The term elevator pitch, according to some sources, originated with a stunt in New York City in the 1850s, when master mechanic and inventor Elisha Otis pitched his automatic braking system that prevented elevators from plunging down shafts if their hoisting ropes ripped. Using himself as a guinea pig during the demonstration, Otis stood perched high up on a platform before ordering an assistant to cut the ropes. The platform dropped, and if you’ve recently taken a ride up to the Empire State Building’s observatory in a custom-made glass elevator manufactured by none other than the Otis Elevator Company, you know how the story ended.
Whether it actually was the genesis of the elevator pitch isn’t verifiable. It’s just as likely that the concept came out of mid-20th century Hollywood culture, where the idea was that if you happened to find yourself in an elevator with a movie executive, you should be able to succinctly pitch your script or movie idea in the time it took for the elevator to reach the executive’s floor, typically 30 seconds to two minutes. Former Disney employee Charlie Fink’s winning elevator pitch to studio executives, reportedly leading to The Lion King’s creation, was “Bambi in Africa.” Just three words, barely long enough for the elevator door to close.
Over the years, the business community has adapted the concept to quickly and succinctly convey a message about a product, service, or idea to potential investors, clients, or employers.
So pervasive is the practice of elevator pitching that even Harvard and Princeton University’s career centers ask the rhetorical question on Google, “What’s an elevator pitch, and why do I need one?” before answering it for job seekers in a pithy blog post.
Craft a value statement instead
Unlike an elevator pitch, a value statement is not designed to “sell” something quickly but rather to start a meaningful conversation and establish a connection.
It involves a deep understanding of the needs and pain points of the person you are speaking to while demonstrating empathy and a desire to help. It requires active listening and the ability to adapt and modify your message based on the feedback and cues you receive from the other person.
Here’s a simple, stripped-down example to highlight the value portion of such a statement. Say you are networking with nonprofit professionals, and you’d like to convey your commitment to social causes and highlight your personal contribution to providing a benefit to the public. You might tell them, “I spend 15 to 20 hours per week volunteering at a community center, where I apply my financial management skills to teaching financial literacy to low-income families.”
Now, if you stopped there, you’d still fall short of identifying a clear outcome your listener could imagine for their organization’s needs, even if they got the sense that your heart is in the right place and that what you do is important. To really help them understand your impact, however, and reach them on a deeper level, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the people you serve. You could add: “By learning basic financial management skills, these parents are better equipped to save money for a medical emergency to avoid going into debt if something were to happen” or, alternatively, “As these parents become empowered to make better financial decisions, they’ll be able to purchase laptops for their kids, so they don’t have to rely on library hours to do their homework and risk falling behind in school.”
You need a simple and powerful value statement to explain the tangible benefits of something as complex as Digital Scroll Compressor Technology for Refrigerated Food Transport, if you want a non-technical audience, like a potential customer’s supply chain or finance leaders, to immediately grasp the technology’s applicability to their challenges of getting temperature-sensitive products safely from point A to point B. The people working for Emerson Electric can do it in just one sentence:
“Our technology helps companies like Dole protect and preserve the world’s most popular fruit—bananas—with precise shipping temperatures over thousands of miles of ocean travel to ensure fresh arrival at local stores.”
This value statement clearly illustrates a desired outcome for anyone in the market of shipping perishable products such as food, pharmaceuticals, plants, medicines, and vaccines. It empowers them to ask the types of questions that may lead to profitable business arrangements.
5 steps to an impactful value statement
How do you craft a powerful value statement? Here are five key takeaways:
- Know your audience: What are their pain points, goals, and aspirations? Tailor your value statement to address their specific needs. Emphasize the benefits and outcomes your audience can expect.
- Keep it concise: Aim for no more than one or two sentences that clearly convey your value.
- Use clear and compelling language: Avoid jargon or technical terms that could confuse your audience. Choose words that resonate and create an emotional connection.
- Tailor for different contexts: Adapt your value statement to various situations, such as networking events, job interviews, or client meetings.
- Rehearse and refine: Practice delivering your value statement with relaxed confidence and interpersonal warmth. Seek feedback from trusted colleagues or mentors and continue to refine your message.
When done right, a value statement concisely captures the essence of what you or your business provides in an impactful manner. It focuses on the value you bring, the problems you solve, and the benefits you offer to your audience, setting you up for deeper connections and a mutually successful outcome.
Harrison Monarth is the CEO and founder of Gurumaker and author of Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO. As an executive coach he teaches C-suite leaders, senior executives, and high-potential managers effective leadership for professional and organizational success.