Introducing Your Practice Quickly and Compellingly

Stand out with an effective elevator pitch.

You’ve just bumped into a former patient or practitioner at the airport. After exchanging pleasantries, he asks you what your new Healthcare clinic does. You open your mouth, and then pause. Where on earth do you start?

Then, as you try to organise your thoughts, his flight is called, and he’s on his way.

This is one situation where it helps to have an “elevator pitch.” This is a short, pre-prepared speech that explains what your Healthcare clinic does, clearly and succinctly.

In this article, we’ll explore situations where these are useful, and we’ll look at how to craft an effective pitch.

About the Technique

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what your Healthcare clinic does. A good elevator pitch should last no longer than a short elevator ride of 20 to 30 seconds, hence the name.

They should be interesting, memorable, and succinct. They also need to explain what makes you, or your clinic unique.

When to use an Elevator Pitch

Some people think that this kind of thing is only useful for salespeople who need to pitch their products and services. But you can also use them in other situations.

For example, you can use one to introduce your Healthcare clinic to potential patients, or new referring practitioners. You could use them in your Healthcare clinic to sell a new idea to your employees, or to tell people about the change initiative that you’re leading. You can even craft one to tell people what you do for a living.

Creating an Elevator Pitch

It can take some time to get your pitch right. You’ll likely go through several versions before finding one that is compelling, and that sounds natural in conversation.

Follow these steps to create a great pitch, but bear in mind that you’ll need to vary your approach depending on what your pitch is about.

1. Identify Your Goal

Start by thinking about the objective of your pitch.

For instance, do you want to tell potential patients about your Healthcare clinic? Do you have a great new technique that you want to pitch to a practitioner? Or do you want a simple and engaging speech to explain what you do for a living?

2. Explain What You Do

Start your pitch by describing what your Healthcare clinic does. Focus on the problems that you solve and how you help people. If you can, add information or a statistic that shows the value in what you do.

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Ask yourself this question as you start writing: what do you want your audience to remember most about you?

Keep in mind that your pitch should excite you first; after all, if you don’t get excited about what you’re saying, neither will your audience. Your pitch should bring a smile to your face and quicken your heartbeat. People may not remember everything that you say, but they will likely remember your enthusiasm.

Example:

Imagine that you’re creating an elevator pitch that describes what your Healthcare clinic does. You plan to use it at networking events. You could say, “My Healthcare clinic does TV presentations.” But that’s not very memorable!

A better explanation would be, “My Healthcare clinic has a regular spot on Channel 9’s Today breakfast show, discussing all new health/medical innovations that affect all Australians. This shows that our practitioners and clinic are aware of the importance of medical breakthroughs/research that will enhance treatment of our patients. “

That’s much more interesting, and shows how valuable you are to the Health industry and your patients.

3. Communicate Your USP

Your elevator pitch also needs to communicate your unique selling proposition, or USP.

Identify what makes you, your Healthcare clinic, or your idea, or treatments, unique. You’ll want to communicate your USP after you’ve talked about what you do.

Example:

To highlight what makes your Healthcare clinic unique, you could say, “We use a novel approach because unlike most other practitioners, our Healthcare clinic finds out exactly what our patients need. Although this takes a bit more time, it means that on average, 95 percent of our patients are happy with the treatment.”

4. Engage With a Question

After you communicate your USP, you need to engage your audience. To do this, prepare open-ended questions (questions that can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no” answer) to involve them in the conversation.

Make sure that you’re able to answer any questions that he or she may have.

Example:

You might ask “So, how important is current medical discoveries/breakthrough treatments to you?”

5. Put it all Together

When you’ve completed each section of your pitch, put it all together.

Then, read it aloud and use a stopwatch to time how long it takes. It should be no longer than 20-30 seconds. Otherwise you risk losing the person’s interest, or monopolising the conversation.

Then, try to cut out anything that doesn’t absolutely need to be there. Remember, your pitch needs to be snappy and compelling, so the shorter it is, the better!

Example:

Here’s how your pitch could come together:

“My Healthcare clinic in involved in reviewing new medical breakthroughs for all Australians. This means our practitioners are aware of the latest medical research/discoveries that could have a positive impact on our patient’s lives.”

“Unlike other similar Healthcare clinics, our practitioners are among the first to know new treatments available to our patients. This means that, our patients can receive thee most recent new treatments available that may enrich their health and shorten some treatments.”

“So, how important is current medical discoveries/breakthrough treatments to you?”

6. Practice

Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Remember, how you say it is just as important as what you say. If you don’t practice, it’s likely that you’ll talk too fast, sound unnatural, or forget important elements of your pitch.

Set a goal to practice your pitch regularly. The more you practice, the more natural your pitch will become. You want it to sound like a smooth conversation, not an aggressive sales pitch.

Make sure that you’re aware of your body language as you talk, which conveys just as much information to the listener as your words do. Practice in front of a mirror or, better yet, in front of colleagues until the pitch feels natural.

As you get used to delivering your pitch, it’s fine to vary it a little – the idea is that it doesn’t sound too formulaic or like it’s pre-prepared, even though it is!

Tip 1:

You may want to keep small take-away items with you, which you can give to people after you’ve delivered your pitch. For example, these could be business cards or brochures that talk about your special technique or Healthcare clinic.

Tip 2:

Remember to tailor your pitch for different audiences, if appropriate.

Key Points

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you can use to spark interest in you and what your Healthcare clinic does.

It needs to be succinct, while conveying important information.

To craft a great pitch, follow these steps.

Try to keep a business card or other take-away items with you, which helps the other person remember you and your message. And cut out any information that doesn’t absolutely need to be there.