R.I.P. The Elevator Pitch (Listen closely)

by Danny Creed | Jul 24, 2026

If you are tasked to sell anything, an idea, a product, or a service, this may be the most important advice that will have the most powerful effect on your work that you will ever be offered. Listen closely. 

Over the years, neglectful of how the world has changed, sales trainers, coaches, and corporations have yet to figure out that:

The ELEVATOR PITCH IS DEAD

This technique of explaining to someone what you do has been dead for a very long time, yet it is still taught, and its use has negatively affected salespeople worldwide. 

Here’s why. 

If you look up the definition of The Elevator Pitch, you’ll find a definition that says something to the effect, “The Elevator pitch is what you would tell your perfect customer if you found yourself stuck on an elevator for one minute?”  

This is completely antiquated thinking, with total disregard for the cause-and-effect of technological advances in our world today. The concept has been dead for a long time since the so-called “digital age” emerged. 

The problem starts with the definition of the Elevator Pitch. It all goes wrong in the eighth word of the definition: TELL. What would you tell your perfect prospect if…? The simple and glaring issue is that today’s consumer DOESN’T NEED TO BE TOLD (or wants to be told) ANYTHING! They don’t need anyone to tell them the virtues of their product or service. Whether you’re 4 or 100, we can look up any information we need with our handheld communication device. The information is instantaneous. Period. So, the easiest way to run off or shut down a prospect, client, potential partner, or negotiation is to start telling them why you are their best choice to work with. People lose interest the second you start telling. 

And yet, the act of telling people your advantages is still taught. It literally makes me cringe when I hear salespeople explain their lack of sales by commenting, “If I could just get my prospects to understand my benefits, I’d be doing great!” 

They say and believe this as they go broke or get fired. 

Selling anything today comes down to your first impression. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so better make it count. 

And here’s the secret. Rather than being told, people want a salesperson to be more of a trusted advisor. They want someone who will ask questions, listen to understand their prospects’ needs, and then offer solutions that address those needs. Look at it this way: how can you honestly claim you can help a prospect if you have no idea what they need? 

Ask questions, then shut up and listen, you instantly become someone different that people actually want to work with. I’ll go as far as to suggest that the art of listening is one of the most powerful lost arts in the world of business and general communications. Unfortunately, it is a rare commodity. And yes, it is easy to develop powerful relationships when you learn to listen rather than tell. 

My formula is fairly simple when you break it down:

  • Ask lots of questions
  • Listen closely
  • Write down what a person tells you
  • Verify that you heard what you heard
  • Acknowledge that the issue is important to your prospect
  • Offer a solution
  • Ask them to buy

The most powerful thing happens when you lead with questions. You earn the right to use three powerful words: You Told Me. Earn the right to say those three words, and your sales success will explode. 

So, be different. Quit telling and start asking. Master this, and you’ll find that one thing always happens: success and reward will follow.