“So what is it that you do?” Well uh…I build websites.
Have you ever heard that before? Of course, you have, we all have these days. If you are like me, a business owner, then you either have a website (need updating), have a website (not generating the right audience), or in need of one (that’s most business owners these days).
The good old trusty Elevator Speech. We have all heard of this since college and maybe even high school. You probably were told, “Your elevator speech is the make or break to you finding a job and keeping one.” What’s an elevator speech you ask? An elevator speech is essentially you explaining a particular skill, product, or service you possess and if someone were to hire you that they would get a positive return on investment.
The Problem: You Don’t Have an Elevator Speech Made
Most people are so caught up with the hustles and bustles of life and are scrambling to find ways to keep things together as it relates to strengthening your business. For you to really gain control of their business, you must first know what primary question to ask yourself…What do you feel you do better than anyone else? This will produce your Value-Added Proposition. Now understand, an elevator speech works the same on your website. The average visitor spends on average between a few seconds to a couple of minutes, so a quick snapshot of how you solve problems is crucial.
Setting yourself apart first comes from knowing who you are and then what your business offers.
The REAL REASONS Why it is not Working
If you allow yourself to get so flustered by the day to day on growing your business, you will miss out on the fact that it only takes ONE good solid approach to get the ball rolling the right direction. For few, this may come naturally for others, these may be a few reasons you are slowing your process of building your brand effectively.
- Unclear of your Niche’
- Speech Overselling
- Speech Underselling/Anxious
- Main Proposition is Unclear
- Over Practicing
- Under Practicing
- Not Mixing it Up
Unclear of your Niche’
I get too nervous and feel that they may not listen to me. This is a statement that should be crushed out of your mind. If you are presented with an opportunity to grow your brand, and you know it is a make or break situation, giving it your ALL is the only option.
With that being said, you don’t want to be all over the place about what it is that you do. Having a clear understanding of your business is a MUST. If you don’t know what it is that you do, no one else surely will either.
Speech Overselling
I want to share something with you, when I first graduated college and was looking to land that BIG CAREER, I found myself Overselling…all the time. To bring a quick end to the story, I bit off much more than I could chew and was fired within a short amount of time and was hurt and devastated. Overselling your speech can strain your brand almost immediately more than it could help it. Keep that in mind.
Also food for thought, YOU are a BRAND long before you even know it!
Speech Underselling/Anxious
Of course, when you mention one thing, you have to introduce the polar opposite. Some businesses undersell because they do not know their true worth. The business may not have sat down to take a good look at what they are trying to accomplish, where have they gotten so far, and where are they headed. It is just as easy to undersell what you have to offer.
This comes with not knowing yourself, the brand, and what it is that you DO BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE! This also happens if you lack confidence in what you can do as a business. You may have a short conversation with a potential client and the project discussed could sound potentially out of your scope, but in actuality, the project could be easy to accomplish if you relax, listen, and have confidence.
Paying attention to what is mentioned in conversation can allow for you to counter with a positive and confident response that you are the PERFECT SOLUTION TO THEIR PROBLEM.
Main Proposition is Unclear
So let’s say that everything in this elevator speech is the complete opposite of what I mentioned. You know your speech frontward and backward. Now the client is ALL IN and now asks you “What can you do to solve my problem?”
This is certainly the position you want to be in, but we have a tiny little problem…we aren’t 100% sure what we can do for them. We either haven’t gotten this far in a conversation before or we have fluffed so much that we forgot what we mentioned as a selling point.
This can be one of the most not so happy moments of your business. It is important to be able to “bring it home” when selling your brand to someone. You need to be able to recall what their problems are and have a somewhat clear solution that you can assure them with.
Over Practice/Under Practice
This is almost the same as overselling and underselling, in my opinion. You want to use as much of your “in-between time” as you can to work on a solid pitch. A solid pitch should consist of: what is it that you do, what solutions have you solved related to the client’s business, what can you HONESTLY guarantee them if given the opportunity to work with them?
If you under practice these areas and underestimate the power in the “Elevator Speech” moments, then you could miss out on some pretty amazing opportunities.
Not Mixing it Up
You may feel like moments such as these are rare, but I am here to tell you that they are as common as you waking up and getting ready for work. Be sure when your time comes for a speech, to not sound so cookie cutter. I feel that many businesses can do the same thing, but many people will have DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES with each…some good and others bad.
Example: McDonald’s, Burger King, Hardee’s, Zaxby’s, etc. are all fast-food restaurants. Each of them almost virtually sells the same products and services, in yet you find that some people still may choose McDonald’s over Burger King.
Each in their own way provides a DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE…FINDING YOURS IS THE KEY!
Conclusion
To bundle this up for you (the ones who jumped to the bottom of the page 🙂 ) finding your niche and knowing what it is that you do (Value-Added Proposition) as a business is the first step. Overselling and telling clients that you “DO IT ALL” does more harm than good. Underselling and not knowing your worth and what problems you can solve will cause your business to FAIL.
Not knowing your problem-solving process will also strain your brand and have clients lacking confidence and what you can do. Not taking the time to practice your pitch or spending too much time on your speech can bing you confusion and ultimately your potential new client confusion. Being a trend follower (” I’m the UBER of…”) will have you always following and coming up short with gaining growth in your business. Remember…What DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE do you provide for clients?
Are you looking to rebuild/build your brand and are in need of marketing strategies and a darn good looking website? Or maybe you are just interested in learning a bit more about how to build a clear understanding of what your brand brings to the world.
Visit either our Basic Inquiry or fill out our Website Worksheet and we can help make things clear for you. Your brand will thank you for it!