How many times have you been sold by somebody’s pitch?
Personally, I’ve never had that kind of experience. When I ask somebody the big question – “what do you do?” – I don’t really care, I’m just trying to be polite. In fact, even if their career fits one of my specific needs, I’m not going to buy from them.
Why? Because elevator speeches are useless! They don’t tell me whether or not somebody is actually good at what they do, they don’t show me whether or not I can trust them, and they aren’t a proper foundation for a healthy relationship.
Bob Burg, the author of Endless Referrals, famously said: “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.”
If you want to be successful then you need to ditch the pitch and get real – hang out for the sake of hanging out and get to know others for the sake of getting to know others. Leave your prospecting glasses at home!
The only time time an elevator speech serves any purpose is when you’re attending one of those gimmicky networking events where everybody is jamming their business cards into each other’s pockets and putting on a face. But even then, how many long-term relationships have you made through those phony meetings?
Your purpose should be to build relationships and then business…not the other way around!
When you’re meeting new people, get to know them! Forget about your memorized sales pitch and leave your business cards in your pocket. Ad libs make you look like a salesperson and business cards make you look like you’re begging for work. Unless they’re prodding for more information or specifically asking for a card, you shouldn’t pursue it.
Talking about business early on is wrong!
I’ve been to too many social events in the past where people have brought up business with strangers. In my opinion, it’s the same as bringing up religion or politics. They’re fine topics to discuss with friends, but they only push people away if you don’t know them.
You should be looking to develop relationships before ever thinking about business! If you like them and they like you, the business will come eventually. However, if you’re starting with business then you’ll only make a bad first impression. A bad impression can cut a connection before it starts. A good relationship, on the other hand, can create a business opportunity that lasts forever.
So what should you do?
When you go to networking events, you’re usually looking for business now. Unfortunately, I’m not going to give you any pointers for fast money. Instead, I’m showing you how to s.l.o.w.l.y build a successful business.
Instead of searching for 5 new projects each week, look for one or two long-term relationships each month. These clients will be people you work for long into the future and these relationships will be ones that develop referrals so you don’t need to search for work on your own.
By ditching the pitch and getting real with people, they’ll see you for who you really are. If you’re likable, you’ll be successful by doing things right.
Stop selling your services… start selling yourself!
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This is great advice, although a good elevator pitch should *be* real, likable, and engaging. Nobody wants to be talked *at*, they want to be talked *with*. If you can spend 90 seconds telling someone what you do in a way that’s genuine, you’re set. If you respond to “So, what do you do?” with a 90-second infomercial, you’re doing it wrong.
I’m surprised Dustin considered this to be ‘great’ advice, since he goes on to offer the truly ‘great’ advice. The post itself is, quite frankly, poor advice.
Regardless of your industry or position, you should be prepared, as Dustin commented, to articulate in a friendly and engaging manner what it is you do. The elevator ‘intro’ doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) a sales pitch. And 90 seconds is rather long for this. Summarize yourself in 30 seconds – don’t bore your new acquaintance!
Pooh-poohing the elevator intro is the refuge of those who lack the courage to meet and open up to new people. I know – I have struggled with this for years. Its much easier to take on the role of a faux sophisticate and stand in the corner than it is to engage strangers. But its the ones who engage who develop the true relationships – and the business.
Hey Dennis,
The 30 second description is fine – but it’s the mindset behind the elevator pitch that gets so many people into trouble.
Of course you need to know how to explain what you do in a way that intrigues people…but too many people toss this line out at inappropriate times and it certainly isn’t helping them get any clients.
It’s a horrid way to start a relationship, which is why “elevator speech” doesn’t make sense. You’re not going to win a client over in an elevator, you’re going to win them over through building a relationship that is not tied to your services.
I’m not saying to stand in the corner at social events, nor am I saying to bring your pitch with you…I’m saying to be yourself and leave your prospecting glasses at home.
Dennis: What I was responding to was the idea that you should focus on warmth and authenticity; I don’t think Chad is saying not to be prepared to talk about what you do, as succinctly as possible.
A lot of the advice I’ve read about elevator pitches reduces them to a tagline: “What do I do? I provide value by leveraging Internet assets such as social media blah blah blah.” It’s a commercial.
