Elevator pitch examples for virtual assistants
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 virtual assistants rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is a founder who is the bottleneck on their own calendar, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is handing over passwords and inbox access to someone they have never met.
The one-liner
I am a virtual assistant in [your town] — I handle inbox and calendar management and travel booking for a founder who is the bottleneck on their own calendar.
Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.
Problem first
The thing people worry about with virtual assistants is handing over passwords and inbox access to someone they have never met. That is the part I deal with. I am a virtual assistant, and I start with a short trial so you can see the work first.
Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.
Names who it is for
I work for a founder who is the bottleneck on their own calendar. Mostly inbox and calendar management and travel booking. 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
I am experienced and insured. Under NDA as standard, and working in your systems rather than importing my own. I mostly do inbox and calendar management and travel booking.
Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.
The contrast
Most virtual assistants [what the default does]. I am the one that gets to the point where you stop having to check. 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
I am a virtual assistant — [number] years, [number] engagements, and I sign an NDA before I get access to anything.
Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.
The origin
I started because handing over passwords and inbox access to someone they have never met was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: a virtual assistant where I start with a short trial so you can see the work first.
Use this when the reason you started is short and true.
Ten seconds
Virtual assistant. Inbox and calendar management, mostly. [your town].
Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.
Ends with the ask
I am a virtual assistant doing inbox and calendar management and travel booking. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is me.
Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.
The warm version
[their question] — I am a virtual assistant. The part people usually ask about is getting to the point where they stop having to check.
Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.
Writing for virtual assistants: what actually matters
What should a virtual assistant’s website say that a generic one does not?
Three things, in this order. That you are experienced and insured. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for virtual assistants is handing over passwords and inbox access to someone they have never met. And what happens next: a short trial block, so you can see the work before committing. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.
What does a founder who is the bottleneck on their own calendar check first?
The credential, then the proof. For virtual assistants it sounds like this. I sign an NDA before I get access to anything. I can give you references from long-term clients. I start with a trial and there is no lock-in. 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 virtual assistant’s website?
Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "I start with a short trial block, so you can see the work before committing" 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 handing over passwords and inbox access to someone they have never met — there, specifics earn their length.
Everything else for virtual assistants
Elevator pitch for other trades
- Plumber
- Electrician
- HVAC Technician
- Roofer
- Carpenter
- Painter
- Landscaper
- Handyman
- Therapist
- Chiropractor
- Massage Therapist
- Personal Trainer