Elevator pitch examples for carpenters
An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up.
Ten of them follow, written for carpenters rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is a homeowner who has seen a bad job and does not want another, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is that the finish will be almost right — gaps, proud edges, paint over bad joins.
The one-liner
We are carpenters in [your town] — we take on built-in shelving and cabinetry and deck building for a homeowner who has seen a bad job and does not want another.
Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.
Problem first
The thing people worry about with carpenters is the finish will be almost right — gaps, proud edges, paint over bad joins. That is the part we deal with. We are carpenters, and we measure, draw it, and price the drawing.
Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.
Names who it is for
We work for a homeowner who has seen a bad job and does not want another. Mostly built-in shelving and cabinetry and deck building. If that is not you, you probably know someone.
Use this at an event where most people are not your customer, to find the ones who are.
Credential first
We are fully insured. Fully insured, with a portfolio you can walk through rather than a gallery of stock photos. We mostly do built-in shelving and cabinetry and deck building.
Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.
The contrast
Most carpenters [what the default does]. We are the one that finishes the last five percent. That is more or less the whole difference.
Use this when your market has a clear default and you are not it.
With a number in it
We are carpenters — [number] years, [number] projects, and we give you references you can go and look at.
Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.
The origin
We started because the finish will be almost right — gaps, proud edges, paint over bad joins was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: carpenters where we measure, draw it, and price the drawing.
Use this when the reason you started is short and true.
Ten seconds
Carpenter. Built-in shelving and cabinetry, mostly. [your town].
Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.
Ends with the ask
We are carpenters doing built-in shelving and cabinetry and deck building. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is us.
Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.
The warm version
[their question] — we are carpenters. The part people usually ask about is the last five percent — the joins, the reveals, the parts most people stop caring about.
Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.
Writing for carpenters: what actually matters
What should a carpenter’s website say that a generic one does not?
Three things, in this order. That you are fully insured. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for carpenters is that the finish will be almost right — gaps, proud edges, paint over bad joins. And what happens next: we come and measure, then you get a drawing and a price for that drawing. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.
What does a homeowner who has seen a bad job and does not want another check first?
The credential, then the proof. For carpenters it sounds like this. We give you references you can go and look at. We finish before we invoice. We leave the site tidy every day. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.
What is the most common mistake on a carpenter’s website?
Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "We come and measure, then you get a drawing and a price for that drawing" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.
How long should the copy be?
Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining that the finish will be almost right — gaps, proud edges, paint over bad joins — there, specifics earn their length.
Everything else for carpenters
Elevator pitch for other trades
- Plumber
- Electrician
- HVAC Technician
- Roofer
- Painter
- Landscaper
- Handyman
- Therapist
- Chiropractor
- Massage Therapist
- Personal Trainer
- Dentist