307: Developing Your Elevator Pitch

Developing Your Elevator Pitch

Today, we’re talking about how to develop your elevator pitch. This is your 15-to-30 second “commercial” about yourself, which you will need for use in a variety of settings, including:

 -Introducing yourself at a networking meeting

 -Selling yourself to a potential employer

 -Selling yourself, your company, or your product/service to a potential customer

If you’re not familiar with the concept, the idea is that you could say your elevator pitch while going from one floor to the next on an elevator.

Elevator pitches come in a variety of shapes and sizes, depending on how you’re using them.

I gave some excellent examples of elevator pitches in episode #209; I’ve included a link to that episode in the show notes.

https://exclusivecareercoaching.com/posts/2022-01-13-209-developing-your-elevator-pitch

First, I want to give you some big picture do’s and don’ts for elevator pitches, then we’ll drill down to specific frameworks.

-Keep it short and succinct

-Don’t be predictable

-Leave them wanting more

-Engage them with a question

Now, let’s build a few elevator pitches for different situations.

Situation #1: Networking for Your Next Job

You’re at a networking event, where you want to meet several people. You want to keep it short – remember, in most cases, these people aren’t in a position to actually hire you, but rather connect you with others who are.

“Hi, my name is Sue Smith, and I help mid-tier healthcare organizations optimize technology so they can increase profitability and streamline processes. Most recently, I did this as Director of IT at Zulu Healthcare System – and now I’m looking for my next role with an organization that wants to make sure they are making the most of their tech spend and are fully utilizing what they already have.” (23 seconds)

Situation #2: Introducing Yourself to a Potential Employer

Now, you are in front of someone who IS in a position to hire you – say, at a chance meeting. You’ve found yourself in line for coffee with the CIO of ABC Hospital, one of your target employers.

“Hi, my name is Sue Smith, and I’m the former IT Director at Zulu Healthcare System. I’ve been speaking with Joe Jones in your IT department because ABC Hospital is one of my dream employers. One of my greatest strengths is making sure my employer is maximizing the impact of their tech spend – they are only buying what they really need and they are fully utilizing what they buy. I would love the opportunity to sit down with you and describe some of the results I’ve gotten for my previous employers – would this be possible?” (30 seconds)

Situation #3: You’ve Just Randomly Met Someone

Here’s the deal with this situation: You aren’t in “networking mode,” but at the same time you don’t want to pass up an opportunity, because…you never know. Let’s say you are randomly chatting with someone a friend has introduced you to at a house party.

Keep in mind that this elevator pitch might occur after you’ve been on the elevator for a few floors – it would likely come across as too aggressive if you started right in.

“My name is Sue Smith, and until recently, I was the IT Director at Zulu Healthcare System. I’m looking for my next role in healthcare IT, so if you know of anyone in a leadership role in healthcare in Tallahassee, I would love an introduction!”

Note that I didn’t get into the weeds with my qualifications or brand attributes – there is no need to.

Situation #4: You are at a Networking Event, and Your Goal is to Sell Your Product or Service.

Let’s say this is a Chamber of Commerce networking event, and you are looking for people who are unhappy with their current cleaning service – and are in a position to influence a change in this regard at their organization.

“Hi, my name is Jack Graham, and I am the Sales Director for Service Excellence Cleaning. How satisfied are you with your current cleaning service?”

“We are relatively satisfied, I guess. They charge a fair price and are pretty dependable.”

(NOTE: Not a glowing recommendation, but they aren’t completely unhappy either.)

“What would you say if I offered to bring a crew in FOR FREE to clean your office one day next week? I guarantee we will outperform your current service and our recommendations on Yelp and Google are outstanding – take a look! All I ask is that we have a chance to speak afterwards to discuss options for working together going forward.”

Notice how conversational this was, rather than a monologue by someone determined to sell you cleaning services whether you needed them or not.

Situation #5: You are a solopreneur at a networking event, selling a service.

“My name is Lesa Edwards, and I help high-achieving, mid-career professionals land their dream job and get promoted.”

Notice how short this one is – there is no reason for me to go into detail unless the person I’m speaking with is interested in knowing more.

Notice also that I didn’t tell them HOW I do what I do…I didn’t get specific about the services I provide. I want to pique their curiosity – if they have any curiosity about me.

Let’s say they respond with:

            “Are you a recruiter?”

“No, recruiters work for employers to staff their organizations. I work exclusively with prospective employees – preparing them for the job search. I’m one of fewer than 25 Master Resume Writers in the world and I’m a Certified Job Search Strategist, so I give my clients exceptional marketing materials and a job search strategy that gets great results FAST.” 

As a review, here are the big-picture considerations for your elevator pitches:

-Keep it short and succinct

-Don’t be predictable

-Leave them wanting more

-Engage them with a question