At the time, we were almost laughed out of the room, and told that we probably wouldn’t be in business for long.  So I started to wonder if my focus needed to change.  After all, he was the ‘expert’ and we had all paid a lot of money to be there that day. 

Against my ‘inner judgement’, I took his advice and started to focus on the sale, the money – and it did start to work (for a while). But it was a hollow win. I stopped being excited about my work and it started to feel like a chore, a job. The freedom that first drove me to work for myself was taken from me, and the passion was being constricted.    

After a while, I decided that trusting myself was more important and bringing back the passion into my work was going to be the focus. You see, we know that being the best you can for your clients and supporting them well, that the money will come.

And I was reminded of this again earlier this week when on a call with Guy Kawasaki, who wrote the book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions.  On this call, he said, “Money is a natural outcome of doing something well, so focus on your passion when building your business.” 

It’s so true, don’t you think?

Are you in business and following your passion?  Or are you doing what you think you need to do to make money?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you don’t want to be making money (otherwise, there will be removalist trucks at your front door before you know it!).  I’m just saying that when you focus on serving others, delivering results, and being passionate about the value you add – then the natural outcome will in fact be financial success…

What are your thoughts?  Do you engage in the H.C.I.S.Y Business Model or are you stuck in the outdated W.I.F.M Model

This week I was lucky enough to be at the same networking event as two of my VIP – Fast Track Mentor Clients, and was able to hear them speak about their businesses.  It was great to hear the clarity in their voice as they succinctly described why you would want to use their services.

The ‘elevator speech’ can be a powerful business-marketing tool, especially if there are a number of similar professions in the one room, like there was this week. 

We had two Mortgage Brokers in the room and without being disrespectful – the first Mortgage Broker stood up and spoke about the wonderful features that her and her company could provide us.  She continued to say how they were the number one mortgage broker in Australia, how she would travel to you and that they had 25 lenders to draw from, etc.  Not very exciting and it didn’t really entice you to want to find out more about what she did.

When it came time for my client to speak, she clearly and concisely described not only the features of her business, but also how she could work with you.  She described who she worked with, what challenges they could face in securing a home loan, and how she took the time to make sure she provided the right solution for each client.  As you listened, it was clear she had a real passion for her business, and she would work to get the right result for you or anybody you may refer.  So as opposed to the first speaker, who simply gave you the 'what' of her business, my mentor student also provided the 'why' and 'how' - giving a much more complete picture.

An effective elevator speech needs to communicate immediately to your ideal clients what you can do to solve their problems or challenges.  The outcome being that within the 60-second period, this person will not only want your business card, but will also want to speak with you further about your services.

It’s important to take the time to develop your ‘elevator speech’ and if you don’t get it right the first time – that’s okay.  Keep working on it and make the necessary changes, and it will come together. 

So how do you create an effective elevator speech?  There are numerous ways in which you can pull this together, but below are the guidelines that work best for my clients.  But before we get to that I thought I would share with you, the elevator speech that my client used this week- bear in mind that you have only a short period of time to make a real impact with what you say:

“My name is Kim Wight from Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers and I help you finance your property purchase with the right loan structure and interest rate to meet your requirements.

I do this by taking the time to personally understand your current needs and future plans, and provide you with the best advice and outstanding service to satisfy your needs now and into the future.

If you know anyone thinking about finance or worrying about rising interest rate they would benefit from speaking with me.”

That was Kim’s, now it’s your turn:

• Begin with your name: 

• State who you work with: 

• Speak about some of the challenges that they may be facing:

• Talk about the solutions you provide for these challenges:

• What is the call to action you would like?

I find that it is useful to develop a number of different elevator speeches, and then you can determine which ‘speech’ best suits the environment you are in. Don’t forget to have one that is fun and light-hearted!  Take time to prepare, and make sure you also practise your ‘speech’ as well.  If you feel comfortable enough, why not ask the person sitting beside you to provide you with feedback after the meeting?

Let me know how you go in developing your ‘elevator speech’, in fact, why don’t you share it with us all, in the comment section of my blog