I Don’t Believe in Elevator Pitches

One of the marketing concepts that I think is highly overrated is the idea of an elevator pitch.  Wikipedia defines an elevator pitch “as a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition. The name ‘elevator pitch’ reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes.”  For the past few decades companies have trained their sales organizations and sometimes the broader employee base to memorize their elevator pitch so that it can be repeated on demand to customers.