How to write a Virtual Assistant elevator pitch

An “elevator pitch” is how you would deliver a summary of your product, business or service to someone during a short elevator ride. It’s not a sales pitch; it’s a concise explanation of who you are, what you do, who you do it for and why someone might want this. It’s useful to have an elevator pitch when networking, so let me show you how to write one.

How to create an elevator pitch

Sell the benefit

The hard truth is that people don’t actually care about you.

Because people just want to know what’s in it for them, you need to sell the benefit of what you do so they can see what they’ll get if they hire you.

Hardly anyone seems to know what a Virtual Assistant is (I get blank stares all the time), so you need to tell them what one is and then why people use them. A lot of people still don’t realise the value of outsourcing, so you need to explain it to them in real and tangible terms that mean something to them and their business.

Pitch then elaborate

Once you’ve given someone your elevator pitch, you need to follow it up with examples. I only see a light bulb go off in a person’s head when I do this.

Example:

“People use Virtual Assistants to save time and money. What I do depends on what my clients do for a living, but for example, I might do online research for one client, set up newsletters for another, manage the diary of another one or do a combination of things based on what the client needs and when they need it.

My clients love that they don’t have to take on an employee, and they only pay me the hours or tasks they need me for.”

Tailor it

You have to think about why the specific person you’re talking to would want to hire you, so tailor the examples to your niche, what services you offer and the kinds of tasks the person in front of you might need, so they can see exactly how you can help them.

Feel free to describe your background a little when you’re giving examples or providing specific details of what you do during certain projects—so you could say:

“Marketing assistance involves everything from setting up email opt-in pages, creating content upgrades, and setting up a newsletter to autoresponders, writing blog posts and social media promotion.” 

Example Virtual Assistant elevator pitches:

1) “I’m a Virtual Assistant who specialises in providing social media, research, and admin support to marketing consultants so they can focus on their existing clients, work at bringing in new clients, and get on with what they do best—which usually isn’t their admin!”

2) “I’m a Virtual Assistant—which is kind of like a Freelance PA—who works with small businesses on tasks they either don’t know how to do, don’t like doing, or don’t want to do so they’re freed up to get on with something else. If my client charges more per hour than I do, then they make money simply by passing either routine or niche tasks on to me instead.”

3) “I’m a Virtual Assistant who provides both ad hoc tasks and ongoing admin support to small businesses and consultants so they can focus on their core business. They outsource their necessary but time-consuming tasks to me so they’re freed up to get on with other things – like making money, enhancing customer service, getting referrals or bringing in new clients.”

A good template framework would be:

“I’m a (Virtual Assistant) who helps (who it is your usual clients are – small businesses, consultants, coaches etc) with (what service/s you offer) so they can (what using you gives them – more free time, getting more research/leg work done, time to focus on business development, less stress etc).”

Then, give tangible examples based on what the person you’re talking to does and what you think they might need help with. You’ll know what they do for a living because you asked them before you talked about yourself, right?

It’s a good idea to have a handout for when you go networking. People can forget what you do, so tailor this free template from my downloads page, clip your business card to it, leave it on the info table or give it to people directly.

You can also use it as a follow-up email template to send to people you met at the event.

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Related posts:

How to network like a VA superstar The four best ways to land your first client