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10/1/2007

The Elevator Pitch
by James Atkinson, Market Research Specialist

Every business needs an effective elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a short talk you can deliver about what your company does in the length of an elevator ride.

Small business columnist Paul Brown distills the key points of an article appearing in Inc. about creating an effective elevator pitch (“Making Your Pitch in 15 Seconds or Less.” New York Times 24 July 2007). The Inc. article is in the form of a screenplay, and Brown states the take-away message is this:

• Don’t talk about how wonderful your firm is. Talk about what it can do for the customer.

• The pitch must be internalized companywide. Everybody in the business needs to give the same explanation to prospects about what the firm does.

• The message must be crystal clear. A customer must “get it” immediately.

• It’s got to be short. Aim for 15 seconds.

The entire screenplay is available at:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070701/features-explain-what-your-company-does-in-30-seconds.html

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