How's Your Elevator Speech

Written by Jim Meisenheimer

Look, every entrepreneur and professional sales person needs an elevator speech. Let me explain.

How many times a year are you asked the question, "What do you do?" I'm sure you hear the question often especially when you're working and at social gatherings.

When I ask people, "What do you do" I'm amazed at how few people can articulate crisply, clearly, and concisely what it is they do.

Last week I joined an organization called Y.E.S. which stands for Young Entrepreneurs of Sarasota. I knew about this organization for quite some time and I assumed "Young" meant under 30. It wasn't until I read an article in the local paper which declared young meant anybody under 100 years of age. So I joined right away.

It was a networking lunch and boy did I meet some characters. The host of the event asked how many of the attendees were unemployed and I was surprised to see about 20% of the hands bolt upward.

I got to talking to a guy and asked him, "What do you do?"

Elevator He says, "I sell insurance and I'm just getting started."

I couldn't resist offering some advice. Of course I asked for his permission to do so.

Look I said everybody who sells insurance says, "I sell insurance." I suggested, "You need an elevator speech" and I told him what that was and offered an example.

You could say, "I'm in the protection business. I protect and insure cars, homes, and commercial properties."

Now if I had more time I probably could make it even better.

He immediately said, "I like it - it sounds different and professional."

Of course, I already knew that.

There were approximately 100 people at this networking lunch. After the buffet lunch, the program MC asked for a show of hands for everybody who was attending for the first time. About 20 people raised their hands.

He said, "All first-timers will get 10 seconds to say who you are and what you do." Sounds like an elevator speech to me.

He just so happened to call on David, my friend the insurance guy, first.

David says, "I'm in the protection business. I protect and insure cars, homes, and commercial properties."

The MC gets excited and says that's perfect - that's just like how we want everyone to introduce themselves.

Across the room, David looks at me and I look at him, and we both knew he nailed it.

So what do you do?

You shouldn't have to think about the answer to this question you should know how to respond without thinking and without blinking.

Think of it as your "Elevator Speech." To be effective you have to spend a reasonable amount of time preparing your elevator speech.

Look - if I said to you "Take 20 minutes and describe the kind of work you do" that would be easy. You would just start talking, actually just start rambling on about all the things you do at work. Ah, but an elevator speech - that's different. This must be short and sweet. So you'll have to play with the words until you get it right. You can't do this in 10 minutes.It’s a must if you want to have a spectacular career in sales.

Last year I held an "Elevator Speech" contest. About three dozen people sent me their elevator speeches. Most were truly pathetic and horrible. One person wrote a 1000 word essay.

One person however got it right and he blew me away with what he sent me. He was the president of a small public-relations company. Here’s what he sent me.

"Our business is making your business unforgettable." It's simply brilliant and it's only seven words.

Let this be your model as you design your elevator speech.

Imagine there were four public relations companies competing to win a large account. Also imagine each company was given an hour for a presentation to senior management. I'm sure several companies would come in loaded with PowerPoint slides. I'm also sure that people listening to the sales presentations would be overwhelmed with data and information. I'm also sure that very little of what was said and shown via PowerPoint would be remembered.

But when the senior management team hears the elevator speech "Our business is making your business unforgettable" they won't be able to shake those words from their minds.

It will stick - and that's exactly what you want your elevator speech to do, "Stick."

Those carefully thought-out words probably will also stick it to the competition - and that's good too. Give some thought to preparing, in writing, your own brilliant elevator speech.

Make your "Elevator Speech" a good one if you want it to stick!

Jim Meisenheimer -
	Jim Meisenheimer is a former US Army Officer, was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Baxter International, the creator of the Sales Trailblazer V.I.P. Selling Club and the publisher of The Sales Trailblazer Newsletter. He's been nominated to the Speaker Hall Of Fame four times. Use this link to sign-up for Jim's FREE Start Selling More Newsletter. http://www.startsellingmore.com Read More >>
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Websiteblog