Can an “elevator pitch” be effective for a managed service provider (MSP)? It might all depend on the information you choose to include and how you deliver your pitch. 

An elevator pitch typically serves as a 30-second speech that quickly explains what an MSP offers and how it can support customers. 

Developing an effective elevator pitch typically requires an MSP to consider a few key factors, including:

1. Pitch format

A concise, direct elevator pitch can be crucial, as it enables MSPs to summarize their offerings during the briefest period of time. 

It’s important to craft a message that a prospect or customer will understand instantly and highlights the key value your business offers its customers day after day.

Remote monitoring and management (RMM) software provider Continuum, for example, recommends an elevator pitch be devised with the following traits in mind:

“Selling often only requires about 30 seconds of canned presentation and the rest is simply the result of learning, giving opinions, establishing trust and attracting new opportunities with that security blanket you provide,” according to a Continuum blog post. “Just like other first impressions, you will grab your prospect’s attention or lose it in the first few seconds.”

2. Pitch understanding

Alex Rogers, CEO at MSP training provider CharTec, told MSPmentor that selling is all about understanding.

As such, delivering an effective elevator pitch requires an MSP to understand a customer’s perspective and tailor its message to its customers’ needs.

“When we sell managed services effectively we don’t give quick pitches, we give presentations! Understand your audience, understand their position and then you’ll know how to sell them,” he noted. 

3. Pitch follow-up

An elevator pitch should open the door to future communications between an MSP and a customer. 

And an MSP that invites customers to ask questions and follows up with them can boost its chances of gaining new business. 

“Your introductory pitch is like a mini elevator pitch meant to open up a conversation, and it can be delivered to anyone you’re talking with, it’s not reserved for a particular contact or title,” Carrie Simpson, founder of Managed Sales Pros, wrote in a blog post. 

Done right, an elevator pitch could represent the first step in a long-term relationship between an MSP and a customer. 

How do you deliver your elevator pitch to customers? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at[email protected].

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