You network. You go to trade shows and vendor fairs. You attend seminars and conferences. But you don’t seem to get new business, or even get noticed at all. What are you doing wrong?
It might be your introduction – or “elevator speech.”
An elevator speech is a brief introduction to another professional in which you share your name and other business information about you and/or your company. It’s called an “elevator speech” because you’re supposed to be able to complete it in the time it would take an elevator to take you from the ground floor to the office floor…usually about 30-45 seconds.
Think of it as a live, in-person tweet: 140 characters or less.
OK, so you can use more than 140 characters, but you get the idea. Just like a tweet, an elevator speech should be carefully crafted to include all of the important information, but in a way that is engaging and MEMORABLE. So what should you include?
- Your name
- Your position
- Your business name
- What your business does
- What your business purpose is
- Something interesting to make it memorable
My elevator speech goes something like this:
I’m Michelle Ames, marketing diva at Marketed by Michelle. I do soup-to-nuts marketing including web design, social media, print advertising, logo design and more. I would love the opportunity to meet with you to see how I might be able to help your business be even more successful and stand out from the rest.
So what did I include?
- My name (Michelle Ames)
- My title/position (Marketing Diva)
- My business name (Marketed by Michelle)
- What my business does (web design, social media, etc.)
- My business purpose (helping other businesses be successful)
- Something memorable (my tagline: stand out from the rest)
And notice how I said “help your business be even more successful? That is purposeful. No one likes others to put down their business, or imply that they aren’t successful (and when you’re trying to sell marketing, that’s a dangerous line to tap dance on). By saying “even more successful” I acknowledge their current success, and let them know I can help take them to the next level.