The elevator pitch needs to evolve

In today's episode our hosts Brenton Gowland and Ron Tomlian discuss the need for the elevator pitch to evolve.  It should be a relationship opener rather that a sales pitch

Some of the topics covered include: 

• The need for the elevator pitch to evolve
• An elevator pitch should be about your why rather than your what
• Write down your elevator pitch and practice, practice, practice
• Be curious
• Ask questions
• Be prepared to go beyond your elevator pitch

SA Business Builders
Business leaders social group based in South Australia

Borough Markets
AI driven digital transformation company that exist to level the digital marketing playing field by

Adapt_CO
Helping businesses find their new shape.

Nucleus – Creative Agency
Specialising in growing business through brand, digital, video, web, print, campaigns and marketing.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Brenton Gowland: 0:01

Today on the Business Builders podcast, we're discussing the evolution of the elevator pitch and how to apply yours in a practical networking environment. Ron talks about focusing on building relationships with your pitches rather than being salesy. And I talk about the advantage of learning about what other people do, rather than talking about yourself. Well, welcome to the 12th episode of the Business Builders podcast. We are your hosts, I am Brenton Gowland.

Ron Tomlian: 0:26

And I'm Ron Tomlian.

Brenton Gowland: 0:27

One day we got to swap that around just for fun Tom, Ah Ron. I just aboutcalled you the wrong name right off the bat.

Ron Tomlian: 0:34

Well, I don't think I answered the Brenton all that well, so...

Brenton Gowland: 0:38

No, sometimes I don't answer to Brenton either. So how have things been with the clients you've been working with recently, because as we know, we're, we've been in this COVID environment for a while and lots has been going on. And obviously our listeners are all in the thick of working out whether they're going to be in lockdown, or they're going to be able to come out of lockdown with restrictions are going to be there where they're not going to be there. How are you finding things with clients at the moment Ron?

Ron Tomlian: 1:01

Well, the most obvious answer is it depends. It depends on the industry. But in general, I think I'm seeing some optimism and more than just optimism, people are actually starting to do things. So there's activity happening in organisations, I'm doing more strategic planning work with organisations they have in in years, quite frankly.

Brenton Gowland: 1:22

Yeah, that's interesting.

Ron Tomlian: 1:23

There are more people getting out and participating in networking that I've seen in years.

Brenton Gowland: 1:28

True.

Ron Tomlian: 1:29

So I don't think you can say that things are slowing down. I think quite the opposite. I think people are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, or at least believing in it. I think there are some caveats to that depends on the vaccine rollout and so on.

Brenton Gowland: 1:44

Yes

Ron Tomlian: 1:44

But in general, I'm seeing a lot more or feeling a lot more optimism from people that I have in quite some time.

Brenton Gowland: 1:50

Yes. And it's interesting that you talk about the networking events because they've been an often on feast of late. And obviously we had our last Business Builders event last week, which was fantastic to see people out after a little bit of a hiatus not knowing whether we were going to be on or off with lockdowns and so forth. So that kind of brings us to our topic for today talking about elevator pitches, because it's time to start thinking about that, again, because we're getting out and meeting people face to face again,

Ron Tomlian: 2:16

and people need to be prepared. I mean, if we're talking about business building business, you have to be prepared to talk about your business. But I think that's an interesting topic in general, because I'm not a great fan of the traditional approach to elevator pitches, whether traditional thinking about elevator pitches, which is very salesy, I have a different view, I think, if you're going to talk to people about your business, you need to capture their attention and get permission to talk more about it.

Brenton Gowland: 2:45

I agree 100%.

Ron Tomlian: 2:47

And it's about standing a relationship, rather than selling a concept.

Brenton Gowland: 2:52

I couldn't agree more. And the fact is that, you know, when you go when you meet people who are just trying to get a sale right from the get go, it doesn't engender wanting to continue talking to that person. Because as we've talked about, many times, we get bombarded every day with sales messages. And that's just now another version of that, when people kind of hit you up for this is what I do. And then they're expecting some sort of, you know, response about what they do in terms of can we work together right from the start is not a good start to a relationship and a relationship leads to work.

