Create an Elevator Pitch to Sell Your Business Anywhere and Anytime!

Here’s a question for you: If you had only one minute to sell your business to a customer, could you?

If this seems like a daunting task to you, then you’re reading the right blog! 

In this post, we will show you how to create an awesome elevator pitch for your business. 

The Benefits of an Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a short speech designed to promote your business to potential customers. It’s called an elevator pitch because it should last no longer than the length of a typical elevator ride, which we’ll say is about one minute.

There are many benefits to having an elevator pitch for your business. 

First, it equips you to sell your business anywhere at any time. 

Think of the last time you randomly bumped into someone interested in your business. How well did you do at explaining your business to them in the short time you had to talk?

We’re guessing you would have liked to have done better.

Good to hear! Because that’s what an elevator pitch is for.

Developing an elevator pitch can also help you better understand what your business is all about. Because it is so short, it requires you to trim away all the fat so that you can clearly convey the most important information about your company. As a result, you may even learn something about your business that you never knew before! 

Does this sound like something you’re interested in trying? 

Good! Because we’re about to show you how to do it!

Creating the Best Elevator Pitch for Your Business

If you search the web for elevator pitch examples, you will find that there are a ton out there. And each of those examples uses a slightly different template for its format. 

This begs a crucial question: which template is best?

A while ago, we at Frontier Marketing set out to try to answer that question for our business. And we went through A LOT of different options before we finally settled on a winning formula. That’s the template we will share with you below.

We divided our elevator pitch into five distinct sections:

• Introduction
• Tell a Story
• Ask for Their Business
• Call to Action
• Memory Hook

Here’s a brief overview of what each of those sections includes and why:

Section 1: Introduction (18 seconds)

When designing an elevator pitch, you may be tempted to start it with something dazzling or shocking. After all, you want to grab the person’s attention, don’t you? 

The problem with starting big and shocking is it can distract the listener from the core topic of your pitch, which is your business.

So, instead of starting out shocking, we recommend starting out straightforward.

Your introduction should lay out these key bits of information:

• Your name and position at the company
• The company’s name
• A brief description of the business (no more than two sentences)
• An overview of your top three products or services
• The type of clients you serve

All in all, you should be able to relate these details in about 18 seconds. For us at Frontier, this translated into a two-sentence long, 36-word paragraph. You can view the full thing in the sample elevator pitch we’ve included below. 

By laying out these details in a concise manner, you will give your listener a base level understanding of your business. Once you’ve established that, you can start getting a little more creative in the next few sections.

Section 2: Tell a Story (20 seconds)

Here’s where you can start being a little flashier.

In this section, your goal is to illustrate for your listener what differentiates your business from your competition. You should do this by telling a story that exemplifies that trait. 

To make the story come to life in your listener’s mind, you should include some concrete details about what exactly happened. For example, in the story we used for our pitch, we detailed the different services we provided for the client and added a stat to quantify the results. 

Of course, you should keep in mind that you only have 20 seconds to tell the story. So, you will have to keep your details to a minimum. The time limit will force you to include only the most essential information your audience needs to know.

Once you finish your story, it’s time to start wrapping up the pitch in section three.

Section 3: Ask for Their Business (10 seconds)

Now that you’ve established what your business is and what you do, it’s time to clarify what you’re looking for. To do this, you need to define your ideal referral as precisely as possible. 

If you’ve already determined your company’s target audience, then this step should be simple. Otherwise, you may want to figure that out before you go any further. Once you do, your ideal referral will be a person who has two or three of the most prominent characteristics of your target audience.

Now that you’ve determined your ideal referral, it’s time to call your listener to action.

Section 4: Call to Action (5 seconds)

It is always a good idea to include a call to action (CTA) in your pitch because it creates a sense of urgency and excitement. You want to leave your listener with something simple and practical they can do.

In Frontier Marketing’s case, we felt the ideal CTA would be to give out our business card and have the listener pass it on to any ideal referral he or she knows. Ideally, this CTA will increase the likelihood of our contact information getting into the right person’s hands.

Of course, your CTA doesn’t have to be the same as ours. There are many other possible options to choose from, including:

• Visit our website
• Like us on Facebook
• Stop by our store
• Read a company brochure

Whatever the ideal next step for a referral is, be sure to include it in your elevator pitch.

Section 5: Memory Hook (7 seconds)

This final section is the part where you get to be especially creative. In fact, the more creative you can be, the more successful your pitch will be.

You need to come up with a memorable final line that will leave an impact on your listener. The more striking the line, the better because it will increase the likelihood of your listener remembering your business later.  

This memory hook can be anything from a clever tagline to a promise of value. Ideally, it will be a statement that concisely sums up the pitch in a fun way. Bonus points if you can make it rhyme!

If you find yourself having trouble coming up with a memory hook, we recommend brainstorming a few possible options and then testing them out on people. The one that gets the best overall response is probably the right choice.

Once you have your hook, then your pitch is complete! So, get out there and start pitching!

Our Sample Elevator Pitch

As promised above, here is the elevator pitch that we produced by following the steps of our template:

Introduction

Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] from Frontier Marketing. We’re a digital marketing company in Fox Lake, IL that provides small businesses with a full range of marketing services, including web design, SEO, and social media. 

Story

At Frontier Marketing, we save our clients time while connecting them with their customers. We were able to do this recently for one of our clients when they were planning an award banquet. As you can imagine, organizing such a big event took up much of their time. Fortunately, we were able to save them time by promoting the event through social media, video production, and crafting a press release, and more. In the end, the event was a massive success, as over 800 people came!

Ask for Their Business and Call to Action

So, if you know of any small business owners who want to market their business but just don’t have the time, please give them my card. 

Memory Hook

Tell them they shouldn’t fear because we’ll guide them to the next frontier!

Once again, I’m [YOUR NAME] from Frontier Marketing. 

Are You Ready to Start Pitching?

So, there you have it! That’s our five-step process for creating an elevator pitch. If you think it sounds useful, then feel free to download a free PDF of the template and fill it out! And if you have any questions about crafting an elevator pitch, feel free to message us on Facebook or give us a call! 

We’re always happy to help small business owners take their marketing to the next frontier!

Happy pitching!