One-Sentence Elevator Pitches that Get Prospects' Attention

You’ve got to move people and you’re not going to do it by dumping on them the whole story of how great you are. Half the time you wind up reciting some tongue-tied pitch and you lack confidence or sound like a robot. Maybe that worked once or twice. But it’s the exception.

Throw that pathetic elevator pitch out the window and take these two steps instead:

• Humor
• Then silence

Look them straight in the eye and say your line. Then wait for them to respond. Say something intriguing to make them curious – and then shut up.

This worked swimmingly well for John Malzone, CFP®. On my podcast, he described how he discovered his own one sentence elevator pitch while networking at a charity event.

After those two martinis really kicked in, this woman came up to me and she looked like she had a sense of humor and she said, “So what do you do?”

And I just looked at her real wryly and said, “I rescue investors from their [explicit] brokers!”

She just lit up like a tree and said, “Oh! Here’s my card. I know somebody who could use you. She’s not happy with her broker at all.”

John wound up trademarking this phrase because it became so popular with everyone he said it to, subsequent to this event. So you’ll have to think of your own – and you can use the following as examples.

One-sentence elevator pitches that won’t make you sound like R2-D2

These one-sentence elevator pitches won’t make you sound like R2-D2. And the best part is the absence of all those tired, broken down cliches, like the following:

• comprehensive financial planning
• making work optional
• investment strategies
• steward of your dreams
• achieve their goals
• retire to the life they’ve always wanted
• fee-only fiduciary

Let’s get to it, shall we?

1. I help people not blow up their portfolios.

This is for investment-focused advisors and all my CFA® buddies.

2. I help people avoid squandering away their life savings on the Rolls Royce Phantom or Hermes Blue Crocodile.

Customize the frivolous item to the audience you’re speaking addressing. If you work with new parents, for example, substitute “$500 baby bibs” for cars or purses.

3. I help business owners stop working before their businesses do it for them.

This one has a little bit of an edge but no business owner is going to willingly admit that at any given moment they are teetering on the edge.

4. I work with doctors who hate financial advisors.

You could plug in any job title here instead of “doctors,” because most of the time this is how people regard the profession.

5. I work with people who say they’ll never run out of money and make sure that it’s actually true.

Nice and snarky. Just say it quickly and with confidence.

6. I handle the money drama with your spouse on your behalf.

This is a daring one. You can only say this if there is only one spouse in the room. If you say this to a couple, it is awkward.

7. I help people see the difference between how much money they think they have and how much they actually do.

This one will evoke curiosity. Be ready to rebut back when people ask questions about why.

8. I’m kinda like the Deion Sanders of finance.

Only use this if your clients tend to like football and particularly if they are Cowboys fans. That way they’ll know who “Prime Time” is.

9. Just like Superwo(man), I’m the person you call in the middle of the night to fly in and save you after you do something wrong with your money.

It’s the truth.

Sara’s upshot

Every LinkedIn message in this e-book is two sentences or less.

If you need social media coaching, join my membership. There is currently a waitlist, please contact me to reserve your spot.

Sara Grillo, CFA, is a marketing consultant who helps investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms fight the tendency to scatter meaningless clichés on their prospects and bore them as a result. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor.

Read more articles by Sara Grillo