The Elevator Pitch Challenge. Can You Say Yours In Two Floors (10 sec)?

Ah! The infamous "elevator pitch". How many of you have this refined in such a manner that you can actually give it in an elevator or any other setting for that manner?

Why is this even important?

Well here is a case where a strong elevator pitch can be valuable. At the start of nearly every Board of Advisory event at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce the host would send a microphone around the entire room giving everyone an opportunity to stand up and state your name, your company name and "what it is you do". There are several ways the moderator would keep this from consuming the entire time allocated for the event itself. One way was to restrict the person to saying this in three breaths (three sentences). Another was to limit it to 10 seconds. In other words, an opportunity to give your elevator pitch but to an audience of 50 to 100 local business leaders. This kind of scenario is not uncommon. Are you prepared for it?

I use the following elevator scenario with my clients to hone their ability to clearly articulate what it is they do.

"You just walked into the 3rd floor elevator at a shopping mall and just before the door closes an important business acquaintance you haven't seen in a long while squeezes in the door at the last second. He/she recognizes you and says, "Mike! Good to see you again. What are you up to nowadays?" He presses the first floor button. The elevator starts to move. How will you reply?"

A typical elevator will cover two floors in 10 - 16 seconds. To allow for a response I suggest your pitch should last no more than 10 seconds.

So now that we know how long it should be, what are the ingredients to a good elevator pitch? When stating what you do it should be, (1) clear enough for your grandmother to understand, (2) be stated in a manner that clearly sets you apart from others in your sector, and (3) is intriguing enough to warrant the following sincere (versus the brush off) reply, "Wow, that's interesting. I'd like to hear more. Let's get together for coffee." Of course, if the person is not in the market for your services another good response could be, “Interesting, I might know someone who could use your services.”

The bottom line is be clear, be different, and be brief.

Here is how the elevator ride would be for me.

We see each other in the elevator and the business owner says, "Mike! Good to see you again. What are you up to nowadays?" He presses the first floor button. The elevator starts to move.

I reply, “Good to see you Tom. I’m with Allegro Consulting, a 12 year old firm working exclusively with private companies on matters related to growing a sound business like strategy and process definition."

In this 10 seconds I emphasized a key differentiator for my company, longevity, that we’ve been around longer than almost everyone of my competitors. I made it clear who I specialize in working with, “private(ly) (held) companies”. And, I gave two concrete examples of what I do for my clients. You noticed I didn’t say something vague like, “I help companies go to the next level.” even though this is the most common phrase I hear from potential new clients. The reason is this phrase can mean different things to different people. There is no doubt what strategy means and implied in that is, I help companies who are ready to grow based on a strategy.

Was this helpful?

Want to sharpen the elevator pitch for your metro Atlanta business?   Let's talk about it over a cup of coffee.  Contact me here.

About the author. Mike Gomez is President of Allegro Consulting, a growth specialty firm helping businesses plan and execute aggressive growth strategies. He grew his very first client’s business from $8M to $35M in just two years. Mike is a growth strategy, and sales process evangelist, prolific speaker, writer, three-time marathoner, a former military officer and pilot of both aircraft and helicopters. www.allegroconsultant.com

What Sets You Apart From Your Competitors? - A few words on Core Competency

I attended a gathering of a select group of small business owners who were runner-ups for the “Small Business Person of the Year”. During the event each owner was asked to stand up and briefly state what they thought made his/her business so successful. One of the owners stated proudly it was his employees - he felt he was able to attract and retain good employees. That was his “secret”. Later, I had the opportunity to privately ask him what made his employees “better” and how was he able to attract these better employees.
“Are your employees more qualified than industry standards - have higher degrees?” I asked.
“No”, he replied.
“Do you offer better benefits or pay and thus can attract better employees?”
“Uh, no.”
“Do you offer performance incentives or shares of company stock?”
“No.”
“Is your work environment any different than others in your industry?”
“No.”
“More vacation time, gym memberships, or other perks?”
“No.”
“So then why then do you believe it was your employees and your ability to attract them that sets you apart from your competitors?”
He hesitated, gave a puzzled look, then said he didn’t really know.
The sad fact is this company president didn’t know what attribute made his company successful. Most likely his employees are no more or less qualified than other in his industry. And because he doesn’t know, he is more likely than not to stray away from it or unknowingly allow it to waste away. Once this happens, the business is gone.
This owner did not know or understand his company’s core competency; the unique thing they do or process they employ or value they add to win business that would be difficult for their competitors to imitate. Your company’s core competency is the foundation of your business and therefore you should know how to identify it, nurture it, and exploit it if want to successfully grow.
Let’s take a moment to discuss, as an example, the core competencies of two well known businesses, Dominos Pizza and Honda.

Dominos made its mark by guaranteeing a quality pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less. Their core competency was the “process” they designed starting with the how they selected the store locations and ending with the delivery method. It was this value added benefit (a warm pizza delivered quickly) that drove their customers to choose their product over the plethora of other pizza restaurants. Dominos continuously invested to refine that process (their core competency) and keep it as a discriminator and a method for growing their business beyond pizza to now include hot wings, pasta, etc....

Honda’s core competency was building high quality, reliable, light weight engines; first for motorcycles then later small cars and the rest is history. Their continual investment in engine technology is a reflection of how well they understood what made their product the preferred choice regardless of whether it was in a weed whacker, a lawn mower, an ATV, a motorcycle or a luxury automobile.

What is your company’s core competency(ies)?

By the way, it is very rarely “our customer service” or “our people” as this is considered a prerequisite for participation or an expected standard of most businesses.

Investing in your core competency will ensure it continues to provide you with the competitive advantage necessary to grow your business.

About the author: Mike Gomez is the President of Allegro Consulting, an Atlanta-based business growth specialty firm. Mike has helped companies large and small, international and domestic, plan and execute their growth strategies. Allegro provides operating advice to businesses and organizations on a wide range of management issues that effect growth, such as strategic and organizational planning, marketing, sales and business process improvement. www.AllegroConsultant.com