Grow Your Brand and Your Business in 10 Seconds
We have all been standing or sitting next to someone who looks at you and says: “What do you do?” or “What business are you in?” or “Not seen you at this event before; what made you come?” This is an invitation to make a great impression. This person may need exactly what you’re in business for, or they may know someone who does. Their question gives you two choices, you can:
Say something obvious, that produces an “Oh, thanks.” Or you can say something that makes them sit up and take notice, want to learn more and make either make an appointment, or ask for your card, so they can give it to someone who will make an appointment.
When you know how to answer the question, you will build your brand, widen your circle of influence, and bring in new prospects. Textbooks call your answer “the elevator pitch”. That’s interesting because no one ever speaks to a stranger in an elevator – which is probably why most so-called elevator pitches are so weak. Put this formula to work, and yours will be the best elevator pitch anyone has heard.
Most people, when they are asked that question, answer the question. But if you are going to draw the questioner in, you do something very different.
The Perfect Elevator Pitch
Your short-and-sweet response to their question will grab their attention, raise their interest, and make them want to learn more. Your answer, therefore, must immediately engage their mind and give them a reason to keep listening for another few seconds. You do this by preparing well, and then following three simple steps.
Pitch Preparation
You must know:
- What business you are really in. Are you in the business of growing your clients’ profits, the business of ensuring they have a perfect retirement or, say, the business of creating a memory to last a lifetime. They would be businesses that some people would describe as “I’m an accountant” or “I’m a financial adviser” or “I’m a photographer.”
Then you must know:
- How you benefit your primary marketplace. Focus on your primary marketplace, not anyone and everyone.
- Why the benefits you provide are special.
The Elevator Pitch Formula and Examples
When you know what business you are in, and how your ideal customers or clients really benefit from working with you because of what you actually do, you create a three-step model. When they ask you “What do you do?” You:
- Answer it with your own question that focuses on the problems your marketplace faces, and that you solve.
- Follow your question with a simple statement.
- Focus totally on special and unique points that say exactly how your customers or clients benefit. If you can, say it in a way your listener won’t have heard before.
That’s it. Question – statement – benefit. Here are two examples.
“Do you know that most small businesses pay more tax than they need to? I help my clients plan, ahead so they deduct, depreciate and defer, so they keep as much of their profit as is legally possible, and then I help them make the most of that profit.”
“Do you know how many investors lose money? I do the right research, in the right market areas and on the right products, to make sure my investors stay ahead of the curve, and reap the retirement rewards they dream of.”
The Take-Away
The right elevator pitch will build your brand and generate new business. It is free advertising that you can use every day of the year. When you are ready to discuss your business’s profit goals, please just click here to contact us so we can discuss your goals in more detail.
If you are finding value in these blog articles, you may want to check out our community of small to medium size accounting/bookkeeping firms. Our set of systems can truly turn your business around and reduce the stress load you carry.
For more information, please go to www.getoffthewheel.com
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Get off the Wheel Systems and Procedures for Greater Profits & Reduced Stress
By: Diane Gardner
This Book is for you IF…
You are an accountant, bookkeeper, or tax preparer with employees and one of the following describes you: