Talent Agency 411

Elevator Speech Tips

Your Elevator Speech must be short and concise and you must
know it off by heart. It must come so naturally to you that you
can repeat it in your sleep. Realise the difference between an
elevator speech, which sells you and how you can help other
businesses or people rather than a statement.

Introductory statements that are not elevator speeches include,
“My name is Michael and I am a sales trainer”. “My name is Mary
and I am a motivational speaker”.

None of these statements stimulate any conversation and will
either drive potential clients to the other side of the room or
bore them while they say to themselves, ’so what’.

Remember every potential client is thinking ‘what’s in it for
me. Remember if anyone can say so wiifm (what’s in it for me)
after your elevator speech, you’re selling any benefits. Rather
change to, “My name is David and I help international
expatriates with their offshore mortgages/help them retire
early/maximise their investments.”

Remember your goal is to keep the conversation going and
stimulate a response from the person you are speaking to. Your
goal is not to talk about yourself and what you do but it is to
find out what the other person does and what is important to
them, i.e. what’s in it for them.

To prepare your elevator speech, first identify how you can help
your potential clients. List at least five things that you could
do to help your clients, and then list five reasons why people
should be doing business with you. Make your elevator speech
into two parts. Part one would describe what it is that you do,
i.e. I help organisations to understand the selling process in a
fun and educational way. Part two would describe how they would
derive benefit from what you are selling them, i.e. so that they
can exceed their sales targets - so that they can build a
productive and motivated sales force. The part two should always
include a phrase like, ’so that’.

This is an excerpt taken from my new E-book, ‘Finding New
Business’ which is filled with proven ideas on finding new
clients. At 50 pages it is easy reading and is available as hard
copy or an E-book for $16 or £10. Please email me if you’re
interested.

Frank Furness CSP CFP is a professional speaker and trainer
specialising in sales and sales management. He has educated,
entertained and inspired audiences in 42 countries. His
publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. For more
information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’
newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com or telephone+ 44 (0)
870 240 6505. www.frankfurness.com

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as
it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the
author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to
frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free
software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/ Download 39
Power Sales Closing Scripts at
http://www.frankfurness.com/closingscripts.cfm

Step 1: Get Ready - Create a foundation you can build on. This step involves prospecting and pre-call planning. Approach businesses randomly and you will: 1) Call businesses unsuitable for your magazine 2) Who don’t believe in advertising and 3) Are unlikely to advertise with you. Then appeal to them by doing homework before m contact. You will make sales more often contacting businesses inclined to advertise with you.

Prospecting

Identify the businesses most likely to advertise with you. Then prioritize them. Call your best prospects before your least likely prospects. As adverse as this sounds, many ad reps call businesses who don’t believe in advertising or are not interested in their industry or their reader. If this were so obvious to all reps, I wouldn’t be writing about it! The fastest way to make sales hard is to call the wrong businesses, and sadly, many salespeople do just this. Start off with the right prospects and save yourself a lot of time.

Your key prospects are found in these locations:

1. Advertisers in competitive publications. This most obvious source is the one you should prospect first.

2. Current customers running sizes or schedules smaller than they are in competitors or smaller than their competitors are running with you are great prospects. After all, they already believe in and like your publication. What a great place to start!

3. Advertisers who used to do business with you. Just because someone stopped doing business with you does not mean they never will again. Many will come back. Why make it later rather than sooner? Stay in touch with them. Maybe the decision maker left.

4. Advertisers advertise. Seek key prospects in other media (newspaper, radio, television, billboard, yellow pages, internet, etc.) If they meet your criteria (type of business, location, their customer is your reader), these advertisers are excellent prospects.

5. New businesses entering your market or industry. If they believe in advertising (you’ll find out easily in an initial conversation), get them early… before your competitors do.

6. Referrals are my favorite prospecting source. They are the easiest to sell! You can turn these leads into sales nearly 100% of the time. Don’t be among the unfortunate who do not capitalize on this tool.

When asking for referrals, be specific. Don’t ask, “Do you know anyone who would be interested in advertising in our magazine?” Your answer will probably be “No.” Ask if they know a specific business (have a list of your top prospects), specific type of business, a business in a specific geographical area. You get the idea. Narrow your request and you will help your customers help you.

Make sure the leads are good. Referrers must know the person they are referring well. If they say, “SoAndSo should advertise with you,” and they don’t know this person, they’re right, but this does not qualify as a referral. Just a good idea you probably already had.

Pre-Call Planning

“To me, selling begins with investing time in preparation and planning,” Donald Trump.

Determining and gathering the information you need prior to contact facilitates Getting In and helps make first calls successful.

At a minimum, know the key places your prospects advertise before you get in touch with them. Know the size ad they run, their main message, and have copies of their ads. You will learn a lot about them. For example, are they running a consistent, cohesive campaign, or is every ad different in look, content and tone? How organized is the company in their approach to advertising? This will clue you.

Who should you ask for? If your first call sounds like, “I’d like to speak to the person responsible for advertising,” you are likely to get them on the phone before you know their name. This does not make you look good. Learn who to call before getting them on the phone.

How long have they been in business? Who is their target market? Find this information and a lot more by visiting their web site or reading their ads. A new business has different objectives than one in business for decades. Does their target market match your audience?

Arm yourself with this basic information about your prospects, and you will make Getting In easier and build trust faster.

Skip this preparatory step, and you will contact many people before you find the ones who are right for you. Why would you want to do that?

Next month, will discuss Step 2: Getting In. Create Introductions that Eliminate Hurdles. Get Past Gatekeepers, Voice Mail and eMail, one of today’s biggest challenges. Get Permission to meet with you on your terms.

Jenaé Rubin is president of Sales Powerhouse, a sales and marketing consulting and training firm whose mission is to help you become #1 in your market. Jenaé is currently writing a book Stress-Free SellingTM, the 7 Steps to Successful Sales and may be reached at http://www.SalesPowerhouse.com or 954-476-0067.