I have heard this many times over. \” Whats the point of creating hype and giving elevator pitches, when you are not trying to close a sale in that conversation. Elevator pitches are sales tools used by salesmen of consumer companies.\”
I would say that this is very far away from the truth. Elevator pitches are relevant and important for any kind of business, be it B2B or B2C. (For those who do not know, Elevator pitches are the kind you provide to a person, who you bounce into in an elevator accidently, but want him as a customer. It need not be delivered only in an elevator though)
According to me, elevator pitches help you put a foot in the door and give you another chance to engage with your potential prospect. It helps keep the engagement alive for a sale to happen.
I feel the following are good ground rules for a 30 seconds to 2 mins elevator pitch
- You should greet the other person well and warm the relationship quickly with any general relevancy comment
- You should deliver a power packed message in 2-3 sentences max and actively look for signs of interest (this has to be based on a hypothesis of what would be relevant for the target prospect, which needs research to be done)
- If there is interest shown, make sure that you define next steps very clearly and exit. (Send collateral, fix appointment, meet)
Elevator pitches help you achieve the first conditional sale with the customer. you are IN and need to prepare for the next conditional sale.
All the very best !
Atul
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