S2 Ep 11: The New Elevator Pitch

Welcome back to the Marketing Muscle Up podcast show. I'm Richard Taternji, founder of Com Marketing. We help health and wellness studios to grow their business and personal trainers to decrease their hours by 50%, increase their revenue, double their revenue. And today I want to talk all about Elevators. Ev, welcome to the show. Ev Chapman, head of digital brand at ComMarketing. How are you?

Hello, welcome. Uh, Elevators is an Interesting topic. Do you have any awkward elevator story?

Well, elevators are always awkward. Let's be honest.

They always are.

Yeah. You would stand in the elevator and everybody like puts their— I mean, elevators now are not awkward for introverted people because there's, you know, only one person or 2 people riding an elevator, right? So—

It's very awkward. Do you have like— I have friends who are just those people who are the loud ones in the elevator. That's even worse.

Oh, the loud ones in the elevator. Yep. The ones that just talk, talk, talk. Yeah. Well, I do have a good friend that talks in elevators all the time.

Oh, it's so awkward as an introvert. You're like, just shut up.

It is awkward as an introvert. Yes. I was caught in a lift with Sam Cawthorn, who's going to be on the show. And Sam is a motivation, professional motivational speaker around the world. And we were stuck in an elevator with, I think it was Pat Rafter, the tennis player. And it was in Melbourne and he was doing an event. We were doing an event around the Australian Open time and we happened to be in the hotel with all the tennis players. And, you know, Sam just starts talking and yeah, best mates in about 2 minutes' time.

Wow, that's interesting. 2 minutes is all it took to be a—

Actually, less than that.

Less than that.

And he even got the details and the numbers and You know, rapport building, the whole thing in an elevator.

Doesn't take very long, does

it? And it wasn't a long elevator. We were talking, you know, in all honesty, it was a good under 30 seconds.

And that's really all you need to get going in an elevator.

It is all you need. It is all you need. In fact, earlier this year, we run, you know, we run immersive events, which is a 2-day event. Actually, we've got one coming up at the end of November. And it's a 2-day marketing conference event. And we were presenting last time, me and Jo were stuck in Gold Coast of all places. And we hired out an apartment on a Gold Coast apartment complex.

And

usually those Gold Coast apartments, they're really tall. And we probably had one of the tallest buildings for some reason. We're at the top, near the top anyway. And—

That's where the views are.

That is where the views are. And I don't go on elevators and that. I don't go up on the balcony at that level. Like, it's— that's super scary. So I don't want to look down. But anyway, we were up high because there's a lot of apartments up there and all up high. Anyway, we're running an event and it was a 2-day event. I went down to get some coffees and some lunch, and I only had 10 minutes between talks I had to do. So I was kind of in a rush. And I knew where I was going to go, and I had a mission to get down, get up quick, 10 minutes. Anyway, in the elevator ride I had, I had my comm hat on, and then I was sort of just finishing the event, like halfway through. And you know when you're in that kind of energy field, Ev, where it could be like when you finished a personal training session or your morning sessions and you're kind of in a bit of a buzz, right? Yeah. feeling good.

Endorphins.

Endorphins, correct. And I was in the elevator and then this guy said to me, oh, what's KOM? And then I gave my elevator pitch because we were kind of just maybe talking about it or we were teaching it or we were talking about statements and things. I said, yeah, we help, we specifically help health and fitness studios grow their studio. And then he goes, oh yeah, my Son needs some help on that. And then all of a sudden, by the end of the elevator, we had a bit of rapport building and I said, oh, where's your son at? And he goes, oh yep, I know that place. I know that studio. Boom, boom, boom. End of the elevator, I had his contact details and that was it. And that was 30 floors. And that's all it took.

That's all it takes.

That's all it takes.

Okay. So But not everyone's writing in elevators, right?

Not everybody is writing in elevators. You're correct. Correct. So we put a training together and it's part of our 21-day fast client training. And so we've got a whole training on this, but I kind of want to share bits of it around the concept of that. So

I

want to show you how you can actually use the elevator. And even if you don't write in elevator, don't worry about that. We are talking specifically about being being seen or basically raising your hand multiple times in the gym or in your commute— pardon me, in your community or online. And when I mean online, I'm talking about online in community groups. Um, if you're in a community group or you're not in a community, get in a community group online.

Yeah.

Or a very niche group depending on what sort of business you're in.

Yeah. So it's really about getting where people are at. You know, people used to, you might have used to be in corporates and you might have been, you know, riding in elevators, but now it's really about, you know, being where you're at and being able to, you know, take that 30 seconds or, you know, that kind of thing to build the rapport, get the phone number, do whatever you need to become that person's trainer, best friend, whatever it is.

Yeah. And the key here, the key here, it does, it is hard for introverts who

Yeah.

A lot of fitness professionals, business owners are introverts naturally, but they're extroverts on the outside, meaning that they have to teach and educate and, you know, motivate their clients. And so you're extrovert, but when you stop, sometimes you're introvert. And so this guy caught me off guard being an extrovert and it was a natural kind of progression. I go between extrovert, introvert, depending where I'm at.

