Hey Arnold tell us a joke.

I don’t know any jokes.

In his new book Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger shares a story about how early in his career he was at a celebrity party and got caught unprepared.  Fortunately Lucile Ball came to his rescue.  But preparedness is exactly why sales people are always encouraged to be ready with an elevator pitch.

The problem with an elevator pitch is that nobody buys a business product or service in an elevator.  And nobody enjoys being pitched.  But they will buy into a remarkable story, and just about everyone loves to hear one.

So better than figuring out a way to pitch someone really quick on your idea, product, or service is to figure out a way to share your story with them in an interesting way.

Elevator Pitch Example

I’ve spent the past 20 years doing sales and marketing for the big companies -Lucent , GM, Wells, and MetLife.  Now I partner with Google teaching small business what the big companies know about generating traffic, converting traffic to leads, turning leads to customers, and measuring the results.  Give me your card, I’ll schedule coffee (my treat of course), and answer any questions you might have.