have a clear, confident, and compelling answer? If not, you’re not alone. Many entrepreneurs and business owners struggle to articulate what they do in a way that grabs attention and leaves a lasting impression. That’s where an elevator pitch comes in. Today, we’re going to talk about how to create an elevator pitch that gets people excited about your business and why having one is absolutely essential for your success.



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Chapters

• 0:00 Crafting a Compelling Elevator Pitch
• 13:42 Elevator Pitch Improvement Cycle

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:49

If someone were to ask you right now, what do you do, would you have a clear, confident and compelling answer? If not, you're not alone. Many business owners and entrepreneurs struggle to articulate what they do in a way that grabs people's attention and leaves a lasting impression. I know for us, even after 22 years of being in business, as of this recording, I still struggle with this, mainly because we didn't need to create an elevator pitch in the beginning, and then also because we do so many things for clients, it's really hard to make that concise and compelling and easy to remember. But this is where an elevator pitch comes in. Today, we're talking about how to create an elevator pitch that gets people excited about your business and why having one is absolutely essential for your business, and even if you already have one, it may be worth a listen just to make sure you aren't missing one of these key components to your elevator pitch.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Welcome to the e-commerce made easy podcast. I'm your host, keri Saunders. When we started this business, all I had was a couch, a laptop and a nine monthmonth-old my main goal To help others. Now, with over 20 years in the e-commerce building industry and even more than that in web development, I have seen a lot. I love breaking down the hard tech into easily understandable bits to help others be successful in their online business. Whether you're a seasoned e-commerce veteran or just starting out, you've come to the right place. So sit back, relax and let's dive into the world of e-commerce together. Welcome back to the e-commerce made easy podcast.

Speaker 1: 2:18

Today, we're talking about one of the most important tools of our business, for any entrepreneur, which is the elevator pitch. Think of it as your verbal business card. It's a concise, compelling way to explain what you do and why it matters. And you need this to be really concise and memorable too. So that's why we want to make sure it's short and formulaic, and whether you're pitching to a client, networking with others or even chatting with somebody at the coffee shop, your elevator pitch can open doors you didn't even know were there. So let's craft a pitch that makes people say tell me more. We're going to go through some of those steps here in this episode. So, first off, we've already touched on why an elevator pitch is so important, but let's go through those points right now.

Speaker 1: 3:02

So in today's fast-paced world, people's attention spans are short. We all know this right. You have just a few seconds to capture someone's interest before they tune out and move on, and that's where your elevator pitch comes in. So there's some key elements of a great elevator pitch. One, it creates clarity. It forces you to distill your business's value into a clear and concise message. And second, it creates confidence. Having a pitch prepared means you'll never stumble over your words when someone asks you what you do. I know I sometimes stumble over my words when somebody asks us what we do. It's a very hard concept for me and something we're working on, myself like regularly working on making it better and better. Another key benefit is it creates opportunities. So, whether you're in a networking event, pitching to an investor, a medium potential client, your elevator pitch can open that door to new opportunities, as we talked about.

Speaker 1: 4:02

So we want to think of it like this your elevator pitch is a spark that starts the fire. It creates that interest. It makes somebody think oh wait, I kind of want to learn more about this. I'm not quite sure what you mean. Well, you might know what they mean, but you're like I kind of know what they mean, but I want to learn more. So it really draws them in, is what it's meant to do, piques their attention and it creates a little bit of a memorable moment about you and they will tend to remember you a bit more. So let's go into a few things that make a great elevator pitch, because they're not all created equal. And a great elevator pitch, as we've alluded to, is clear, concise and tailored to your audience too. So you should communicate three things who you are, what you do and why does it matter. So some key ingredients of an elevator pitch are one you could create a hook, where you're basically creating a statement or question that grabs attention. So you want to do this to really like make them their ears perk up and start to listen to you.

Speaker 1: 5:07

So for our business, I could say did you know that 70% of small businesses websites fail to convert visitors into customers? That's an alarming rate, right? That really piques your attention and gets you listening up, doesn't it? Then you also want to have a value proposition there. You want to clearly explain what you do and the problem you solve. For example, we could say I help small businesses transform their websites into high converting sales tools. That's pretty clear, right, and, honestly, that covers pretty much everything we do here, even though we have so many skills at our business and we can do so many things around websites and technology. That really makes it very concise and value proposition. Let me read that again. I help small businesses transform their websites into high converting sales tools Very concise and direct, right.

Speaker 1: 6:00

And then, lastly, a call to action is great to have in with a step or invitation to continue the conversation. This can be up to you whether you want to do this type of call to action or not, but here's an example. If you're struggling with conversions, I'd love to share a few tips. Are you open to that? So that's really great when you're really talking to a potential prospective client, to do a call to action at the end of your elevator pitch.

Speaker 1: 6:24

So you want to adjust your elevator pitch and have a few different versions depending on who you're talking to. But these are some great elements you can have in it and it needs to feel natural, conversational and authentic and, like I said, we want to have it memorized, but it shouldn't sound like a memorized sales script too. So that's why I want you to create a few different versions so you can make it fluid on the different pieces you pick from each of the versions to make it be more natural in your conversation with the person you're talking to. So now that you know what makes a good and great elevator pitch, let's figure out how we, how do we, actually create this. So some few steps we want to do is one we want to identify our audience and this is why I'm suggesting we have a few different versions that are really similar and it's not going to really trip you up to figure out which one to use. So we want to figure out one.

