No One Cares What You Do

I have several pet peeves. This one is probably in my top 3.

Like most of you I regularly attend network events either through the Chambers of Commerce or through some other company or group.

There is always an opportunity to tell people about your company and this is where, I believe, a huge opportunity is being missed by most people.

Here is what typically is heard:

“Good morning, my name is xxxxxx and I own XXXXXX.  XXXXXX is a ‘full service’ blah blah blah”  and that, my friends, is where I wish I had a gun to shoot myself.

Ok, maybe a little dramatic, but you get my point.

Imagine that you were at a network event.  Imagine that there is someone there who is looking for exactly what you provide.  That individual is going to go around the room talking to everyone like you.

Everyone is going to say the same thing to this prospect… that is to say, ‘we are a full service xxxxxxx’.  Guess what happens next?? The prospect, not knowing what makes you all different, will essentially start to price you all down because that is all that is left.

They have nowhere to go except to have you all bid for the business and then drive the cost down because you haven’t given them any reason not to!

Now lets go through that same scenario again.

Instead of you saying ‘ we are a full service xxxxxx’ you might respond when asked “what do you do?” by saying the following:

“Before I answer that let me ask you, are you the type of company that values xxxxxx, and would your company see value in being able to do or accomplish xxxxxx.  If you do then we are the company you should be talking to.  Our company’s purpose is to help businesses just like yours achieve xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”.

Now, doesn’t that sound just a little better!  And by the way, you just provided value to the prospect because rather than them trying to figure out how you could help them, you just told them up front that what you provide is valuable to them (assuming they answered yes to the questions), if they answered no then they are probably not the right client for you anyway!

I am not a huge advocate of the typical elevator speech, I am an advocate of the ‘value’ message!

You need to assess the value that your business provides and then ask the prospect the question if they would see value in that!  If they say yes you can move ahead.   If they say no then leave them to start a pricing war with your competition.  Either way it is a win-win for both of you.

So, remove the phrase “We are a full Service xxxxxxx” from your intro.  Remove it from your website and remove it from your vocabulary totally because in the end ………………. NO ONE CARES!

Differentiation can and does begin with your first conversation!