Ron Tomlian: 3:24

And I think, let's be fair, we all do it, we've become very good, bit by necessity at blocking out messages.

Brenton Gowland: 3:31

Correct.

Ron Tomlian: 3:32

Selective attention of also, in business, we've also become quite good at not being sold to or feeling that we're being sold to. And so I think executives, business leaders, in general, have a good bs metre when it comes to people trying to sell them something. So don't try and sell.

Brenton Gowland: 3:51

And that's interesting, because I think if what you're saying is correct, and it is I believe, we develop mechanisms of how to in those conversations and move on in a very polite manner. There's several different ways I've seen it done from saying yes, yes, yes. And just find a find a way to end the conversation to actually having a method of, you know, shutting that conversation down and changing the subject. And when those kinds of things happen, the opportunity to actually build a relationship often goes with that change of subject.

Ron Tomlian: 4:19

Yeah, I've always found I think I hear my mother calling to be effective, but not very subtle.

Brenton Gowland: 4:24

Yeah. Oh, I just got to speak to someone over there. Anyway. So maybe we should start today with talking about what an elevator pitch is. But before we do that, we need to talk about our sponsors, Ron.

Ron Tomlian: 4:37

Yes, we do. And let's start with SA Business Builders, okay. like to recommend the Business Builders and networking group who were both a paid off. We've just had, as you said before, a great event. And there's another one coming up in October. So if you're a business leader here in South Australia, please reach out to Brenton or myself on LinkedIn and we'd like to talk to you about coming along.

Brenton Gowland: 4:58

Great opportunities for now. Working in building authentic relationships with other business leaders. Another one of our sponsors is Borough Markets. If you're looking to grow your business online, that is what they do. They help people grow their businesses online, and they have a great track record of helping SMEs in a very affordable way. So please check out their website boroughmarkets.com.au. And that is spelt B-O-R-O-U-G-H-Markets.com.au and have a look at what they do because they might just be what you need.

Ron Tomlian: 5:27

There is also Adapt_CO offering outsourced marketing solutions that give businesses high end marketing power without the need to hire a chief marketing officer, which in itself is a difficult thing to do at the moment i'd one of the things that my tech members are telling me about is how difficult it is to get the right people on board.

Brenton Gowland: 5:45

Correct.

Ron Tomlian: 5:45

Here's a way of not having to do that.

Brenton Gowland: 5:47

And as we've talked about before, on, there's a lot of bad marketing out there. And sometimes it's not the fault of the marketers, sometimes it's the fact that they just don't have the ability to make the change required for a business to be able to do what they need to do. So sometimes you need an extra set of hands And eyes and ears to come in with a different perspective to help

Ron Tomlian: 6:05

That's exactly right. And finally,

Brenton Gowland: 6:08

Yes,

Ron Tomlian: 6:08

It's over to youu,

Brenton Gowland: 6:09

We've got Nucleus who is literally our founding sponsor, and they are of course, a marketing and design agency. So have a look at what they do at www.nucleus.com.au There you go. So what is an elevator pitch? And what is not an elevator pitch? How about we start there?

Ron Tomlian: 6:30

Okay, well, traditionally, an elevator pitch is a very short, the idea was that in places like Hollywood, where you had people trying to pitch ideas for a movie all the time, people would hang around in lobbies and wait for the managing director of the film company, to go up to his office on the 13th floor of twentith floor. So they would jump in the lift. And they'd have exactly 20 floors, the length of that that elevator ride to pitch their idea. So hence the name, elevator pitch. And the idea was you're selling a concept. And look, I have in my past, I've had helped organisations and helped individuals develop elevator pitches on the basis of I want to sell you something.

Brenton Gowland: 7:16

Yes.

