How To Explain What You Do In Such
A Way That Your Prospects Are
Compelled… Nearly Forced To Want
To Do Business With You
“You’ve got 15 seconds to tell me why I should do
business with you instead of your competitors…
Ready…Go!!”
The First 15 Seconds
Notes Copyright Notices
© Copyright Streetsmart Marketing 2010
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Published by: What's On In Our Backyard
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While all attempts have been made to verify information provided
in this
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responsibility
for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter given
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in this product.
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The Licensee must accept full responsibility for determining the legality
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© 2010 All rights reserved
2
The First 15 Seconds
The First 15
Seconds
How To Explain What You Do In Such A
Way That Your Prospects Are
Compelled…
Nearly Forced To Want To
Do Business With You.
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Imagine yourself in a business meeting. You’re
sitting with a group of people at one of several tables in
the room, and the speaker or presenter asks for each
person to stand and briefly introduce themselves to the
rest of the group.
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As each person takes their turn, you hear
something like, “My name is Barry Lewis, and I work for
Chevrolet.” Then he takes his seat and the next person
stands and says, “My name is Cheryl Wallace, and I’m
an agent for QBE Insurance.” And so it goes from
person to person, and from table to table. You even
find yourself doing the same thing.
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What you’ve just witnessed is one of the most
common and wasted opportunities in business. It’s
common, because nearly everyone does and says
practically the same thing. And it’s wasted, because the
person who is introducing him or her self has just
passed up a perfect opportunity to let others in the
room know how they can help them solve their
problems.
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What’s worse, is it’s compounded by the fact that
it takes place in a group setting, in front of a number of
people. And that’s not the time or place to blow such an
opportunity.
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Now, picture yourself meeting someone for the
first time. You may be introduced to them or you may
have just come together, it really doesn’t matter. As
you hand the person your business card, you mention
your name and explain what you do.
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© 2010 All rights reserved
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3
The First 15 Seconds
Now stop and think for a minute. Did what you
say in that situation differ from what you said in the
business meeting? Did you state your name and
mention your occupation?
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If you did, you may have passed up a great
chance to get in a mini commercial about yourself and
the benefits you may be able to provide the person
you’re talking with.
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So what’s wrong with that format anyway?
Plenty, that’s what.
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You see, people don’t care at all about who you
are or what you do. It may sound cold and callous, but
it’s absolutely true. They don’t care what your
occupation is, who your company is, how big they are,
what they sell, how many locations or employees they
have, or what your prices are.
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But what they do care about is how you can help
them. What kind of value you can bring to the
relationship. Now granted, some people are “people”
people. They just like other people and may be
interested in developing relationships. That’s okay. But
we’re not talking about that here. We’re talking about
business situations. And in those situations, people are
interested in how they can benefit from a relationship
with you.
It’s almost as though each person you meet has
an invisible shield surrounding them that flashes the
message: “WIIFM”…“What’s In It For Me?”
That’s an important concept to understand. And
it’s critical that you pound it into your brain until you
become crystal clear about it. Not until you fully
understand that people don’t want what you have, that
they only want the benefits that what you have offers,
can you even have half a chance to do any meaningful
amount of business with them.
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So, how do you know what your prospects… the
people you want to do business with, need? Better yet,
how do you know what your prospects want?
It’s not enough to guess or to try and figure it
out on your own. The old saying, “If you want to sell
© 2010 All rights reserved
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4
The First 15 Seconds
John Smith what John Smith buys, you first have to see
through John Smith’s eyes,” really applies here.
You’ve got to get into your customer’s heads.
You’ve got to walk in their moccasins. You’ve got to
understand where they’re coming from, what their
goals, dreams and desires are, and perhaps more
importantly, you’ve got to understand where they are
hurting or lacking.
You see, people really only buy for two reasons:
to solve a problem, or to gain pleasure. That’s it. Every
time someone buys something, it’s because they have
a problem they’re trying to work out or find a solution
to, or they want to experience pleasure of some sort.
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Second, people will buy faster, and will spend
more money, to satisfy wants rather than needs.
Understand these two points, and you’re nearly half
way there.
The next step is to determine how you can fit in
to their picture. Think about it… how do you fit in? How
can what you do, what you sell, or the service you
provide for others help them either solve a problem or
gain the pleasure they’re seeking? Do you even know,
really know what their wants are?
