Daniel is a recent graduate in personal training and wellness. He has qualifications in Nutrition, Exercise, and Mental Health techniques. In the past two years, he has started his own business designing Wellness programs for communities and businesses looking to tackle obesity and poor mental health among their staff. At the moment he has a few community clients, and he runs a program called ParkJump, a free exercise program in public spaces in the city. He also works with two medium businesses to implement minor changes to the office space and timetable to improve wellbeing in the workplace.
Daniel is at a networking event and sees the HR executive of a big food company with substantial premises in the city. He knows this company have been investing in several new programs for their staff and that they believe strongly in wellness as a way of boosting productivity in their staff and reducing sick days. Daniel knows he can help them with this problem. He is introduced quickly to the HR Manager, Seán, but he only has a few minutes to talk to him before Sean needs to leave for a lunch meeting.
Daniel needs to sell himself and what he has to offer in a short amount of time. This is an ‘elevator pitch’ or ‘sales pitch’, and everyone should have one prepared in case they find themselves face to face with someone who could be their golden ticket to a new opportunity.
Your sales pitch needs to be short - something you could deliver in 30-60 seconds, if needed. The time it takes to walk the stairs or take an elevator. Often when you meet decision-makers, they are pressed for time and you will need to make an impression quickly.
The key information you need to include is:
Who you are
What you do
Why they need to know about you
When you can start to help them; and
How you can help them
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So, Daniel's elevator pitch might look like this: |
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Hi, I am Daniel. I run the ParkJump program. You might have heard of it. I can help you improve the health and wellbeing of your employees, increasing your productivity. Here is my card. I'd love to give you a free consultation. Call me anytime. |
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You can explain Who You Are by using the following expressions: |
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You might have heard of me, I work with... |
I'd like to introduce myself, I think I have something you might be interested in... |
Do you have a moment? I'm... |
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Introduce what you do, and why they need to know about you, with the following phrases: |
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I am an expert in... |
I specialise in... |
My area of expertise is... |
I have helped other people to... |
I assist business with... |
I can revolutionise the way you... |
I can help you with... |
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If you have more time than 30 seconds, you can expand on this by trying to find a common point of interest or by letting them know you know something about them: |
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I understand that you are trying to...and I can help you with that. |
I have seen the work you did on...and I think I can help you. |
I have a unique solution to your...problem. |
I've been following your work in the area of...and I'm really interested. |
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Then you need to finish with a strong call to action. Let them know what the next steps should be: |
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Give me a call for a free consultation. |
I'd love to offer you a free trial of my services. |
My number is here if you ever want to discuss it. |
If you or anyone else you know might need my help, you can get me at this e-mail address. |
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You should practice your elevator pitch to ensure you sound upbeat and fluent. Ask a native speaker to check that you are correctly pronouncing and intonating correctly. Your pitch could be useful in a job interview, at a spontaneous meeting, or at a networking event. Good luck!