You're at the social hour before one of those business functions that you regularly attend - even though you'd rather be somewhere else - when a friendly-looking fellow walks over and introduces himself. After a minute or two of light banter about the weather, the food or the latest sporting event, he asks the inevitable question (while glancing at your name tag): "So, what do you do at [inserting your company name here]?"

How do you respond? Do you struggle to describe exactly what it is that you do, or do you ramble on about past projects and future clients, hoping something you say piques the curiosity of your new contact? Do you feel the need to impress him with your latest credentials and the importance of your work? And do you find it difficult to avoid spouting jargon that causes most peoples' eyes to glaze over? Or, have you given up and resorted to the single-word labels that don't describe much at all - I'm a [consultant, accountant, attorney, financial advisor, etc.]?

Unfortunately, most of us are better at performing our services than at describing them. And yet, the ability to describe your particular service in a way that everyone understands is one of the most important marketing skills you'll ever need to master.

The Elevator Speech

The goal of what some call the "elevator speech" is to create an image of who you are and what you can accomplish, in the shortest amount of time possible. This mental image needs to be one that satisfies your need to be understood and properly categorized, not your listener's desire to label you with all the other consultants, accountants and attorneys he has ever met.

The fact is you rarely have a lot of time to describe your services and create the appropriate mental image. Picture yourself getting on an elevator that just happens to contain a very important prospect you have been trying to meet. He notices you and says, "Hello." Your heart starts beating, the clock starts ticking, and you have only the short time between floors to deliver a message that is understood - your elevator speech.

That isn't much time, is it? In a face-to-face situation, you'll be lucky to have about one minute to generate interest in your services - barely enough time to describe yourself and see what kind of response you get. Every word you say is critical. You have no time to educate your elevator companion - he'll either get it or he won't. Whether he gets it or not depends on how well you have described what you can accomplish for him, in terms he already understands.

Always remember, the vast majority of business decision-makers are concerned with results, not with what it takes to get those results. If you don't speak in terms your market understands, you won't know if you lost a potential client from a lack of interest, or a lack of understanding. If you said "Suppose I had a magic wand that would produce the results you are seeking. Would that be okay with you?" most executives would be curious about your magic wand, and would want you to wave it at their problems, but would admit that they aren't overly concerned about the particulars, as long as it works!
Putting it all together

The fellow who asked, "What do you do?" and is now listening to your response, is asking himself, "Is this relevant to me? Is this valuable? Is this something I need?" In response, you must convey two main ideas - your target customer and the value your involvement provides - in only a sentence or two.

To do this successfully, you must:

• Get rid of the jargon and the technical terms.
  
• Focus on the results, not the activities that you perform.
  
• Not assume that your market values the same things you do.
  
• Not get so carried away describing the value of your services that you lose plausibility or credibility.