Business:

Elevator Pitch

 

Today's Snack: We're going to practice talking about our business idea in a captivating, interesting way.  We want it to be brief. We want it to make someone understand, or "swallow," the idea quickly and get excited about it. So why don't you have a little individual package of pudding? It's good, it's sweet . . . and you can literally swallow it quickly!

 

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Supplies:

Partner | Stopwatch or watch with second hand

 

            An "elevator pitch" is a verbal description of your business' product or service in just a few sentences. It should be so short and to the point, you can say it in about the amount of time you might ride in an elevator. Since it is a sales pitch, it should create high interest and excitement in the listener, to the point where they ask for your business card and say they want to be your customer.

 

            Let's say you are standing in an elevator on floor #1, about to ride up to floor #10. Someone else walks in. Just as the elevator doors are closing, that person asks you, "What do you do?" You have until the elevator doors open again on floor #10 - usually less than one minute - to describe your business and attempt to make a new customer.

 

            That's when your "elevator pitch" comes in. You have only one minute to "win" that customer!

 

            It really helps you to write and memorize an elevator pitch about your business so that you can describe it quickly, with confidence, whenever you meet people. What is exciting about your product? What do people say about it? What is special about the service you provide? What do you offer that customers can't get anywhere else? And what about your prices - a real bargain for the quality? Most of all, let your OWN pride and excitement shine through. Sell yourself as well as your product or service!

 

In the future, if your idea takes off, you might need to recruit new customers wherever you go. Or you may need your pitch when you sit in a banker's office and talk the banker into giving you a loan so that you can expand your business!

 

So get with a partner and develop your pitch. Let your partner suggest additions and deletions in your presentation. Use the stopwatch or a watch with a second hand to make sure you keep it under one minute.

 

Go!