6/25/2007

One of the best books that has ever been written about marketing new products and services is Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm.
     Contained in it is an elevator pitch template that goes like this…

1. For (target customers)
2. Who are dissatisfied with (the current market alternative)
3. Our product is a (new product category)
4. That provides (key problem-solving capability).
5. Unlike (the product alternative),
6. Our product (describe the key product features).

The problem is that, while this is a good tool for organizing your thoughts, it isn’t an elevator pitch.
     For one thing, the flow of this template is a little stiff and formal. A good elevator pitch should be delivered in a relaxed and conversational manner, and this format doesn’t meet that requirement. A second problem with this template is that it is actually too detailed. Because it touches on so many different things, it can take too long to deliver.
     The bottom line is that I would recommend that you use this template to help you put together your message, but I wouldn’t recommend that you use it as your actual elevator pitch. Instead, in the book I give a template that you can use to create your actual elevator pitch.