Great question.  It all really depends on what you want to call “successful”.  Sales and marketing is about relationship building, and the timeframe for that process can vary widely.  So having realistic expectations and clear objectives from an elevator pitch is very important.

Crafting a successful pitch focuses on giving brief and specific information that creates interest and curiosity about how you can help someone, then turning the conversation over so you can learn much more about them.  People generally don’t want to hear about others as much as they want to talk about, or possibly hear insight about, themselves. This example has worked well for me:

“Hi, I’m Jason Rosado from Distinctive Coaching.  We help entrepreneurs and small business owners achieve and surpass the success that they want in a fraction of the time.  We work to help people discover and solve the problems that keep them from moving their business forward.”  Then I use a transition phrase to get them talking, “It’s very interesting and rewarding work, because I get to see people succeed on their terms.  And what does your company specialize in?” Or “…What brought you here to this event tonight?”, etc.

Some people will go into networking events and just want to make contacts—get a name, a very short introduction, and see if there is room for a future conversation.  Everyone has an opinion about quality vs. quantity of networking contacts at an event.  There is no right one.  It depends on how you are set up for future follow up, how well the audience composition matches your targeted clients, and your comfort and style of networking conversation.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Jason