Reminder: elevator pitches work against you…a lot!
Ah, the elevator pitch! The ubiquitous, non-productive sales tactic that needs to be forgotten forever.
Fact: if you focus on and/or develop an elevator pitch, you are hurting your business. It can’t be used to sell, it can’t be used to operate, and it can’t be used to manage.
What do you think of when you think of Volvo? Safety, right? Did that come from an elevator pitch? Of course not. It came from the development of a single, ultra-simple brand positioning concept - one that didn’t have to be translated to understand, by the way.
Safety, if you haven’t already realized, CAN be used to sell, operate, and manage.
The problem with developing elevator pitches is, it puts your mind in a different place than where it needs to be. You need to consider simplicity foremost, and out of that simplicity must come differentiated, executable brand positioning.
I tell everyone, and I’ll tell you: forget the elevator pitch concept FOREVER! It works against you in very very damaging ways, believe it or not. The only reason the concept exists at all is, no one knows what else to do.
The vastly superior way to consider messaging, operations, and management is to consider them all at the same time. And the only way to do that is through brand positioning, and specifically through a Verbal Branding platform.
Verbal Branding = simplicity X conversational logic X market differentiation X unified internal culture. The result is unmitigated competitive advantage.