I don't know who coined the term "elevator speech," but I know it's been around a long time. It's one of those old chestnuts in sales that everyone needs to know about.

An elevator speech is a short presentation that you could deliver to someone on an elevator as it travels from top to bottom or vice versa. It must be compelling as well as descriptive. It should contain such punch that the other person would love to buy from you. Of course, you can use this in ways other than riding an elevator.

When cold calling, it is a good idea to have this patter ready to go. When the buyer meets you in the lobby, deliver the elevator speech with such enthusiasm that he will agree to spend more time with you. On the phone, you can use this to get an appointment. You may want to use it in a sales letter where you introduce your company to the prospect. For those who attend trade shows, have your elevator speech ready for people as they approach your booth.

An elevator speech should meet these criteria:

• Keep it brief—long enough to convince, but short enough to hold the other person's attention.
• Be articulate—use the right enunciation and speed so that you don't rush the message.
• Make it sincere—the buyer must feel you're a credible source.
• Be enthusiastic—use appropriate excitement when telling your story. Buyers take their leads from salespeople.

And answer these questions:

• Who are we?
• What do we do?
• To whom do we sell?
• What makes us unique?
• How do we bring value to our customers?

An elevator speech might sound like this: "I work for Pinnacle Packaging Equipment, a global leader in packaging technology. Our 34 North American technical sales and service centers specialize in helping Fortune 1,000 companies solve their biggest handling, packaging and shipping headaches. Our product lines include packaging equipment and shipping supplies. Our customized solutions increase production uptime and through-put. Our customers tell us that we stand out because of our troubleshooting expertise, problem-solving creativity, and quality solutions. Last year, we won the Packaging Assn. Customer Satisfaction Award."

Don't worry about sounding canned. Planned is not canned. Knowing what you want to say and rehearsing it will make this sound natural. This may be the first time the buyer has heard it, but you don't want it to be the first time you deliver it.