How to Craft the Perfect Elevator Pitch Rolf Jester Gartner for Business Leaders © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> How to Participate Today Audio Announcement You have joined the audio muted using your computer’s speaker system (VoIP) by default. To call in, please select “use telephone” in your audio pane of the Webinar panel for the conference number and access code © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Insight drawn from thousands of interactions with the your clients, every day. 60,000 Individual Clients 10,000 Client Enterprises 100,000+ IT End-user Inquiries 17,000 Benchmarks 65% of Fortune 1000; 85% of Global 500 2 Million+ IT Enduser Searches 650 Analysts Across 80 Countries 60+ Conferences 3,600 CIOs © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> 10,000 Media Inquiries “Gartner provides insight we can’t get anywhere else.” CEO, Gartner Client Participant Poll Question 1: Question: The elevator pitch is delivered mostly by: - Sales people - Marketing communications managers - Public and investor relations people - The CEO Please select the one option that best fits your situation. Responses are confidential © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Participant Poll Question 2: Question: For 2009, your marketing budget: - Has it decreased over 2008 - Is it flat with 2008 - Has it increased over 2008 Please select the one option that best fits your situation. Responses are confidential © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> You Just Read that Warren Buffet is Eager to Invest in Companies Like Yours … AND he just got on an elevator with you. He asks: What do you do? BUT he’s getting off at the 9th Floor… What will you say? © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> After Today’s Presentation … You will understand: 9 Why a good elevator pitch is so important 9 The role of elevator pitch in building a strong brand 9 How the Gartner tool helps you craft an elevator pitch that is brief, relevant and memorable. © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Who Uses the Elevator Pitch? Salespeople CEOs Investor Investor Relations Relations Recruiters Marketing Teams © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Why Do Most Elevator Pitches Miss the Mark? They are too long and too technical. Says one client… “We have an elevator pitch but it requires a building with 700 floors…” © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Elevator Pitches Fail to Address Business Outcomes … They often lead with bragging points or product features vs. business outcomes. “We are the leading provider with 54 offices in 29 countries.” © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> “Our universal IP Secure VPN Client supports 64-bit operating systems.” Structure Your Elevator Pitch Using the Gartner Story Framework Known as S.I.R. R Audience Attention Span I S Resolution How do you solve the problem? Impact Quantify the impact that the situation is having on the prospect’s bottom line … Situation Cite the dilemma, pain, difficulties or complications that the prospect faces … Drama, Suspense and Resolution © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Keep it Simple … Situation: There’s an acute water shortage and rationing is coming. Impact: Lawns are turning brown; gardens are dying. Resolution: At Gardens That Grow, our landscapes consume 90% less water of traditional gardens. And you never compromise beauty. © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Let’s Look at Some Examples in the Technology Sectors … SKYPE • Businesses take particular care of the minutes they spend on international calls. • If they don't, costs can quickly skyrocket out of control. • Skype complements fixed-line services with solutions for business that help them predict and contain the cost of communications. © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Here’s an Example from Cisco… CISCO • Business travel consumes significant time and expense. • In fact, these costs have more than doubled over the past decade. • Cisco TelePresence simulates an "in-person" experience that lets you collaborate with others anytime, anywhere, with everyone — from the comfort of your home office. © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> And One from a Professional Services Firm … VANTAGE PARTNERS • Studies show that the number of corporate alliances increases by about 25% a year – yet the failure rate of these alliances still hovers at 60% to 70%. • Vantage Partners helps manufacturers improve the success of their alliances – with techniques that consistently improve relationships and grow revenue for years to come. © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> And for a Storage Management Solution … EMC • Companies store excessive information, because much of it is redundant. In fact, duplicate data is one of IT’s top contributors to inefficiency. • EMC deduplicates data at the source – from remote offices and dispersed systems – before sending it over the storage network, improving network utilization, speeding up backup time while conserving storage. © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Treat Your Elevator Pitch as any Other Corporate Standard Elevator pitch speaks to overall business performance improvement IT Consulting and System Integration Firm Corporate Service Lines Media and Entertainment Money Management and Trading Retail Service Offerings Editorial Management Systems Trading System HR Scheduling Solutions © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Next-level elevator pitch speaks to improving business performance in specific vertical markets Next-level elevator pitch speaks to how applications improve business performance in specific business functions Elevator Pitch Development Process What Brand + Business Objectives Your Company Workshop Who/Why/When Customer Issue(s) + Impact on Their Business Your Target Market Test & Revise Your Solution Pitch How/Where Offering(s) © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Summary of Best Practices Use your elevator pitch to tell at story. • Address Situation, Impact and Resolution • Start with customers; end with outcomes • Quantify your value proposition • Try beginning with a provocative statistic (like we saw with Vantage Partners) • Treat as any other corporate standard © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Participant Poll Question 3: Question: The ideal elevator pitch is: - About two minutes - No longer than one minute - 30 seconds or less Please select the one option that best fits your situation. Responses are confidential © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Recommended Reading • Dataquest Insight: Is Your Messaging Customer-Centric? G00162341 • Dataquest Insight: A Quick Test Reveals Whether You Are MarketingOriented G00162760 • Marketing Essentials: How to Craft the Perfect Elevator Pitch G00163867 • Marketing Essentials: Creating Effective IT Sales Presentations G00165925 • Dataquest Insight: Selection Criteria for IT Professional Services Providers Are Less Variable Than Providers Think G00131950 • A Customer-Centric View of Services ITSV-WW-DP-0524 • Operationalizing the Services Brand ITSV-WW-DP-0536 • Apply Choice-Based Trade-Off Analysis to Determine What Really Influences Buyers G00126075 • Marketing Consulting Services to Business Buyers G00136425 © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> The Gartner portfolio Research Consulting © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Inquiry & SAS Media Programs Events Gartner for Business Leaders Customers Competitors Gartner Analytics User Surveys IT Leaders Toolkits Magic Quadrants MarketScopes SWOT Analyses Vendor Ratings Competitive Landscapes Marketing Essentials Markets Market Statistics Market Forecasts Market Trends Emerging Markets © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. <docname>_<date>_<author> Best Practices Case Studies Benchmarks Technologies Hype Cycles Cool Vendor Reports Emerging Technology Thank you for Participating! • If you have additional questions, comments or requests, please follow-up with your Gartner Account Executive • If you need help with who that is, please e-mail: [email protected] • If you would like a copy of today’s presentation, contact your Gartner Account Executive or e-mail us at: [email protected] © 2008 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 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