Pizza Today_February 23 - 39

that you got two pizzas for the same
price that other pizzerias charged for
one pizza. Papa John's 'Better Ingredients,
Better Pizza' meant that they had
a better-quality pizza than similarly
priced pizzas. Domino's '30 Minutes or
Free' meant that your pizza would be
delivered to your door within
30 minutes of the time you ordered it,
or your pizza would be free of charge.
An Elevator Speech should grab
attention and be memorable. It is
not supposed to close the sale, just be
something the listener can
understand and consider. There is an
expression in the public speaking business,
" Be short and be seated " , which
applies here. The longest Elevator
Speech should be two sentences.
Your turn. What is your Elevator
Speech? The two vital elements of
an Elevator Speech for your pizzeria
are value and differentiation. Michael
Skok's article in Forbes magazine
" Four Steps To Building A Compelling
Value Proposition " perfectly
describes the best way to start. Answer
these five questions:
1. What product or service do you
offer?
There are some masters in the
pizza business who have reduced
the Elevator Speech from one
minute down to mere seconds.
Nothing wrong with that. Consultants
call this shortened version a 'Unique
Selling Proposition " . I call this the onefloor
version of the Elevator Speech.
Three of the most impressive one-floor
Elevator Speeches in the Pizza business
are these:
*
*
'Pizza, Pizza'
'Better Ingredients, Better Pizza'
* '30 Minutes or Free'
These brilliant Elevator Speeches take
less time than the doors of the elevator
closing to begin your 30 second trip to
your floor. They grab attention, and if you
can't immediately figure out what they
mean, they can be explained during the
ride. Little Caesar's 'Pizza, Pizza' meant
2. Who is your target customer?
3. What problem does your product
or service solve for the customer?
4. How does your product or service
benefit the customer?
5. What differentiates you from
competitors?
6. Let's test some answers:
7. Pizza
8. Anyone who is hungry
9. We deliver so you don't have to
leave your couch
10. You don't have to cook
11. We have the best pizza in town
What do you think? Is this compelling?
Does it grab your attention and is
it memorable? Does it offer value? Does
it differentiate you from your competitors?
Of course not! Yet these answers
are what many pizzerias use to try to sell
their products and services. Let's test
some alternative answers:
1. Original Detroit-style pizza
2. If you haven't experienced a true
Detroit-style pizza, you haven't
lived life to the fullest
3. You can't get a true Detroit-style
anywhere else unless you travel to
Detroit
4. We offer a large Detroit Special
for $19.99 that is TWICE the
weight of a regular pizza.
5. Instead of throwing away the
pizza crust, you will enjoy eating
the crust as much as the rest of
the pizza. You'll want to eat it
backwards!
Is your mouth watering yet? Wasn't
that fun? Putting your work, your goals
and your passion into words so that
others can experience them is the most
important part of building your dream.
Now all we must do is reduce these five
sentences to two sentences to create our
Elevator Speech.
" Authentic Detroit-style pizza you'll
want to eat crust-first. Get a Large
Detroit Special for only $19.99. "
This is an example, not an actual pizzeria.
But if Shawn Randazzo had ever
moved to California, I bet he would have
crushed it. RIP Shawn; we love you.
If your Elevator Speech includes price,
then you are at risk of falling to our
market's greatest current threat: inflation.
While price can certainly always demonstrate
value for your customer, including
it in your Elevator Speech can be dangerous.
Our imaginary pizzeria (and your
pizzeria) may fare better by demonstrating
value in other ways. Let us test that
by changing our Elevator Speech:
" Authentic Detroit-style pizza you'll
want to eat crust-first. 5 pounds of deliciousness. "
This
provides the two vital elements
of Value and Differentiation for the customer
yet insulates the Elevator Speech
from the threat of inflation.
Now it's your turn. Next time we meet
on the elevator at the International Pizza
Expo, I want to hear YOUR Elevator
Speech!
DAN COLLIER is the founder of Pizza
Man Dan's in California and a speaker at
International Pizza Expo.
FEBRUARY 2023 / PIZZATODAY.COM / 39
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today_February 23

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