Once every quarter I present a sales program for business owners as part of my day job with the Ohio SBDC. The process of discussing sales issues and theory with small business owners always gets me into a sales mode when writing blog posts. Recently in class we spent a lot of time discussing how to develop your pitch/message. Having a good message is critical for success in sales because it allows you to to clearly articulate your value proposition to your prospect. Without this you will tend to ramble often times missing the mark when it comes to sharing how you can help your prospect.
Let's test this out for your message. I would like for you to review your current "elevator pitch". What does it really say? Is it full of industry jargon? Does it reflect a customer oriented approach or does it reflect more of your opinion of the product or service's value? Finally, when you say your elevator pitch does it sound natural? More than likely it falls short in at least one of these areas. What you need is a message that allows you to share the value of your product or service in a natural, easy tone and speech pattern.
One tool I like to use when developing a message is the "Unique Message Creator". I got this from my friend Steve Kloyda. His site The Prospecting Expert is a must read for small business owners trying to grow their sales. It is full of posts, videos and podcasts designed to help business owners improve their sales.
Step one of developing your "Unique Message is to realize that we are all motivated by Pain and Pleasure. We all want to Reduce, Eliminate, Avoid, Remove and/or Diminish pain. We also want to Increase, Expand, Maximize, Strengthen and/or Build-up pleasure. What you need to do is think about your product or service and pick two or three ways your product or service will Reduce, Eliminate, Avoid , Remove and/or Diminish your prospect's pain. You should also pick two or three ways your product or service will Increase, Expand, Maximize, Strengthen and/or Build-up your prospect's pleasure.
Now complete the following statement using the ways your product or service impacts pain and pleasure. Fill in the blanks:
"We have created a product that will (way it will address pain) and (way it will create pleasure) by..."
You have just created one of your unique messages.
For Ideas To Deals I could say: "By reading Ideas To Deals a small business owner will "avoid" making common business mistakes allowing them to "maximize" their level of business success."
For the Ohio Growth Summit I could say: "Attending the Ohio Growth Summit will "reduce" your concerns about growing your business by exposing you to the best and brightest business minds allowing you to "expand" your business knowledge and "increase" your level of business success."
What you will want to do is use this tool to create multiple unique messages that you can use at networking meetings, on the phone, in emails, in social media, etc. These messages become your elevator pitch. Having strong messages, that you are comfortable with, will allow you to eliminate your sales reluctance and increase your success in prospecting for new business. (See what I did there?)
Try this out then leave me a comment to let me know how it goes.
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