Building Your Elevator Speech

The elevator presentation – or elevator speech – is a great resource to have in your back pocket. You never know when you will come across someone who needs to hear about what you and your business do and could do for them. The other benefit is that the more you boil down an explanation of how you specialize, the better you will understand it yourself. There’s nothing like putting a sharp focus on explaining something to make you see it differently and understand the entire scope of your work from a different perspective. 

The 30-second Elevator Presentation

http://www.tomhopkins.com/blog/sellingskills/elevator-presentation

Prepare an Elevator Presentation, Not an Elevator Pitch

A short while ago, I ran a contest on Facebook for the best Elevator Presentation.

The idea behind the Elevator Presentation is that you should be able to describe what you do for a living in a clear and concise manner. Usually the drill for this starts with “Let’s say you step into an elevator with one other person and will be traveling 10 or more stories together. Since you’re in sales, you are always on the lookout for new leads. What would you say to this person to build their curiosity and earn the right to contact them after the elevator ride is over?”

The first key to a successful elevator presentation is to be able to give the other person a mental picture of the benefits you provide. This means you use great descriptive words. What you don’t do is say, “I’m a real estate agent.” “I sell insurance.” “I do taxes.” Saying those things allows the listener to mentally picture whatever their pre-conceived notion is about those fields of endeavor. You want to engage them, not turn them off.

This – like all other kinds of sales writing – requires you to understand and emphasize the benefits of your product, rather than just features. What the prospective client wants to hear isn’t what you do, they want to hear what you can do for them. Always remember that difference when you’re building any kind of presentation.

Another key element in a good elevator presentation is to end it with a question. It could be as simple as “Isn’t that great?” which is a request for agreement from the other party. Or, it could be an involvement question related to one of your benefits such as, “How would something like that impact your business?”

1st Place Winner – Eddie Allen

“For nearly a decade, as an independent broker, I have specialized in identifying and providing solutions, by utilizing an efficient consultation and an effective educational approach with successful measures. My quality services are designed to help people with their personal, business, and financial goals, in regard to their risk management, retirement planning, and wealth preservation needs, by making available economical, value-added, timely protection options. Is protecting the people you love, along with your future,and the things you value the most, important to you?”

Even though this entry is a little longer than the others, Eddie has built in credibility by mentioning his longevity in the field and that he specializes (great word). The adjectives used help build positive mental pictures in the mind of the listeners. And, Eddie ends with a question that’s difficult to say “no” to.

Read more — The 30-second Elevator Presentation | How to Selling Skills

Have you prepared an elevator presentation of your own? Now might be the perfect time to start, you never know when you might need it!