Put on your team cap. Take out your mitt. Baseball season has finally begun. And if you’re an aficionado of “America’s favorite pastime,” you know the most important factor in achieving success – good pitching. In fact, baseball experts repeatedly preach that “pitching wins championships.”

Good pitching can help you win in another arena – the business one. If you run a small business, having a successful “pitch” that describes your company or product/service can give you a powerful competitive advantage.

But what exactly is a “pitch?”

A business pitch is a well-rehearsed speech that concisely describes your company, product, or service. It’s also referred to as an “elevator speech” because your pitch is supposed to be made in front of a captive audience in the amount of time it would take to ride an elevator (well, at least an operating one).

The benefits of good pitching.

Though pitches vary greatly by company, they do have some common benefits. A good pitch can help you –

• Convince prospects why they need your product or service.
• Identify and reach the ideal target market for your product or service.
• Position your company or product or service against competitors.
• Facilitate networking, making it easier for your colleagues to understand what you offer.
• Strengthen your social marketing efforts.
• Attract potential investors.
• Empower you to speak confidently and clearly about your business – no matter where you are.

Tips to be on your best game.

What makes a good elevator speech? Here are five key elements:

• Be brief. An elevator speech should cause interest, not drowsiness. Try to limit your speech to a maximum of 60 seconds. Any longer than that, and you may lose the interest of your audience (or reach your floor).
• Make your introduction. Be sure to let your audience know who you and your company are.
• Define your product. What can it do to help your audience? What need does it fulfill?
• Discuss your competitive advantage. What does your product or company do better than the competition’s offering? Tell your audience about it in a way that’s interesting to them.
• Request action. If you’ve captured their interest in your product or service, be sure to tell them how they can act on it. You might, for example, present them with your business card and ask them to call you.

Be a champion for your business; perfect your pitch today.

Now that you know about the importance of a good pitch, practice working on yours. It just might help you hit a home run and stay ahead of the competition. And that is something to cheer about.

Vince Liuzzi serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Officer at DNB First.