The Power of the Pitch

Photo by 祝 鹤槐 from Pexels

If you can't explain it, you can't sell it.

One thing that I learned while I served as Operations Manager at a small start-up is that no matter how amazing your organization/business is if you can't explain it simply, you can't expect people to buy into it. It took me a year working for this start-up to fully understand the concept of the business and be able to explain it to the average person. This was a red flag for me then and still is now. If it takes an employee a year of being with the company every day to figure out how to explain it to those outside of the organization, it should be a sign to go back to the drawing board. 

Real-Time Customer Feedback

Elevator pitches are a great way to test a start-up or entrepreneurial idea before you are losing hundreds or thousands of dollars. When building your elevator pitch, test it on your family and friends. Keep these questions in mind:

• Do they understand what your business/organization is all about or are they confused?
• Does the pitch peak their interest or turn them off?
• Is there a point in the pitch where you lose them?
• What do their follow-up questions concern? 

Just because they are your friends and family doesn't mean that they aren't potential customers. These people can be great resources to tell you where they get confused or lose interest. Use their answers to the questions above to refine your elevator pitch to be the most enticing for your potential customers and investors. 

K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Sweetie 

There is a reason that this acronym is used in a variety of career fields and can be applied to almost anything, consumers do not like to be confused. Especially in today's digital age where attention spans are continuing to shorten, it is important to keep your audience engaged and interested till the end of the pitch delivery and beyond. If people become confused, especially early on in your pitch, they will lose interest and it will be even more difficult to regain. 

Keeping it simple also means leaving the specialized jargon on the curb. While the jargon may make total sense to you who spends each day in that field, it can make others feel like the product/idea/concept is not for them. We explain concepts to children in a simple way so that they can understand and relate and the same goes for elevator pitches. If you are continuing to struggle with creating a succinct and efficient pitch, it may be time to reexamine the business concept and you guessed it...simplify it. 

The Proof is in the Pitch

As I stated earlier, a pitch is a valuable tool to gauge interest and possible hangups for your start-up. This article from Entrepreneur.com agrees with me that it should be one of the first steps in developing a business idea. If you are getting confused just trying to formulate the pitch, that is your first warning sign that you may need to reexamine the purpose and/or concept of your entrepreneurial endeavor. To get your creative juices flowing, check out this list of some of the best startup pitches from Business Insider, which breaks down exactly why each pitch works and where they are now.