Yep.

And so the key here is you need to be engaging and saying hello to as many people as possible daily. That helps the confidence flow. So, hi, how you doing? Hi, how you doing? It could be a coffee shop. It could be online commenting in a big box gym if you belong, if you work out of there. It doesn't matter where it is, but you need to be raising your hand multiple times. That's like an elevator, getting on there and say, hi, how you doing?

Yeah.

Like, they're really going to say nothing. They're going to say, yeah, good.

What's the worst that could happen?

What could— worst could happen? It's only, you know, a few floors and you're going to be out, right?

That's it.

And so that is the flavor here. The confidence factor is key. Now, before we go on, like, I know I'm going to go into details today of the numbers and so forth, but the key here is that you need to know your elevator pitch. That is the good golden rule. When I learned this, when I went to America early on in the piece, Americans are very, I would call it very confident, I feel. When I went over there in the early days when I was like 17, 18, 19, and I always felt that they, you know, as an Australian, you got this tall poppy syndrome. But Americans, they love, well, the Americans that I got introduced to, they always like to be clear, be precise, and they want to ask you the hard-hitting questions. And me and Joey, we just weren't ready for it. And so they really taught us how to get your message out really fast and efficiently. And so the key here is you need to know your elevator pitch. Now there's 3 things you need to focus on. Number 1 is you need to know your name and you need to be clear on that. That's key. Yeah. Name and clear. Number 2 is you need to say who is your avatar or who do you service? Number 2. And number 3, and the 3rd and final one is what is the outcome that you deliver to the avatar? Okay.

So name, avatar, and outcome.

Correct. So for example, I could say, hi, I'm Richard and I help women who are going through post-pregnancy to bounce back their bodies.

Right.

Right. So that's an avatar and outcome. I could say, hi, I'm Richard. I'm Richard Toutounji and we help fitness studios to double their business.

Clear. Clear as day.

Precise. So again, just write this down, guys. What is your name, your avatar, and your outcome? Now, what happens if you have multiple avatars?

Yeah.

Good question. Glad you asked. The key here, or multiple businesses, by the way.

Oh, what?

Yeah. I had multiple businesses, side hustles, or do different things or that. Yeah. It's very confusing.

But is there any, any mini money mode or no?

No. Well, you figure out who you're talking to and where you're at.

Yeah.

So, you know, if you're at this event, you're that. If you're like, you just change hats depending on where you're at. But now we try to streamline everything as much as possible and you should always be you know, have the business that works with the life and the whys and your impact and your life values, etc. Yeah. And so then I guess what I was getting to then is that when people ask you, you've got to make sure that you shut your mouth after. That's the key.

Okay.

So name, avatar, outcome, up, close your mouth.

Yeah. And I think like when you're nervous, Sometimes you tend to ramble a bit more.

Yeah, rambling is where did I go to university? Rambling is how many years I've been in the industry for. Rambling is how I actually service, how I get the results. Well, we take people on the treadmill, and then after that we put them through a body fat test, and after that we do blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Ding dong! The elevator opens, and there's two things going to happen.

Please, guys.

They're going to say that's nice. Or they're going to say, tell me more.

Now,

if they say, that's nice, that's also known for not interested. I can't wait for this elevator to actually stop.

Okay.

If they say—

But that also means like they're not your person, right?

It also means they're not your person.

Yeah. So you've qualified them straight away.

Qualified them straight away. And if it's an impactful statement and it's like, it's a great statement. It can't— they're always going to say, wow. And then they're going to open with another question. They're most likely going to say, how do you do that? Or I love that. Or I've got someone who does that. Like that's what the elevator pitch statement is. It's not about your bio. Nobody cares about you until you care about them.

Yeah.

They're asking you, what do you do? Or, you know, what are you here for? Or that's what's gonna happen in the elevator. Like what are you doing in the hotel? Or who do you know? Or Oh, you're at this birthday party. Do you— how do you know? Like, you know, you go to a party and friends of friends, you go, how do you know my friend?

Yeah.

All that kind of stuff, right? All that, all that, that's just a way to try to make sure that there's— we can talk, we can trust each other. And so, yeah, the elevator pitch is about confidence. And so we've got a whole series of how you actually get leads from this concept.

Yep.

And that's in our 21-day program. If anybody's interested in that, again, you go to commarketing.com.au and you can just request to join the 21-day fast client program. But the key here at the start is confidence, Ev.

Yeah. And would you say like the best thing to do is like practice? Like would you practice like in front of the mirror or something?

Yeah, I think practice in front of a mirror. Practice in front of the mirror, but the first practice is just saying hello.

That's true.

Hey, how you doing? Hi. And really, you know, you've really just got to—

The more you do it, the more confident you get.

Yeah. I always say count how many times you can say hello to people. So the theory here is part of our training is that let's say you— if I said to you, Ev, how many times do you say hello to somebody? Could you answer that for me now?

Well, like at the moment I work from home and I was in lockdown, so like one person.

One. Okay, cool.

