Imagine this scenario: The CEO of one of the companies you've targeted gets on an elevator with you. She recognizes you from a networking meeting you both attended and says, "Nice to see you. Tell me what you do again?"

Ah, you've lucked out. She's not getting off until the 10th floor.

Ah, but maybe you're not so lucky. One of my clients recently lamented, "Our elevator pitch requires a building with 700 floors." Not uncommon for IT companies that easily get sidetracked into their deep technology stories, at the expense of their lead business story when faced with an elevator pitch opportunity.

If you're leading with a long story about your underlying technology, you could be losing the business buyer (the one with the checkbook).

Why you should lead with your business story
I'm not saying your technology story isn't important. It is, for the right type of buyer. But your lead story should always be centered around the business problem you solve, even when you pitch the technology buyer. Why? Because it's the IT buyer's job to sell the business.

Once you've told the business story, you should have your technology story ready to go, if it's appropriate -- or if the buyer asks you to tell it.

How many floors does your elevator pitch require?
Designing an elevator pitch that will get you to the 10th floor is optimistic. You should assume your prospect is getting off at the fifth floor.

How do you write an elevator pitch?
Simple. Use the SIR method (situation, impact, resolution). Cite the common situation faced by your prospects, the impact it has on their business and how you resolve it.

For example:

Acquisition is a common strategy for achieving aggressive growth. But the time and costs of integrating a new acquisition are huge. Our services consistently cut integration time in half, in many cases up to 70 percent.

Or

Southern California's water problem isn't going away anytime soon. Lawns and gardens are getting brown and unattractive as municipalities limit water consumption. Our landscapes require 90 percent less water than traditional approaches - and they don't compromise beauty.

Use your elevator pitch to tell a story
Notice that these pitches tell a story, by framing your solution within the impact your prospect's situation is having on them. A story is more compelling than one liners, for example, "We are landscape architects" or "We do post-merger integration."

For a variation, switch things around. Start with your "seven word blurb" then support it with situation and impact.

For example:

We help companies avoid employee lawsuits. Over the past 10 years, such law suits have risen 500 percent as companies merge, get acquired or downsize - costing business over $80 billion last year.

With the S.I.R. technique, you'll get your elevator pitch to three sentences. You'll easily get it out by the time your prospect reaches the fifth floor - or even the mezzanine.