I think it’s important not to be stuck for an answer, but to focus more on being yourself than on memorizing a script. I saw Chad as responding to all that sort of advice, not as eschewing the idea of promoting yourself effectively altogether.
Can’t agree with the advice in the post, my 10 year consulting business has proven it (profitably) incomplete.
Can agree with Dustin and Dennis, however.
Maybe this just goes for a certain industry in an infamous city (where “what do you do?” comes before “what’s your name?”). I’ve never been to a networking thingee where I wasn’t a speaker for it, but my experience has been that discussing business is THE way to get to know someone.
Most people have either a job, a career, or a passion (dream); some of us are lucky that they’re one in the same. Discussing ours, asking about theirs, IS who we are.
If you’ve taken the time to write and practice and MAKE ORGANIC your brief logline of who you are and what problem you solve, then you’re just expressing yourself honestly. Do it with humor if you can, and hold an honest interest in finding out about the person you’re meeting, and you’re prospecting even while possibly making a relationship. But your service or product certainly is right for a far wider ranger of people than a perfect-match friendship does. If not, rethink your business purpose, (and your idea of friendship; you may mean ‘acquaintance.’)
Not everyone can cleverly, compellingly, intriguingly state their purpose and benefits as well as they’d like. So crafting it carefully, learning it, then owning it and letting it flow however it does from your heart — as a way to connect with the person you’re speaking with — is good for business because it’s good for connecting.
My industry friends never ever hire me. It used to bug me but I’ve gotten used to it because I have a unique high-end consulting practice that doesn’t fit everyone. I’m either too costly for their budget, or they don’t know they need my help, or they’re embarrassed, or I make it look easy enough they think they can do it. Fine, whatever. But they’re friends, not leads. They refer or support or praise, but their business will never come. I don’t advertise, so meeting me in person (or finding me on the web) is the way my clients see that I AM my business — and the next step toward achieving their dream project.
I’m a huge believer in DIG YOUR WELL BEFORE YOU’RE THIRSTY (Harvey MacKay’s book), but marketing yourself in your business can not be left to “making friends” and hoping they’ll hire you someday. You DO need that 30-second-pitch, but it must be offered as organically and interactively as saying your name and asking theirs or whatever chat is appropriate to the circumstances. Don’t ditch it — adapt it. Good luck.
Dustin – bingo!
I’m not saying you shouldn’t promote your services, because that’s absolutely necessary. But it’s all about being MORE than the script.
In social settings a 30 second tagline is great if it is – as you say – real, likable, and engaging. Unfortunately for many, their taglines are catchy but their personalities are not – because they’re too focused on earning business rather than being themselves.
You’ve got to be more than a pitch, you need to be a personality that people can relate to outside of your 30 second script.
GirlPie – I certainly did not mean you should “make friends” and hope they’ll hire you someday. The simple fact that you’re “hoping” to get hired means you’re labeling your new friends as prospects.
Every time I get a letter in the mail from a real-estate agent I met at a networking event I know it’s because they’re begging for my business. It doesn’t come across as genuine and certainly doesn’t make me want to buy. If they instead decided to toss their prospecting glasses to the side to talk with me as a regular person – one on one – I’d probably get to know them much better and they’d have a real chance of winning my business.
Discussing your passion and work will always be a way of relating with people – you’re right about that. But discussing with the view that they’re a prospect will never be as genuine as if you’re discussing it with a friend.
When people meet you, they don’t want to hear something you’ve memorized – they want to talk.
(maybe that is “adapting” the pitch? or repositioning it?)
I agree. Being real is much better than a pre-packaged, pre-planned spiel.
That’s why whenever I make speeches, I try to just have a rough outline of what I’m going to speak about and let the rest come naturally, from the heart. It makes for a much better speech and is more effective with my audiences.
Stanley Bronstein
MrAchievement
Attorney, CPA, Author & Speaker
Great advice Stanley. I always appreciate a speech that is natural – and I’m also amazed by people like you that are so well thought out in live presentations.
I agree with about 50% of this article. I think that it’s most important to recognize who you’re dealing with. Sometimes people respond to a quick approach, sometimes they don’t; I think it comes with experience whether someone will be okay with a quick pitch or not.