Give Your New Business a Lift – with a good Elevator Pitch - MKTX
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19 Apr Give Your New Business a Lift – with a good Elevator Pitch

Posted at 10:26h in MKTX by

Every businessperson needs an elevator pitch, the description of your business in the time it takes to ride up a few floors, about 30 seconds. Can you do it? The moment you’re asked to describe what you do is not the time to start formulating your answer. Don’t wing it. A concise statement of your business vision and the unique value you deliver can not only satisfy the curiosity of a new business prospect or influencer, but motivate your fellow employees as well.

Ground Floor Tips. Here are some things to remember when preparing your message.

1st Floor – YOUR AUDIENCE:
Be sensitive to your audience. Make your statement relevant to the listener. Avoid jargon unless you know that your audience will understand what it means. For example: “We sell software to machine designers.”

2nd Floor – YOUR VALUE:
Establish the context for your story. At a high level, what do you do? “Our software products allow machine designers to improve the productivity of the machines they produce.”

3rd Floor – POSITIONING:
In your pitch, include all the elements of a good positioning statement:
a) Whom you serve (“Who needs what you do?”)
b) What value you deliver to them (e.g., What problem do you solve?)
c) How you’re unique in that regard (“Unlike <which competitor?>, we <do what?>”)

4th Floor – EXAMPLES:
Pick one interesting aspect of the value you deliver and have a “for instance” handy to use in relating to your audience if they express interest. “For example, our software allowed one manufacturer of metals presses to increase their output by 50%, without increasing hardware costs.”

5th Floor – THE DELIVERY:
Speak clearly, with conviction and at a normal tempo. Your pitch should sound natural. If you’re comfortable and confident, your audience will attribute credibility to your message.

Going up?

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Bob Patterson
bobp@mktx.com

Leader of MKTX since its founding in 1998, Bob Patterson has over 30 years of experience in high-tech marketing. Bob received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School. He began his career at Intel Corporation where, during his 11 year tenure, he was part of the team of people instrumental in laying the foundations for Intel's success in the microprocessor market. Bob left Intel in 1987 and co-founded RadiSys Corporation, an Intel spin-off dedicated to exploiting the "Wintel" hardware/software standardization phenomenon in markets outside of desktop computing. As RadiSys' first VP of marketing and sales, Bob developed and executed the company's initial marketing plans and set up RadiSys' early sales channels. When Bob needs a break from cranking out strategies and content for our clients, he takes to the skies of the Northwest in his Cessna or his RV-12.