Creating your Elevator Pitch
What do you do? The seemingly simple question that continuously leaves many of us tongue tied.
Whether you’re an individual or a company, being able to quickly articulate an elevator pitch can be an important boon for your success. If you aren’t in sales you may be thinking, “why bother?” The truth is we are all always selling something, whether it’s a product or ourselves. Every employee, CEO down to intern, should be able to recite the company’s purpose in their sleep.
Keep it Simple
The goal is to take a company’s suite of products and/or services and boil them down to their simplest form. What outcome does the company create?
Everyone has a unique set of skills and experiences, so it can be a challenge to narrow down what is most relevant. Taking just the highlights may not seem like you are providing enough information, but the purpose is to leave people wanting more. Think of the summary on the cover of a book; there to peak your interest without giving too much away. Your pitch should be specifically refined for your target audience but still comprehensible to the average person. This means not wasting time on well-established concepts while also avoiding acronyms and technical terms.
Why You
Every company’s purpose is to solve a pain point experienced by their target market. Share how you are solving this problem and why your solution is unique. It should be based on concrete ideas and solutions, not exaggerated dreams. However, it is okay to explain a company’s growth plan as well. This will help you build credibility, which is a key aspect when clients are deciding who to work with.
Crafting the “Why We Exist” Statement
A place where you do want to show off a broader version of your dream is the Why We Exist statement. Defining why you exist is an important initiative for both internal and external success. The question you should ask yourself is “in an ideal environment, what is your organization’s core purpose or desire?” Internally this provides employees with aspiration to give it their all driving the company towards its end goal. Externally it provides transparency to customers and potential partners on a company’s beliefs, values and goals. This allows amicable relationships to form between parties with similar idealistic intent. It is okay if this statement isn’t realistically achievable, as success is measured by constant growth towards that dream.
How INT Defines Ourselves
INT started in 1999 with a vision to support entrepreneurs in growing their business. Our tagline We Make Your Business Better refers to our target audience – the small-to-mid-sized business owner. Our wide range of services in Business, Creative, and Technology were crafted from common needs of any growing business: branding, accounting, employee payroll and benefit management, marketing, network and desktop support, web design, and the list goes on. These are areas that the typical business owner does not expertise in and has to either hire for or outsource. INT manages these services at a lower cost than hiring in-house while also providing an increased presence and trusting relationship by managing multiple of these services in parallel. The business owner can work with INT to cover all these needs, rather than having to communicate with a dozen outside services. This helps ensure continuity across strategic lines and maintains a higher quality outcome for staff and customers alike.
With these principals in mind, and after much deliberation (and a glass of wine), INT came up with our Why We Exist statement:
We exist to empower entrepreneurs and SMB’s to execute on their dreams.
For help defining your company’s purpose or elevator pitch contact the experts at INT.