Ron Tomlian: 7:16

In effect, though, I don't think they work particularly well as a as a mechanism for opening a relationship. And nowadays, I think especially business to business it's all about relationships. And let's be fair elevator pitches are usually in a business to business setting. Even if you're talking about what you do as a business to consumer organisation, it's in relation to maybe suppliers, maybe Alliance partners.

Brenton Gowland: 7:43

Yeah.

Ron Tomlian: 7:43

But you're talking to another business. So elevator pitches, I think need to have developed into how do I get someone interested in what I do. And just as importantly, why I do it. And that's almost starting to get into our top tips. But that's what I think an elevator pitch is it's an opening to get a conversation going about your organisation.

Brenton Gowland: 8:06

So it would be fair to say that elevator pitches have evolved?

Ron Tomlian: 8:10

Well, I think they should evolve. I don't know if they have. If you if you look at I'll go on the web and look at suggestions for elevator pitches. It's all about, you know, getting your message across as quickly as possible with the intent of getting somebody to use your service.

Brenton Gowland: 8:25

Rather than opening up a conversation.

Ron Tomlian: 8:27

Rather than opening up a conversation or opening up a relationship or a dialogue.

Brenton Gowland: 8:31

And we've talked in the past about the fact that actually being able to sell to someone means gaining trust and trust doesn't happen in an elevator. But you might, okay with using that elevator terminology. But to your point, like we'll go to different groups around Adelaide, like networking groups. And there's one group in particular that teaches people how to do an elevator pitch. And it's all about selling your business. And while that is good training for people who need to get out and start networking, it doesn't, in my experience, 25 years of going out and talking to people end up very many times in a situation where you're doing business with each other, it ends up in closed doors or annoying interactions with people where they just don't want to talk to you anymore because you're shoving something at them.

Ron Tomlian: 9:16

And prompting that very powerful. I think I hear my mother calling Capcom direct,

Brenton Gowland: 9:20

as you said earlier. So then before we get into our tips, then what should an elevator pitch be in your view?

Ron Tomlian: 9:27

Well, it gets to a little bit about what my tips I but I think an elevator pitch should be a hook to opening a conversation.

Brenton Gowland: 9:36

Yeah.

Ron Tomlian: 9:36

And the best, the best way to create that hook is to listen to what interests the other person. So to my way of thinking an elevator pitch should be contextual. And it should talk about as much about why you do what you do as what you do what you do. So I'm going to jump straight into my first tip.

Brenton Gowland: 9:55

Yeah sure.

Ron Tomlian: 9:55

Which is talk about the why not the what if you want to see A great explanation of this, get on to YouTube and look up Simon Sinek's talking about why

Brenton Gowland: 10:06

The golden circles.

Ron Tomlian: 10:06

Yeah, the golden circles, fantastic stuff. I keep using that. I mean, it's back in 2009. He did that TED talk, but it is still as relevant Today's the first day he came up with the idea. The book start with why is a more expanded version. But he's quite right. When if we want to get people interested, it's not what we do. It's why we do it.

Brenton Gowland: 10:28

an example of an elevator pitch. We're using a why Okay, well, maybe just before we go on, maybe elevator pitche isn't the right term. I don't know what the right term is yet, maybe we'll come up with something. But for the time being, let's, let's use that.

Ron Tomlian: 10:54

Okay. So a standard elevator pitch, let's say for what I do with my tech groups would be I worked with groups of CEOs in a think tank situation to help them become better leaders and develop better businesses. Yes, that's a that's a great succinct elevator pitch.

Brenton Gowland: 11:11

Yep.

Ron Tomlian: 11:11

It says what I do, but it's kind of boring. And it's highly unlikely people are going to say, Well tell me more about that.

Brenton Gowland: 11:18

And from my experience, unless they know you, it's going to be like, there's so many people out there who say they do the same thing. How do I know that you're any different?

Ron Tomlian: 11:25

Absolutely. I would stay in an elevator pitch with something like well, I believe that great organisations come from great leaders. Yep. And to create a great organisation, you have to develop a great leader. So I've work with leaders who want to develop into becoming great leaders, so that they can create great organisations because that is what is going to build our economy and create prosperity for everyone.

