What do you do - in 40"
By Jon Day
Everyone attending a 4N breakfast gets a chance to give a brief introduction about themselves - who they are and what they do. The problem is that many struggle to compile a brief explanation in the first place and those that do succeed still don't initially get across what it is they bring to their customers.
When you ask the people listening to relay back what they think a particular business was offering and how it would benefit them, the explanations bear little resemblance to what the company was really about.
So the question here is very simple. When you meet new potential customers in either a social, networking or business environment, can you, in just a few seconds, relate clearly and concisely what your business does and what benefits it brings?
Being able to do this not only enables you to fully understand and speak about the purpose of your business, but it enables the listener to immediately understand how they can benefit from working with you.
I thought it might help to give you a simple framework to which you can add your own blah, blah, blah:
1. What do you do?
2. How do you do it?
3. Who for?
4. Which means that?
So what do you do? This is all about bottom line benefits and not features. Remember, the who framework should take no more than 40", so take time and write down the bottom line benefits you give customers.
How do you do it? This is the chance to describe your unique selling points (USP) e.g. speed of operation, quality of service etc.
Who for? You need to describe your typical customer to allow potential new clients to relate to your customer base and feel you have market place knowledge and experience.
Which means that? This helps clients realise what they will get by working with you. So if you are going to help them achieve more sales, explain the ultimate result - more profits and greater levels of success.
The key is to make your pitch succinct, accurate and above all, memorable.
Good networking.