30 Second Story
In prospecting, you have about 30 seconds (if you’re lucky) to make your point and prove worthy of their time and attention. You need to immediately communicate what you can do for them and do so in a compelling utterly convincing way.
This is the case when you have the prospect on the phone or in person, or a gatekeeper, when phoning, leaving a voice mail or message, or in an email. Your problem is you know to much and think it’s important. They know nothing and may care less.
I encourage you to create your 30 Second Story. This is your individualized message you feel comfortable with as opposed to a prepackaged script your company may give you.
Here is a step-by-step method that always works. Have fun with it!
Step 1. List all points you feel would be nice to communicate.
Step 2. Triage ruthlessly so only most important and critical remain.
Step 3. Script out exactly as you guess you should say it.
Step 4. Read aloud in a natural voice and pace into a recorder.
Step 5. Play back recording and note time.
Step 6. No surprise, it’s way over 30 seconds. Triage again. Record and time again until 30 seconds.
Step 7. Listen carefully to the way the message flows. Is it 100% crystal clear? Is it cumbersome to deliver?
Step 8. Edit and try again.
Step 9. Try it out on a convenient victim – perhaps another sales rep. Take constructive criticism and make suggested changes if you feel it will improve the results.
Step 10. Do it live 100 times and see what happens – if it works you are all set, if not revise until it does.