Brenton Gowland: 11:49

And that creates, then a conversation. So what do you mean by that? What examples Can you give me? How do you do that?

Ron Tomlian: 11:54

Exactly? Well, hopefully it does that. Now. Interestingly, it also means that right away, you're putting something of your own values on the table. And not everyone is gonna respond to that. I mean, if I started a conversation with, I don't believe in vaccines, and I help people get out of having to have a vaccine, there'd be a lot of people who would not want to continue with their conversation.

Brenton Gowland: 12:16

Correct.

Ron Tomlian: 12:16

So it's a bit of a filter, because you're going to only get those people.

Brenton Gowland: 12:19

That is a good point.

Ron Tomlian: 12:20

You only get to get those people who are interested in the type of things that you do and believe the type of things you believe. So yes, you might get some rejections on the basis of that, but the ones who want to continue to have that conversation are going to be the type of people you really want to speak to anyway.

Brenton Gowland: 12:37

That's fantastic. Okay, and because we're into your tips, listen, go on with what's your second tip,

Ron Tomlian: 12:42

I'm a great believer in, I don't talk about role playing, I talk about role practice. So write out your elevator pitch, and practice. So don't just say, Oh, look, I've got to develop an elevator pitch for this networking event. And I'm going to go to let me think about that on the day and know, take some active time to write out your elevator pitch, and make sure that you are well versed in different versions of it. So my second tip is, is also integral to this is have different versions of your elevator pitch short, medium,

Brenton Gowland: 13:17

And you know, what I like about that is and long. because when you know something really well, you can tell when someone goes into a spiel, right? Because one, they don't want to be stopped. So there'll be going blah, blah, blah, I got to get to the end of what I want to say yeah, and you can use almost like someone's hit the play button, right, and you can see it unfolding in front of your eyes. And sometimes they get nervous, sometimes they just verbal diarrhoea kind of situation, but when you practice in practice, and practice, it becomes natural, which means you can make it flowy. And it doesn't, you can deviate and come back and so forth. But the more familiar you are with your elevator pitch, the more it can become an adaptable tool in a conversation. And I still don't like the term elevator pitch, I want to I'm going to set myself a task of coming up with a different way of referring to this

Ron Tomlian: 14:03

That's your marketer coming out.

Brenton Gowland: 14:04

Yeah, it is.

Ron Tomlian: 14:05

You need a different brand.

Brenton Gowland: 14:06

Cuz every time I think elevator pitch good, the word pitch is the thing that bothers me because we're not pitching something where we're really seeking his net comment you always make, you know, you just said filter. So we're trying to filter the correct conversations to build the right relationships with people that value us. It's It's It's way more than a pitch.

Ron Tomlian: 14:25

Absolutely. I would say that the third one because we have to keep this moving along.

Brenton Gowland: 14:30

Yeah 100%

Ron Tomlian: 14:30

I want to give you time for yours is be curious.

Brenton Gowland: 14:33

Yep.

Ron Tomlian: 14:34

Use the conversation as a way of finding out about what other people do as well. Because what you do and what you potentially could do to help other organisations will or other leaders and organisations will depend on what that organisation does.

Brenton Gowland: 14:49

Yep.

Ron Tomlian: 14:49

So listen, be curious and find out what other people are doing as well. And if they're good, they'll have a good elevator pitch or whatever we're going to call it from now on and you'll get an idea of what that organisation what value they get might provide as well.

