Perfecting the Elevator Pitch Learn to rattle off a spiel quickly about your company, and soon you'll have more contacts than you'll know what to do with.

The more time you spend in business, the more you will hearpeople refer to "the elevator pitch." The goal of thiscolumn is to inform you of what the elevator pitch is, how todevelop one and how to use it effectively in the business world. Itis an essential part of any networking strategy.

What is an elevator pitch? As an entrepreneur, you may findyourself always pitching your product or service to a potentialcustomer, partner or investor. Sometimes these people only have the60 seconds it takes to ride an elevator, hence the term elevatorpitch. You should not have just one elevator pitch perfected, butrather a few different pitches that you can target depending onyour audience.

Developing thePitch
Start by deciding how many tailored pitches you want to develop. Iwould suggest putting a general pitch together and then tailoringit to the investor, the customer or the partner. Then make a listof the most important nuggets of information you want tocommunicate. Include such information as your product and whatproblem it solves, prominent executives or board members,customers, when you expect to make a profit, competitive landscapeand where you fit in, etc.

Organize those bits of information into a coherent descriptionof your company that answers the who, what, when, where, why andhow questions. For example, a start for me could be: "My nameis Ben Casnocha. I'm founder and chairman (who) of a SanFrancisco-based (where) technology company that has developedaffordable customer service solutions for the public sector (what).Since our launch in September 2001 (when), we have signed upnumerous municipalities and we're on track to becoming a marketleader in the customer service/e-government arena." That'sjust a beginning. If I were speaking to a city manager, I may wantto talk more about the product and what specific problems itsolves. If I were talking to a potential partner, perhaps I'dtalk more about our growth strategies and product lines. Toinvestors, obviously I'd offer more numbers concerningprofitability, burn rate and the like.

Don't feel pressured to include every fact about yourcompany in the elevator pitch--simply provide a hook to get theperson interested. The ultimate goal of the pitch is to exchangebusiness cards and follow up with a call or meeting to talk more.While you certainly want to engage the person with your story,remember to listen to their spiel as well. People like talkingabout themselves and their successes.

Here are some other tips to consider:

• Watch the lingo. Be wary of technobabble or fancy MBAbuzzwords. Talk at a level that everyone can understand.
• Grab the person's attention. Don't let them fall asleepon you. Something like "we're revolutionizing the waygovernment interacts with their citizens" can piqueinterest.
• Don't forget the call to action. Even if it's merely anexchange of business cards, you wouldn't want all your effortin putting together the pitch to go to waste!

With an effective elevator pitch in place, you can whip it outat almost every business occasion. It's a must for everyentrepreneur.

Fourteen-year-old Ben Casnocha is founder, CEO and chairmanof ComcateInc., a San Francisco firm focused on providing technologysolutions for local governments. His work has been profiled in over50 magazines, newspapers, radio stations, TV outlets and Web sitesnationwide. Got something to squawk about? Write to Casnocha atben@comcate.com.