What is an elevator pitch?
An elevator pitch is a brief spoken summary of what you offer, who it helps and why it matters, short enough to deliver in an elevator ride.
Why it matters for sales teams
Prospects, partners and new contacts often ask, "So what do you do?" A clear answer in a few sentences builds interest, and a vague one loses it. A shared elevator pitch also keeps everyone on a sales team describing the company the same way, which makes the message stronger across calls, emails and events.
A good pitch focuses on the listener's problem and the outcome, not on features or company history.
Example
A rep at a trade show is asked what her company does. She says: "We help field service companies schedule technicians so more jobs get done each day. Our customers used to plan routes by hand. Now their dispatchers spend their time on exceptions instead." If the listener asks a follow-up question, she has earned a longer conversation.
Elevator pitch vs value proposition
The value proposition is the core promise: the specific value you deliver to a specific customer. The elevator pitch is how a person says it out loud, in a short and natural way. A cold call opener is different again, since its job is to start a conversation, not to summarize the company.