Todd Schnick, Intrepid

"Hello, my name is John Smith, and I am with the ACME company. We make widgets, fudgets, woozits and thousands of other things. We have the best customer service and competitive prices. A good lead for me today is anyone who wants to buy anything OR people who breathe, drive vehicles, and live in the greater United States."

(YAWN. I can't believe how much I just paid for gas. Will it rain later today? What time does the dry cleaner close? I don't feel like cooking, so I think I'll pick up Chinese…)

Trust me when I tell you these are the thoughts going through the minds of people hearing an "elevator" speech like the one above. I know, I've thought those very things.

Treat as precious and hold very dear when someone gives you thirty seconds! And take advantage of the several strategies below to make that time count! As a result, you will see a rise in the amount of qualified prospects!

If you are in business development - and about 99% of us are - you come across opportunities all the time to deliver a powerful, memorable pitch about you, your company, and your value-to-customer. Yet time and again people fail to use this time to their advantage - missing a great marketing opportunity.

But what are the basic problems with the pitch above? One, you are wasting your time when you provide a long listing of all the products or services you offer. The problem with this is that people simply won't be able to remember all that you said. The better strategy is to identify a key problem or need that your audience will respond to and can identify with.

STRATEGY ONE - Tell a compelling story about how you can help a prospect.

A second problem with the pitch above is that there is no unique selling proposition - no way to differentiate yourself from others in the marketplace. Telling people that you have good customer service and that you have great prices - is just plain BORING. BLAH.

Instead of telling people boring boilerplate run-of-the-mill stuff, instead tell them a specific story about how you have helped a client, or commonly known as a "superhero" story. Or talk about a specific program you offer that has shown to yield dramatic results on behalf of your clients.

STRATEGY TWO - Offer your listener a memorable statement about you - and your company.

The final problem with the pitch above - particularly when you are networking - is the very broad description of what makes for a good referral. Such as when a mortgage broker says they are looking for anyone who owns a home. Or when a car repair shop says they are looking for people with cars. Or when you say that small businesses are good leads. You get the idea.

You may think that you are helping people by providing a broad description - surely everyone knows someone who owns a home. Yeah I do. And of the thousands of people in my database - thousands own a home.

Just as with your overall marketing strategy - you need to narrow your focus when asking for referrals. My company specializes in small business marketing. But it is wrong for me to ask people for "any small business" - it is too broad. In the last month, I have asked for specific referrals to people who own and operate restaurants. You cannot believe the leads I have received…

STRATEGY THREE - Make it easy for your listeners to help you.

If you take the three strategies above, apply them, and most importantly, practice your presentation - you will begin to see a dramatic improvement in the amount of qualified prospects for your business.

So, let me leave you with this thought…

"Hello, my name is Todd Schnick with Intrepid. We help small business create a powerful marketing strategy that will empower them to build a sustainable growth enterprise. One of the ways we accomplish that is by building direct response PURL marketing programs for our clients that drive new prospects to their business by increasing response rates to over 10%. Today, we are looking to serve Metro Atlanta architectural design firms."

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For more insight on getting (and holding) the prospect’s attention, see Todd’s latest post at our New GrowthANSWERS blog.