Beyond the Elevator Pitch: A High-Credibility Conversation | MarketingProfs.com

Unfortunately a subscription article. I'm thinking as I start into this. Okay this is my itch. I'm convinced that the elevator pitch is not useful though I don't know why. I read on. I'm excited. Yes we are bombarded by little messages like this all the time. And then we get to the punchline. And I cry. It's another elavator speech! Albeit another format.

But this elevator speech is dangerously seductive. This time we have the customer answering in their mind. How much farther away from listening can we get? The trick to listening to customers is to really hear what they need. To listen to what they have to say. To understand why the cookie cutter doesn't work for them.

Three steps in their formula.

• What kind of customer you work with and a symptom that you often see.
• then more detail on the symptom with a mention of analysis
• And then we state the value that we provide

And the assumption is that the customer is mentally assenting with the issues as we go along. It may be true. But if we miss with the first symptom. Why not listen? Why not wait for the response that would tell you if this is a symptom that they experience. If it isn't then you are lost. You may still be doing something that they need help with but you have lost the chance.