WHO AM I

I have a fun little exercise for everyone to try, I saw this asked in one of the sales forums I belong to.

In 10 words or less, what do you do? You have 60 seconds, GO!

Let me give you some of the responses;

I help you hire better sales people

I help people protect all they’ve worked to get

I drive you corporate communications, and get messages to your shareholders

I sell rubber

I help businesses control costs with systems, software & solutions

I help professionals struggling with social media win more business

I improve resident communications and retention in the Multi-Family industry

I help people reduce their electric bill and generate income

I provide cost effective internet service solutions for corporate organizations

I help merchants reduce expenses related to electronic payments

From these statements can you tell what these people do? In some cases it is very easy, but in others I still have no clue.

I know that everyone of these people know what they do, the problem comes in saying it in a short 10 word sentence. Why is this so difficult? Simple, it is hard to select the one thing we do that is the MOST important. Every one of us sells something, the product or service we sell usually has multiple features and benefits. Selecting the ONE feature or benefit about our product or service and then saying it is what we do is at best difficult.

That is why this exercise is so important. If you can’t say what you do in a short sentence, how is a customer supposed to have a clear understanding after a 30 minute sales presentation?

Here is a tip for making your 10 word statement, write out what you do in as many words as you want to. Then keep reviewing what you wrote and take out unnecessary words. Keep going through it over and over, always rewording or removing words. If you find you can’t get it to 10 words, stop working on it for a day or two, when you come back to it you may find it easier to dwindle it down further and further until you have your 10 word job description.

Knowing what you do and being able to say it in a short statement will help with those prospects and customers, who just never seem to have the time to speak with you.

Lorin