An “elevator pitch” is a 30-second answer to the question, “What do you do?”

You need an elevator pitch because the question “What do you do?” is usually asked by complete strangers in casual
circumstances.

In these situations, you do not have a captive audience watching you go through your PowerPoint sales presentation.

So your answer must be pithy and to the point.

Why does it matter how you answer the question “What do you do?” when speaking to someone you don’t know?

Because you never know when the person you’re speaking to is a potential customer or referral source.

Most elevator pitches, unfortunately, don’t work—because they are straightforward descriptions of job functions and titles, generating not much else aside from disinterest and a few yawns.

For example, a fellow I met at a party told me, “I am a certified financial planner with more than 20 years experience working.”

Yawn.

My friend sales trainer Paul Karasik has an antidote to the deadly dull elevator pitch.

Karasik’s 3-part formula can enable you to quickly construct the perfect elevator pitch.

By “perfect”, I mean an elevator pitch that concisely communicates the value your product or service offers—in a
manner that engages rather than bores the other person.

What is the formula?

The first part is to ask a question beginning with the words “Do you know?”

The question identifies the pain or need that your product or service addresses.

For a financial planner who, say, works mostly with middle-aged women who are separated, divorced, widowed, and possibly re-entering the workplace, this question might be:

“Do you know how when women get divorced or re-enter the workforce after many years of depending on a spouse, they are overwhelmed by all the financial decisions they have to make”?

The second part of the formula is a statement that begins with the words “What I do” or “What we do” followed by a clear description of the service you deliver.

Continuing with our financial planner, she might say: “What we do is help women gain control of their finances and achieve their personal financial and investment goals.”

The third part of the formula presents a big benefit and begins “so that”.

Here’s what the whole thing sounds like:

“Do you know how when women get divorced or re-enter the workforce after many years of depending on a spouse, they are overwhelmed by all the financial decisions they have to make?

“What we do is help women gain control of their finances and achieve their personal financial and investment goals, so that they can stay in the house they have lived in all their lives, have enough income to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, and be free of money worries.”

Action step: construct your elevator pitch today or tonight using Paul Karasik’s 3-part formula.

>> First part: ask a question beginning with the words “Do you know?” that identifies the pain or need that your product or service addresses.

>> Second part: describe your service, beginning with the words “What I do” or “What we do”.

>> Third part: explain why your service is valuable by describing the benefits it delivers, beginning with the words “So that”.

You can watch a free video of the 3-part elevator pitch technique in action here.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.