7 Questions About Elevator Pitches That Print Shops Taught Me

I Screwed Up My First Elevator Pitch. Then I Ordered Business Cards.

I've been handling sales collateral orders for about six years now. In my first year—2018, I think—I spent $890 on a batch of premium business cards for a networking event. The cards looked great. The pitch I practiced in front of the mirror? It fell flat. I mean, really flat. People smiled, took the card, and I never heard from them again.

That failure taught me something unexpected: how you order print materials (specs, timing, quantity) is basically the same logic as how you build a solid elevator pitch. I've personally documented 14 significant mistakes across 200+ orders, totaling maybe $3,200 in wasted budget. Now I run a pre-check list to stop others from repeating those errors.

Here's a Q&A pulled directly from what I've learned—mostly the hard way.

What's the biggest mistake people make in an elevator pitch?

Trying to say everything. Everything I'd read about elevator pitches said to include your background, your product, your value prop, numbers, and a call to action. In practice, I found that cramming all that in makes people's eyes glaze over. They don't remember any of it.

I once wrote a pitch with three value propositions, two statistics, and a closing question. The guy I pitched blinked and said, "So... you do something with AI?" My fault, not his.

What works instead is one clear problem and one clear outcome. That's it. Simple. If your pitch has more than two sentences of "what we do," you've probably lost them.

This gets into sales psychology territory, which isn't my expertise. What I can tell you from a content-creation perspective is that less detail equals more retention.

How long should an elevator pitch actually be?

Probably 20 to 30 seconds. But I've seen wildly different advice—some say 10 seconds, some say 90. Honestly, I'm not sure why the range is so wide. My best guess is it depends on context. At a trade show where everyone's rushed, 15 seconds is plenty. In a coffee chat, you might get two minutes.

The mistake I see most often is treating the pitch like a script you have to finish. It's not. It's a conversation starter. If you get to 20 seconds and the other person asks a question, you're winning. Don't force the rest.

For reference: I timed myself reading a 'perfect' 90-second pitch I found on a blog. It felt like an eternity. The person across from me would've checked their phone three times.

What role do printed materials play in an elevator pitch?

I rejected printed materials entirely for my first two years. Thought it was old-school. Then a client told me, "I have 30 cards from today. Which one is yours?" I didn't have an answer. I wasn't memorable.

According to my own order history, people who hand out a well-designed business card with their pitch get roughly 1.5x more follow-up responses. That's not a scientific study—just my internal tracking. The card acts as a physical anchor for the conversation. They look at it later and remember: "Oh, the person who solves THAT problem."

Online printers like 48 Hour Print work well for standard products: business cards, brochures, flyers. Quantities from 25 to 25,000+ are standard. Turnaround is usually 3-7 business days for base pricing. If you need faster, rush orders are available. I once ordered 200 premium matte cards with a rush fee ($40 extra) because I'd procrastinated. That rush fee hurt—until I landed a $5,000 client from that card. Worth it.

The value of guaranteed turnaround isn't the speed—it's the certainty. For event materials, knowing your deadline will be met is often worth more than a lower price with 'estimated' delivery.

Is a longer pitch always better? Like, more details = more credibility?

No. In my experience, the opposite is true. The first three elevator pitch versions I wrote were long because I thought that showed expertise. They bombed. I only believed in short pitches after ignoring that advice and bombing consistently for six months.

The people I've seen succeed with their pitches do the opposite: they say less, ask a question, and let the other person fill the gap.

Example: instead of "We're a SaaS platform using machine learning to optimize supply chain logistics, improving efficiency by 20% and reducing waste by 15%," try: "We help warehouses stop losing money on wasted inventory. How much do you think your team loses monthly?"

The second version invites a response. The first one just broadcasts.

What about sound proofing panels? And screen doors? Where do those fit in?

This is one of those questions people don't ask but should. Your elevator pitch can't address every use case or product you offer. Trying to include sound proofing panels and screen doors in one pitch would be a disaster. Those are two completely different customer problems.

The conventional wisdom is to have one pitch. My experience suggests you should have two or three tailored versions—each built for a specific problem. Same core message, different framing.

For sound proofing: "We make quiet spaces possible in noisy buildings. No complex sound engineering required."
For screen doors: "We help homeowners keep bugs out without blocking the breeze. Installation takes 15 minutes."

You don't need to show all of them in one pitch. Pick the one that matches your audience.

Should you mention Otis (the elevator company) or a big brand in your pitch?

Only if it's relevant to your credibility. I've seen pitches that name-drop for no reason. "We work with big brands like Otis"—and then they explain nothing. Elevators and escalators are core products for a market leader like Otis, but unless your product relates to vertical transportation, it's a distraction.

A better approach: "We helped a building management company cut elevator maintenance costs by 30%." That's specific and useful. They'll ask whose elevator system if they're curious.

How do I know if my pitch is good?

Test it. Actually use it with real people. Record yourself—or better, have someone else listen and tell you what they remember. If they can't repeat the core problem and one outcome, it's too complicated.

The checklist I use now:

• One problem (specific, not generic)
• One outcome (measurable or clear)
• One question (to start a conversation)
• One physical anchor (card, sample, whatever)

I've caught 47 potential errors using this checklist in the past 18 months. Most common error: two problems fighting for attention. Cut one.

Prices as of this writing (early 2025) for 500 premium business cards range from $25 to $60 among major online printers. Verify current pricing—but the cost of a bad pitch? That's a lot more.