“I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.”
Always be competing. Approach selling and customer service like you would approach a competitive sport. Customers almost always have choices, and you want that choice to be what you are offering. How do you maintain a competitive mind-set? How do you get customers to say Yes?
One way is to build your competitive message into what is often called an Elevator Speech. This 20-30 second competitive “pitch,” brief enough to be recited on a short elevator ride, presents a problem and how your product (or idea) solves that problem better than the competition. Your Elevator Speech — YES— gets the customer to say ”Yes!” to you and your product. For example, here is an elevator pitch for PerfectCoaches.
”PerfectCoaches is a highy effective way for companies and universities to help people learn-by-doing, checking in for a minute or two each day with their personal coach.”
Twenty eight words, twenty seconds. Your Elevator Speech should convey a competitive, veto-proof message. Nobody can disagree that the implied problem (people need to learn new skills and habits) exists and that your product will solve it.
Competing in a crowded market may require more than one elevator speeches, There is the main pitch about the product, but you will often end up using an elevator speech about the company more generally, and a speech about you. People begin by focusing on the product or idea you are presenting, but they will want to know about the company, and at least a bit about you, so be ready.
The important thing about YES is not that it’s an acronym for Your Elevator Speech, but rather that it is what you want your customer to say when you are ready to close the deal.
Always give Your Elevator Speech as soon as you think the customer is ready, whether the customer asks for it or not. Some encounters move fast, some meander; give your quick pitch as soon as possible no matter what. Remember, sales is a competitive sport. Never let a conversation end without presenting Your Elevator Speech.
Talking to your coach. Using your own measure of success, once a day or throughout the day tell your coach why you have—or haven’t—been competitive at all times. This is true for both sales and customer service. The journal entry will talk about successes as well as challenges, and your coach will ask questions to help you think about how to master the habit.
An elevator pitch can be one of the simplest yet most powerful tools for a small business owner.
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