Or like when I get on Zoom. But like, but on a normal day, like if I had gone to the office or out for a walk in the morning, like definitely multiple, maybe 10, 15.

Now, 10's good. 10's a good number. Most people say 5, 6, 7. So, If you can do 10 every day of new people, by the way, this is new people.

Oh, new people.

New people, Ev. We're not talking about me every day.

Oh, well, like, no. Okay. Well, there's some people I see regularly on my walks in the morning. So, you know, I say hello to them, but I do see new people.

Okay, cool. So we want to open up 10 hellos every day.

Okay.

And then the second—

New hellos.

New hellos. New hellos. Yep. The second people The people of— you've been saying hello to them for a week or 2 months or 2 years, and this is the conversation opens. So if you've said hello to 10 people a day, the goal is to have a conversation with 50% of those 10. So 5. So every day you have 10 people conversating. Hi, how you doing? That's it. Nothing else. And then you go from 5 extra people. So that's the practice method. mentality. And if you are introvert, doing it in uniform or doing it something that people remember you from or wearing your brightest color jumper or t-shirt or wearing crazy shoes or hats or anything like that, that helps to break the ice a little bit if you struggle with what to talk about. Really, the uniform is the key. If you can wear a uniform, it's easy.

Yeah. I think it gives you purpose, but also like, here's what I know about, say, Saying hello or even, you know, like if you say hello, someone will say hello back. Like that's what I find. Or if you smile, they'll smile back at you.

Yeah. Most of the time.

Most of the time. Like, but people aren't saying like, why did you say hello? Like most people—

And really when you smile at somebody, you're going to change their day. You're going to make them feel happier, healthier. You sometimes, As you said, you haven't been locked down for a while. So sometimes there's only one person that can actually change your day just by smiling and saying hello. So it's not all about getting clients here, Ev. It's not about, okay, I've got to talk to 10 people, get clients. It's naturally going to come because it's a percentage game and everything's— you go to the casino, it's a percentage game of winning and a percentage game of losing. If you talk to enough people, it's a percentage game of then the next step, which is, hey, what do you do? Hey, here's the number, let's book in, right? That's a percentage game. It's like sets and reps working out in a gym. You're not a trainer and you don't say to your clients, hey, here's the gym, go and just use any equipment you want, any time, any reps. No, we have a set structure.

Yeah.

And with the elevator pitch, our training around this is a set structure of 10, 50% to 5, and do that on a regular basis. Then just hold yourself accountable. Or, you know, contact us and we can hold you accountable on that. But that really is the confidence piece. And once you can break that, it means then people love people that are interesting, people love people that are confident, and people love people that make them feel good.

Yeah.

And you hit 1 or 2 or 3 of those, this is the first step To then taking the next step, which is actually, okay, we can now interested in talking about what you actually do. Remember, it's how you make people feel before you are able to ask them something.

That's great. So just get out there and start smiling and saying hello to people. That's really the first step.

Yes, that is correct. Yeah.

And even introverts can do this.

Even introverts can do this, Ev. I'm going to hold you to this. 10 a

day. 10 a day.

10 a day. So yeah, listen, this episode was all about the elevator pitch. You don't have to have elevators, but this is the start of the elevator. Remember, in the world that we are in, there's a lot of opportunities out there for that. And it's just amazing who you can Meet in an elevator.

Yeah, I think that it's just opportunity and you never know who you're gonna meet.

Totally.

Yeah.

So this definitely fits in the marketing category because marketing is about attention. Attention's about confidence. And I just think that, you know, this is fundamentally the best— fundamentally, like, this is like, it's a game changer. It really is. It's just a game changer. Yeah. And it's, it's a good test because if you can talk to people just you don't know, everything goes from there.

Yeah, I think so. Very good. And have conversations.

Very good. Yep. Let's have the conversations and know your avatar. Remember, just to repeat that, it was name.

Yep.

Your avatar, who you're working with, and your outcome. That is the key to open up interesting elevator pitches so the conversation keeps flowing and it doesn't get really super awkward.

Yeah, we don't want that.

Not at all. Team, thanks so much for listening in to this episode of the Marketing Muscle Up Podcast Show. If you like this episode, subscribe if you haven't already. That means you get notified when a new episode comes out. And then what I'd love is you to share the love, meaning get this episode, copy the link so you can just go share it and copy a link, or send it directly on Facebook or Instagram or Messenger to somebody that would get some benefit from that. So go ahead, send this episode or one of the episodes you've watched to someone who would get benefit to that. And I remember I had a friend who sent me an episode, a podcast episode years ago.

Yeah.

And, you know, it really changed the thinking, you know. So if you do have somebody in mind, it's not about just blasting on your Facebook. It's about just that one-to-one. Hey, I saw this podcast episode and I think this is a really good episode. And maybe fast forward to 2 minutes 30 or 5 minutes, I got a lot of value for this reason. So yeah, give that to your partner, your best friend, your business colleague, anybody who's going to find some value in that. And, um, you'll start to see the benefits come back to you.

That's it.

Awesome, guys. I'll see you next time on the Marketing Muscle Up podcast show. Bye for now.