In my experience, the one thing that stands out above all others - and this view is being continually reinforced - the one thing upon which all the others are built, is this:
You absolutely must be able to articulate clearly and succinctly what you do, who you do it for, and the good they get from it.
This is sometimes called an Elevator Pitch, and is often done poorly. But really it is easy to do it well.
Other people must be able to recognise one of your ideal customers, either someone they know or maybe even themselves. If you can't or don't provide them with a definition against which to make this judgement, how can you ever expect them to find anyone for you? And you must be as specific as you can. How can we pick just one or two if you say you do anything for anybody and you're diversifying?
You need to define your ideal customer in terms that require little or no initial interaction. What I mean is, if you say your ideal customers are 'worried about their cash flow', I doubt anyone would discover this without talking to them. Whilst this knowledge is important, and I will return to the thought in a moment, you need to communicate 'search criteria' that rely on information in the public domain. So, working with 'accountancy practices of up to thirty partners', would fit the bill nicely.
Not all of your ideal customers will need your products or services every day of every year so, having identified examples of your ideal customer, these 'prospect seekers' need to be able to then recognise which have the sort of problem that you are an expert at fixing. However, as in medicine, we often only see the symptoms and have to explore to identify the underlying disease.
You need to provide your prospectors with examples of the sorts of symptoms which, amongst your ideal customers, often point to problems you can fix. At this stage they can start to suggest that they know someone who could relieve these symptoms by fixing the problem that's causing them.
Because you have given them examples, the prospectors are able to suggest that no longer suffering the pain that the problem is causing would be of considerable value.
Then, when they say to a contact of theirs, "You really need to talk to my friend John or Jenny about this; I'll get them to call you," you know you will be getting a high quality referral.
Knowing your ideal customers, the problems they are likely to be having, the pains they will suffering because of these problems, the comfort and value that will result from no longer having to endure these pains, and why yours is the best method (in the circumstances) for addressing the problem, you can start to construct your Elevator Pitch.
I should add here that this information is not only vital for preparing your response to "What do you do?" It is the basis of all of your branding messages, however they are communicated.
I believe you actually need several elevator pitches: 60 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 breath, 1 word or phrase - all have their place. And for the longer ones you may well need different versions depending on whether you are training your surrogate sales team - networking - or actually talking to a prospect - selling - yourself.
Practically you'll have to start long, then distil and refine. You just won't get it right starting short and trying to expand. You'll need to test and measure to see if your messages are coming across, and being received and understood.
One possible template for a longer elevator pitch is:
I work with (ideal customers) who (widely held problem) which means that (widely suffered pain). I help them (pain relief) so that they (life without pain).
An alternative opening might be:
You know how (ideal customers) are always (widely held problem) which means that ......
Both are much better than:
I'm a (what it says on your business card)
Good luck!
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