Brenton Gowland: 15:03

Could not agree more. And you stole my first tip, to be honest, because that was what I was going to talk about. But that's fine. I'm going to add to that I so often try not to tell people what I do. I know that sounds counterproductive. But what I try to do is listen and find out what they do. Because I think in some senses, they're way more interesting than I am. Or at least that's what I put in my, in my head. So I do what you do, or what you just suggested, and be curious and ask questions, because the more I can find out about them what they do their business, then the next thing that comes out of my mouth, aka the elevator pitch, or whatever we're going to, that's the working title, right? Whatever comes out of my mouth is way more aligned to them. So you said earlier, write it out and practice? Well, what I would do is I would listen, and I, and I've talked about this before, I think because I'd listened for beat points, you know that maybe they've got this challenge, and it's filtering through in the conversation, or maybe they work in in this industry, or whatever else. And that then enables me to when I'm talking about myself, and delivering that elevator pitch about what I do actually being able to align it with the challenges that they have, well, yes, I can see what you're talking about there, because in my experience, working with other clients have experienced this. And so therefore, I think, you know, in regards to what I do, blah, blah, blah. And that then creates a conversation that moves and flows.

Ron Tomlian: 16:20

Rule one and marketing is understand who your target audience is.

Brenton Gowland: 16:24

Oh, that is huge.

Ron Tomlian: 16:25

So why wouldn't you do the same thing when you're talking to other people?

Brenton Gowland: 16:29

Correct.

Ron Tomlian: 16:30

So

Brenton Gowland: 16:31

That's interesting in that individual is the same as when you break marketing down and we talking about, you know, mass marketing, where we try to reach a wide audience, you need to find out about individuals within that group of people and what's important to them. And then draw parallels as you go from individual to individual finding out, you know, what they think, and you know, what their needs are, and what the challenges are, and how we can solve them. And you start to find patterns, but it boils down into, again, talking to one person at a time

Ron Tomlian: 17:00

Apsolutely. So tip number two.

Brenton Gowland: 17:02

So tip number two is an elevator pitch is never finished, it should always be being developed, you should always be thinking about what am I doing? What am I saying, you know, you've said write out your three different elevator pitches, but it should become an organic thing that develops with you as you have conversations. So one thing you could do is, and this might sound a bit labour intensive, but it's a good thing is keep a diary. And at the end of each week, simply write down what you have your best interactions were with someone or comments that came out of the conversations, because if we go back to a marketing 101 sense, the feedback comes from people who you talk to and you use your elevator pitch with in the way those conversations roll out, you can basically say, well, this conversation went really well, here were a distinctives, in that, and here's some of the things I said as the conversation, you know, emerge, maybe I should include them in my elevator pitch. And the only way you can do that is by thinking about it, recording it. So keeping it you know, just a couple of diary notes, maybe sit down on a Sunday night or whatever else before you while you're getting ready for work and think what were those interactions in, you know, are they good? Or if you're right on it, after the conversation, just click your voice notes on your phone and just make a couple of notes about you know, what that interaction was like, but I find that if you apply a marketing methodology to your own elevator pitch in that is tested, get feedback, and feedback doesn't mean ask them, what did you think of my elevator pitch? feedback means observation. So observe how they respond, observe, when someone responds, really well think what did I do differently, and then write it down or record it, and then use that to develop your elevator pitch over time. So the second point is keep developing it and find ways of measuring it and developing it over time.

Ron Tomlian: 18:42

And the truth of matter is that will start to become natural, if you're using it more often anyway. So it's a continuous improvement process around up what works by using it more often.

