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Helen Nicholson
Helen Nicholson
When you get into a lift and Nelson Mandela steps in next to you, what are you going to say when he asks you, “So, what do you do?”
An elevator speech is a 10-second sound bite about what you do, in simple language, in the time it takes to ride up in an elevator.
An elevator speech isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a brief introduction stating who you are and what you do so that you can start a conversation and develop a business relationship. It provides a “hook” into what you do.
Where do you start in order to develop your elevator speech?
l Identify your strengths
l Determine your niche market.
l Find out what makes you unique.
l List the problems you solve for your clients or your organisation.
l Find a short story or example that illustrates a successful outcome that you have produced.
What makes a successful elevator speech?
l It takes less than 10 seconds.
l It comes across naturally.
l It opens up the conversation.
l It makes your listener want to find out more.
l It briefly describes what you do and how this benefits your clients.
The problem is that our internal radio station in our brain is firmly tuned into WIFM – what’s in it for me – when we meet new people.
This prevents us from moving to the prime success factor in networking: “What value can I add?”
In my workshops I always show a picture of my children, Sabrina and Caitlyn, as an example of a classic mistake we make when networking. Sabrina and Caitlyn are my dream and not the other person’s. We need to move away from our own dream and find out what the other person’s dream is in order to be really successful networkers.
Anyone you meet cares about what you can do for them. Do you sell cars? No, you help families stay safe on wet and slippery roads.
Are you an accountant? No, you help businesses make sure that Sars doesn’t get too much of their money.
Are you in IT? No, you save companies money and time by using computers.
Networking is all about the benefits available to your target market.
l Helen Nicholson is author of Networking – Get your black belt in business success.Contact her on helen@thenetworkingcompany.co.za
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