Do you know how to pitch a product?

The scenario

Consider the situation where you jump in an elevator and start chatting to the other person and they ask "What does your product do?"

There is probably under 60 seconds to give an answer that will excite them about your product.

This is similar to an elevator pitch, it can happen when you meet a new client, at an event, when you're at a barbecue with a friend. The more effort you put into doing this well, the better you will sound.

Although not everybody is in sales, we all will have to convince others at different times.

llama getting elevated — Figure: Imagine you jump in an elevator and someone says "What does your product do?"

How to form a pitch

To form a pitch, it is important to collate your thoughts about the product. Consider these areas:

The what
The unique value
Call to action

#1 The What

Think about what your product is, focus on the problem it solves. Also, remeber that whether they're technical people or not, always try to use laymen terms and keep it simple.

For example:

TinaCMS is a Headless CMS where your content is stored as Markdown in GitHub

Tip: You might have 15 great points, but start the conversation with a couple of important ones. Consider who you are speaking to when choosing the highest value points.

#2 The Unique Value

Now think about what your product does and its competitors don't. What makes your product special?

For example:

GitHub enables version control and great approval workflow
Great editing UX

#3 The call to action

Think about where people would go to get more information or to buy the product.

e.g. "If you want to learn more, check out the demo on tina.io"

Now practice

Now you have a few bullet points, go outside and record a quick video from memory. Here's a few tips to get it right:

Hook people in - Make sure to mention the question at the start, so people have a little context.
Practice and perfect it - Do a few takes until it feels right

There you go, that's your pitch!

Let's take a look at some examples of a pitch for TinaCMS: