An effective elevator pitch gets sales conversations started on the right foot and it has been proven to contribute to sales success. Why? Because your customer understands immediately why he or she should listen to you. And that is critical to the success of cold-calling.
Picture this: You’re back in the 1930s in Hollywood - the age of lavish glamour and sex appeal. Every man and woman is fighting for their chance to become the biggest and most predominant star in their area of specialty. You are a passionate and driven script writer; and you have been working on one for months, writing your best ever script! You know it will be gold for the studios!You’ve arrived at the MGM Studios to present to the producers. Although you don’t have an appointment, you are determined to make an impression.You walk swiftly, but nervously into the foyer to the elevators. You breathe in deeply. The elevator door opens and there stand some of the producers. It's the chance of a lifetime, right there for your taking. And it is only going to last as long as the elevator ride – you’re going to have less than a minute to make tell them about your Script and why they should use it.That is the origin of the concept of the "Elevator Pitch". Script writers would flock to the foyers of big studios, attempting to sell their script to the producers in the elevators. The catch was that they only had around 5-10 seconds to sum up the unique aspects of this script, in a way that excited others!
Doesn't this sound familiar, in our days of information overload and work pressure? For Business Owners and Sales people today, mastering the art of making an effective Elevator Pitch is just as much a fundamental skill. Yet many executives pay little attention to the continuing development of "the elevator pitch”; and they often forget to work out how to make it connect with their audience.
“An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea, product, service, project, person, or other Solution and is designed to just get a conversation started. - www.elevatorpitchessentials.com”
Yes! I totally agree with this definition. Whilst the elevator pitch is a sales tool, more importantly it should be seen as a teaching tool to those who will appreciate it.
In their desperate search to close more deals, many sales people tend to forget a critical step: There is no point in trying to deliver a spiel and close a deal until the audience understands what you are talking about and why they should care.The most important thing about putting together an effective Elevator Pitch is this: You must understand how your offering/proposition fits in relation to your prospects and their situations.You must have a good strategic appreciation of the issues that your prospect faces before you introduce your services to them. This is an absolutely fundamental requirement when putting together an effective Elevator Pitch. The prospective customer has a very keen sense of what is important to them and what is not! And if you fail to acknowledge this in your opening, then your cold call will go no further.
In The PromoDonna’s process, we run a Workshop with our Clients to get across their business and offering. All our Clients are obviously fascinated by and passionate about what they do. They could spend hours talking about it… But unfortunately, most of their prospects are not going to be like them! You face the same situation. Your prospects are unlikely to appreciate all the finer details of your offer. They want to understand the big picture.You must keep in mind that the people to whom you are pitching are also extremely busy. Just like you, they have too many things to do and too little time to get them done. That means that they must constantly - and quickly - decide what to pay attention to and what to ignore. As a result, you must come up with a powerful way of explaining your product/service; A way that will grab the attention of someone who has a million things on their mind. Above all else, you must get to the point!‘KISS’ your pitch and make it exciting and relevant to your audience(s). Give them just enough information about your offer to have them wanting more. When your prospects start asking questions about your services, you know you have mastered the art of the construction of an effective Elevator Pitch. To know more about effective cold-calling and elevator pitches, talk to us
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