Speaker 1: 7:17

Who are we speaking to? So your pitch can be based upon whether you're talking to a potential client, an investor, a networking contact who might be able to help bring business to you through their contacts. So, for example, for a client, you might want to focus on how you solve their problem. If you're talking to a potential client, for an investor, you might highlight the unique value or scalability of your business. Because you're talking to a potential client. For an investor, you might highlight the unique value or scalability of your business because you're wanting them to invest in your business and help you grow and scale. For a networking person, you might want to tailor it to you know how you guys can mutually potentially benefit each other in each other's businesses. And then, step number two we want to define our value. So what problem do you solve and why does it matter?

Speaker 1: 8:00

Use simple, jargon-free language to describe your value proposition. For example, instead of we leverage innovative solutions to optimize conversion metrics, say something like we help businesses get more sales from their websites. Let me say that again because that first one is something that you might hear kind of frequently in an elevator pitch, but then, if you really think about it, what does that really mean? So let me read that one again we leverage innovative solutions to optimize conversion metrics. Yeah, that's a lot of fluff in there, right? We don't want to have the fluff in there. Instead, something like we help businesses get more sales from their websites. It's so much more clear, concise, honestly, easier to remember and easier for the other person who you're speaking to to remember as well.

Speaker 1: 8:50

And then we want to add a hook. As we've talked to you before, start with something that grabs attention, like a surprising fact, ask a question or a bold statement. For example, most business owners are sitting on a goldmine and don't even know it their website. Now, for me, that's not really quite my style. I don't think I would necessarily word it like that, but it does grab your attention. So I would probably use something close to that, but not quite like that. It's just like I said, it's not quite my style. So when you add your hook, make sure it's still within your branding and your business style, because that example I gave to you on purpose isn't quite our business style, because I wanted to make a point there that While this is an elevator pitch and we're trying to like really grab somebody's attention, make sure it still sticks within you and your brand and it feels comfortable for you.

Speaker 1: 9:42

And then step number four is we want to practice your delivery. So we want to practice this on people. So get some people that you know decently well you can do it with some of your business friends and things like that and practice it. Because I know that I have created elevator pitches before and I still stumbled over my words when I went to need to say it on a Zoom call or even type it in the chat of a Zoom call, or if I was at a coffee shop and somebody asked me what do I do. Because that actually happened like a couple months ago and I was like I didn't know how to say it, and even though this is something I've been working on, I still stumbled on my words because I just haven't done it enough. So when you practice it, you're going to get a lot more comfortable with it, because we want to make sure that we're sounding natural when we're doing it. So there's a few suggestions on how you can practice with it.

Speaker 1: 10:33

So let me, you know, recap into like a full example elevator pitch based upon what we talked about here. So here's the full one. Did you know that most websites lose 80% of their visitors? And under 15 seconds, I help small businesses turn their visitors into paying customers by creating websites that are designed to convert. If you're struggling with getting sales online, I'd love to share a few strategies. Are you open to that? Or you could end it with you know, would you like to hear more information? You know, make it friendly, no obligation. You know we're just talking. You know wanting to help somebody out, so let's talk about briefly some common mistakes to avoid, though, and we touched on some of these as we've gone through the examples, but I want to bring it into one group here on our podcast.

Speaker 1: 11:23

One of them is being too vague, so if your pitch doesn't clearly explain what you do, people won't know how to engage with you. Their minds will be like kind of racing and being like OK, now what do I say next? Because that wasn't very clear on what I was and what they're talking about. And then that's going to make them stumble and it's going to be a creative quite the awkward conversation. So don't be too vague when you're doing this.

Speaker 1: 11:46

And secondly, we want to keep it short. We don't want to overload it with details. We want to keep it at about 30 to 60 seconds long. We want to save those details for later conversations because our brains can only absorb so much verbally, especially when we first met somebody or first learning what they do. So we really want to keep this nice and short and concise. And then a third we want to focus on yourself, not your audience. So we want to not do that. That's one of the mistakes we want to avoid is we don't want to focus on ourself, not your audience, so we want to not do that. That's one of the mistakes we want to avoid is we don't want to focus on ourself and not on our audience. We want to flip that script. So your pitch should center on the problem you solve for others, not just you and your business. So talk about what are you doing for others in your pitch.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Okay, so let's do a quick recap. So a great elevator pitch is clear. It explains who you are, what you do and why it matters. And again, we're talking more about the person you're talking to when you're saying this elevator pitch, rather than you yourself Focus on their problem. Two, we want to make sure it's concise. We want to get straight to the point in about 30 to 60 seconds. Something nice and brief and quick and easy to process and remember. And number three, we want to make sure it's compelling. We want to hook our audience, get their attention and leave them wanting more information too. So make sure it's compelling. And so by creating a great elevator pitch and practicing it, you're going to feel a lot more confident and prepared to make the most of any opportunity that you run to, whether it's in a grocery store, coffee shop, you're on a Zoom call and they unexpectedly go around the room in the Zoom call right and ask each one of you what do you do? And you know. Then you're not caught off guard, you've got this prepared and ready and you're going to feel more confident and you're going to make a lot better lasting impression on others from that.

Speaker 1: 13:43

So I challenge you, after listening to this podcast, maybe re-listen to it or go to our e-commerce made easy podcastcom website and look at the show notes and really craft that elevator pitch. And honestly, we would love it if you emailed it to us. We would love to see what elevator pitches you come up with from here. You never know. We may even be able to collaborate some on with our customers and some of our projects. So feel free to drop that to podcast at bcsengineeringcom. And that's all we have for you with this episode of the e-commerce made easy podcast. I hope it was super helpful and I will be going back through these notes and also redoing my elevator pitch because I feel like we always can be improving this. This actually is a good point here is we want to be doing this probably about once a year because our businesses evolve over the years, so make sure you're revisiting this. Maybe it's your December task. Always in December you're reevaluating your elevator pitch for the new year and we will see you next week on the e-commerce made easy podcast.