Brenton Gowland: 18:53

Yeah, and my last one is I and this is talking to you what right so you were saying that, you know talk about the why, but the what is important, but the what comes after. So I've often had relevant case studies where I've worked with different clients in the past, and I have them ready to pluck and pack. And there's a couple of important things with a case study. And that is, what problem you solved, how you solved and what the result was. And so for instance, if you're talking to someone, and you're able to ask questions, and able to spend a bit of time, being curious and finding out what they do, where their challenges are, et cetera, et cetera. And we've talked about this before as well, but people love talking about themselves. So if you have a good conversation that will open up and that then enables you to go when you hear what the challenges are, well actually I worked with a client in a similar industry, and this is the approach we took to that. So if you've obviously if you're just starting out, you don't have those case studies that's a little bit difficult but many people who have spent years working in a different business etc, etc. will have worked with multiple clients and will have a vast array of knowledge and sometimes you just surprised that you know something You might think is really simple that you've done with a client can actually really benefit and help somebody. And it's not telling the whole story. It's just giving away a little nugget, as I said, you know, so yeah, the here's what I do. Here's the wire that and listen, you were saying that, you know, you have a challenge over here? Well, when I worked with a certain client, this is how we solve that problem. And, you know, maybe this is a bit salesy, but it could be or It couldn't be, have you ever thought of, you know, sometimes just making suggestions and seeing how those conversations play out? You know, have you ever thought of doing this? Have you ever tried that because we did that, and that worked with someone else. And it's not from a sales perspective, but it's from a perspective of helping the other person from your experience, because that then goes and shows a little bit of generosity. But that doesn't come right at the start that comes from listening. And it's an adjunct to the pitch.

Ron Tomlian: 20:45

Yeah, absolutely. So if I'm hearing you correctly, Brentan, you're saying be prepared to go beyond the your elevator pitch, be able to demonstrate, not just claim.

Brenton Gowland: 20:56

100%, you must be able to demonstrate what you say, because so many times when you go to these networking events where they teach you, you know, the one minute pitch and all these or whatever it is, or one minute networking and so forth, that's great when you're learning, but it just leaves a whole lot of space. And you need to be able to demonstrate, because that's the thing you said earlier, you know, okay, we if we work with leaders, etc, etc, We develop them and so forth. Well, why are you different everyone else? Well, you've shared your why. And then if you can share some examples, or give some advice, you're actually providing someone something of value?

Ron Tomlian: 21:31

Absolutely. And really, what we're talking about is being able to open a conversation, but being able to feel that conversation later on with something that's relevant to the person you're talking to.

Brenton Gowland: 21:42

So yeah, so an elevator pitch. If we're going to use that as a working title, I've got a bugbear. Now, that just becomes the start of a conversation. As we know, to go from, you know, a cold conversation to working with someone will generally take maybe eight to 16 interactions, sometimes a little bit less. But very often, it takes that amount of time for people to suss you out to understand that you can do what you say you can do that you credentials, check out all the bits and pieces to get to the point where you're actually talking about working together.

Ron Tomlian: 22:11

Rome wasn't built in a day. And nither is trust, you've earned it here first

Brenton Gowland: 22:15

Correct. So look, if you're enjoying the podcast, as we've said, multiple times, please make a comment suggest topics that you would be interested in, we would love to hear your feedback. And Ron spoke about in our last podcast, Episode 11. Just find that one piece of useful information from this podcast today that you can put into action. So listeners, I put out a challenge to you let us know what the one piece of most useful information in this podcast was to you. And let us know if you're going to put that into action or not. Because I think it's good to take something from everything were absorbing as far as development of ourselves and do something different. Because if we don't do something different, nothing improves or changes does it?

Ron Tomlian: 22:58

Absolutely right. So let's also talk about our sponsors. Just a reminder, nucleus at nucleus.com.au

Brenton Gowland: 23:04

Correct Borough Markets at boroughmarkets.com.au. That's spelt B-O-R-O-U-G-H-Markets.com.au.

Ron Tomlian: 23:11

And Adapt_CO.

Brenton Gowland: 23:12

Yes, that's me, if you want to reach out to Adapt_CO website is still coming because I'm developing my elevator pitch. No I'm just kind of working out the nuts and bolts of how I present. So just reach out to me on LinkedIn. There's a lot of bad marketing out there. And if you want to get some straight answers and some advice, and I'm more than happy to just have a coffee with you and provide you some of that.

Ron Tomlian: 23:34

So thanks for joining us. We hope you found this is useful and see you next time Brenton.

Brenton Gowland: 23:38

Indeed See you next time Ron and I am looking forward to it.

Ron Tomlian: 23:42

Yeah me too.

Brenton Gowland: 23:42

Bye for now.

Ron Tomlian: 23:43

Bye