Sunday, 14 April 2013

How to Make an Elevator Speech

By Lori Buenavista


An elevator speech is a brief, succinct explanation of the goal of your small business, its services or products and the exclusive factors which make it desirable. You should be able to provide the message in less time than it takes for an elevator to travel several floors-around 60 seconds or so. It's essential to have a well-written elevator speech; here's the way to write one.

Brainstorm

Find paper and pen and make four columns: Business Basics, Product/Services, Unique Value Proposition and Goals. Reply to the easy questions first. Under "Business Basics," list all the basic details about your small business. Below are a few inquiries to answer: What industry does your company get into? Where are you located? Now when was the business launched? Who owns the business? What services or products does the business offer? What awards or honors has your company received?

Finally talk about your company's products or services. Here are some inquiries to answer in this column: Exactly how many products/services can you offer? Do other businesses provide the same products or services? Did your company invent or develop the products/services? What resources are employed in your products? What do the services you provide incorporate? How do people use your product or service?

Write down your specific value propositions. What makes your organization stand out among the competition? You might have just one unique value, or you may have several. Here are some prospects: Lowest price, Largest selection, Exclusivity (Customers can't get your services or products somewhere else), Best quality, Domestically produced, Produced somewhere impressive (Italian watches, Persian rugs), Awards/Industry accolades, Longevity, Famous owner or advocate.

There are many other possible unique value propositions. Take into consideration what truly separates your business from the group. Jot down your results in column three. Lastly, note down your purpose. What's your own purpose for actually talking to people? Are you looking for sales? Investors? Just spreading the word about your business?

Put it all together. If you've created long lists in every column, you need to narrow it down a bit to be able to fit in the entire elevator speech within just 60 seconds or so. Move through each column and note down what's there. Here's an example: "XYZ Company is an important player in the healthcare industry. Since we initially opened our Salt Lake City, Utah exploration lab in 2008, our unnatural kidneys have saved the lives of countless patients.

Our founder, John Smith is convinced that our state-of-the art flexi-plastic is the best possible components for artificial kidneys, as well as the best physicians in the country agreed: XYZ Company has claimed the Surgeon's Choice honor for prosthetic internal organs for the last four years. In reality, we're recommended by the Surgeon General of the United States.

We focus on just one product: artificial kidneys, and we're the only manufacturer in America.




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