WHY ELEVATOR SPEECHES DEFEAT SALES
by John Graham
There are few offenses in business worse than challenging the validity of the near sacred “elevator speech,” that one-minute message verbalizing the unique qualities of what a salesperson does or sells.
The need for the “elevator speech” seems obvious because hordes of salespeople fumble and stumble when asked what they do. Even though they might have adequate knowledge of what they sell and the company they represent, they’re unable to verbalize the message clearly and succinctly.
As someone said, “If you don’t have an elevator speech, people won’t know what you really do.” It’s no wonder that sales managers make it a top priority to motivate their people to prepare and practice mini-messages.
If all this is true, then why knock it? Why challenge something that’s needed and useful to a salesperson? To put it bluntly, an “elevator speech” is damaging because it’s a one-way, robotic “conversation” that defeats sales. It “tells” but doesn’t “sell.”
For a better understanding of the “elevator speech” problem, consider one of the most common complaints of sales managers: Salespeople talk too much. Because silence seems to drive them crazy, they fill “the empty space” with a constant flow of patter about anything and everything.
There’s more to the story. Customers also complain that salespeople turn them off by talking constantly and failing to listen. It’s becomes a vicious circle: Salespeople are poor listeners because they won’t shut up. On and on they go, babbling about their product, service, and the company they represent, without stopping long enough for customers to ask questions.
“Many salespeople feel compelled to recite their canned pitch regardless of the customer’s actual interest,” comments Steve W. Martin of USC’s Marshall School of Business. In other words, they spin their spiel rather than interacting with customers and prospects.
Of course many salespeople talk too much; and it’s always about themselves and their company. That’s what they know. It’s drilled into them day after day. They simply regurgitate the words because that’s what they’re told to do. So, why should anyone expect them to change or do otherwise?
Salespeople go to lead generation groups, stand up and talk about themselves. No one listens, particularly when they've heard the same words time after time. In such situations, salespeople should be asking themselves this question: “Why should the people sitting around the table recommend me?” However, they don’t because they’ve been taught to mouth an “elevator speech.”
They show up at networking meetings and say (a dozen times over), “Hi, I’m Susan from Gotcha International and. .” Susan is doing what she has been told to do, and leaves with a handful of business cards. Back at the office, she tells her boss that it was a good day for Gotcha.
When making cold calls, salespeople invariably start out by saying, “Hi, I’m Roscoe and my company. .” Whether it’s in person, on the phone, or in e-mails, it’s time to slam the door, hang up or hit delete. It’s time salespeople got the Special Memo: no one cares who you are or what you’re selling.
The “elevator speech” approach breeds disaster. It undermines and kills sales because it fails to engage customers. In fact, it has just the opposite result: it bores the listener. No one wants to spend even 60 seconds listening to people talking about themselves. This is by far the most successful method of driving prospects away. They don’t want to do business with people who have zero interest in anything but what they want to accomplish.
So, what should a salesperson say when someone asks, “What do you do?” Instead of pressing the “elevator speech” button and jabbering about the products or services they sell or the company they work for, the best response is simply to say, “Thanks for asking.”
If played correctly, the next step gives salespeople the opportunity to begin a conversation. What this takes is a captivating statement that compels someone to ask what it means. Here are several examples
- “It’s my job to snoop around and find where my clients are spending money needlessly.” Much better than saying, “I’m a consultant.”
- “Businesses depend on me to make sure they have a constant flow of new prospects.” This is far more interesting than saying, “I’m in marketing.”
- “My customers depend on me to make sure they won’t run out money when they need it most.” This is preferable to saying, “I’m a financial advisor.”
- “I help my clients take advantage of new, profitable opportunities.” Much better than saying, “I’m a commercial loan officer.”
By now, the picture should be clear. When a salesperson makes this type of statement, it opens the door for the prospect to ask a question: “How do you do that?” or “What does that mean?” Now, the situation is right for moving forward and starting a conversation.
Engaging people in this way will intrigue them so that they’ll want to know more. Now, they are the ones asking for additional information, which is far better than turning them off.
This approach is much more demanding that parroting an “elevator speech.” It requires thinking and most importantly, careful listening; something that’s impossible when we’re talking. It also forces salespeople to think about what they really do and then express this in a way that pulls prospects closer.
On one occasion, the president of a company asked what I did. I responded by saying, “I help CEOs avoid embarrassing themselves.” Looking confused, he said, “Can you explain that?” I did, saying, “I help them recognize that they’re too close to the business to manage the company’s marketing objectively.”
As long as salespeople are “stuck” with the “elevator speech” mindset, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to actually engage others. They give their little “speech” about what they sell, instead of initiating a conversation that draws the other person into a dialogue. Without this involvement, potential buyers tune out.
The shift from “elevator speech” thinking to an “engaging conversation” is not difficult. When you think about it, this process begins by asking yourself the key question, “What is it that I really do for my customers?”