You’re standing in a building foyer waiting for the elevator and start up a conversation with the person standing next to you.  As the elevator doors open and you step in they ask “What do you do?”

This is the time for the classic elevator pitch. You have 60 seconds to describe what you do in a way that conveys your value and encourages them to want to know more.

A really effective approach developed by Antony Gaddie delivers the elevator pitch in 3 steps:

  • You know how… [a target customer and a problem they have]
  • What we do is … [solve that problem in a novel way]
  • In fact… [a story or examples of how well it works ]

As a simple example:

“You know how bathroom taps are often leaking?  What we do is manufacture a new form of tap washer using carbon fibre that is guaranteed to never leak.  In fact, our taps have saved over 5 million litres of water this year alone. ”

Practice makes perfect. Rehearse this pitch and try it out at every opportunity. Each time you deliver it you will probably find a way to make it better.