Ditch the elevator pitch!

Right now, in 2023, its time to ditch the elevator pitch, and here’s why.

The idea of the elevator pitch is that you get into an elevator, and in there, coincidentally is your ideal client. You’re only going up to the third floor and so only have 60 seconds to tell them all about your business with the inevitable conclusion that they’ll be amazed and impressed, thrust their business card onto you and insist you call them to complete the sale.

Thus, at all times you have a potted pitch ready to go. So if you are in an elevator, or sat next to that ideal prospect on a train, or happen to share a taxi to the airport with them (that really happened to me) you are ready to pounce and impress them with your business offering.

I have a number of problems with this.

Mainly that I live in England, and it’s called a lift. Anyway, that bit gets a laugh when I do it on stage!

But my real problem is that whilst it might have been a great idea when it was written, the idea is about 40 years old and quite a lot of things have changed.

See, the way that I work places much less emphasis on impressing the people you meet, the first time you meet them. Every big opportunity starts with a little conversation and all we really need to do on that first contact is converse, and then connect. All of the work of making sure that people know what you do can be done after you’ve had that first conversation, during which, by the way, I always ask them much more about them and their business than I tell them about me and mine.

When the idea of the elevator pitch first came about, we didn’t have LinkedIn and other social media platforms to keep in touch with people. We needed to make that huge first impression and hope that people would remember us. In 2023, we can take responsibility for ensuring that people remember us, by remembering them, and keeping in touch on their terms by making sure we pay attention to what they’re posting and what they’re putting out there.

Ditch the elevator pitch. Start real human conversations instead and then take responsibility for keeping the conversation alive after you’ve met. You have plenty of time to impress people with your amazing business, once you’re away from that first meeting.

Here are some of the many things you can do, so that you don't ever need an elevator pitch.

1. Go to networking events and start conversations with people. If you want to know what to say in your 60 or 40 second introduction (which isn't an elevator pitch, look out for Edition 2 of this newsletter.
2. Start conversations on LinkedIn and other social media platforms - literally connect with people and start engaging on their posts.
3. Connect with the people you meet at networking events and keep the conversation going. If you're posting about what you do, and if you have your LinkedIn profile set up correctly, you won't ever need to elevator pitch them.
4. Create the conditions where people contact you - post about your expertise and use your content to attract the right people
5. If you have a service you believe will be valuable to someone you have connected with - get in touch with them and tell them why. Make it super personal to them, rather than a generic elevator pitch.

Create connections, start conversations, turn them into opportunities - it's time to Ditch The Elevator Pitch!

Thanks for reading, I'm Stefan and I teach people how to speak, and how to get paid to speak. If you want to join me on The Speaking Retreat in August, you still have time to book - https://speakingretreat.biz/