The best way to find out what a person (or a
market, for that matter) wants, is to ask them. This can
be done in person, by telephone or by sending your
prospects a questionnaire and asking them to complete
and return it to you. Get specific. Get involved. Probe
deeply. Put yourself in their places. Develop a deep
empathy for their situations. Only by seeing things from
their eyes can you gain the understanding you need to
serve them in the most effective way.
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Once you’ve identified what your prospect’s (or
market’s) wants are, prioritise the items in order of
importance to your prospect. Then, identify those you
can help them solve or satisfy.
Next, see if you can make the problem bigger.
Magnify it. Add to it. Embellish it. Stretch it. Make it
more dramatic, more painful, bigger than it really is.
But don’t overdo it. Don’t make it sound so far out that
it’s unbelievable or seems excessively exaggerated to
your prospect.
© 2010 All rights reserved
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5
The First 15 Seconds
Now you’re ready to develop your solution. How
can what you do help them? Can you take away a
certain pain? Can you provide financial relief? How
about mental or emotional relief? What about physical
comfort? Can you help them obtain a certain pleasure
or avoid unpleasantness or loss? Specifically and
precisely, how can you or what you sell, offer or
provide help your prospect solve his or her problems or
satisfy their wants?
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Once you’ve gotten this far, you can begin to
formulate your articulation statement. In other words,
what are you going to say to your prospect that lets
them know you can help them? And how are you going
to say it in such a way that when they hear you say it,
they have no choice but to say, “Really? How do you do
that? I want to know more!”
Here’s a template to help you get a more clear
picture of the process and to help you develop your
own strategy:
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1. Determine your prospect’s problem, hurt, need
or want from the prospect’s point of view.
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2. Enlarge, add to or magnify the problem.
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3. Get your prospect’s agreement that this is,
indeed, a problem for them.
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4. Let your prospect know you understand their
situation.
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5. Articulate how you can help your prospect solve,
satisfy or eliminate that problem by talking in
terms of benefits to them.
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6. Offer proof that you’ve helped others in similar
situations.
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Here’s how it might sound for an insurance agent
speaking to a prospect who is tired of paying high car
insurance premiums (aren’t we all?):
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Prospect: “Hi, my name is John Smith.”
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Agent: “Nice to meet you, John. My name is
Cindy Richards.”
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Prospect: “What do you do, Cindy?”
© 2010 All rights reserved
6
The First 15 Seconds
Agent: “John, you know when you pay your
car insurance premiums, how they seem
to increase every time, even if you’ve
never had an accident or made a claim?”
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(Your prospect will either nod, make a statement
or at least smile acknowledging that they
understand, can relate and agree.)
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Agent: (After a slight pause.) “It’s frustrating
isn’t it? I mean, why should good drivers
have to pay for the poor driving habits of
those who are less responsible? It’s
really not fair. And to top it off, it’s
insulting.
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Again, your prospect will either verbally or nonverbally acknowledge that he or she is in
agreement.
Agent: “Well, being in the business, as well as
being a consumer has helped me
understand exactly what you go through
when you get your insurance bills. And I
don’t like it anymore than you do.
“So what I’ve done, is develop a system
and a process to help my clients avoid
paying those high and unnecessary
costs. I call it my “Personal Risk
Analysis”…“PRA” for short.
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“It all starts with my first meeting with
a client when we determine exactly
what their risks are, how much they can
self-insure and how much will need to
be covered by insurance. Then I put
together a couple of plans they can
choose from that solves their problems,
and does it cost-effectively…without
breaking the bank. It works great, and
my clients’ love it. And that’s why more
than 96 percent renew their policies
with me every year!”
Now, granted, that’s longer than 15 seconds. But
what matters is not how long it takes; it’s not even
what you say that’s important. What is important is
© 2010 All rights reserved
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7
The First 15 Seconds
that you capture your prospect’s attention quickly – in
the first 15 seconds. And you can do this by identifying
and relating to their problems. Whatever you say after
that should serve to demonstrate how you can help
solve their problems for them.
After hearing this kind of introduction, who
wouldn’t want to know more? Remember, the whole
idea is to evoke a “Really? How do you do that? I want
to know more!” response from them.
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This same format and process can be used with
any type of business. And it can be used effectively in
group situations or in one-on-one situations. You may
want to tighten it up, make it shorter, eliminate a
sentence or paragraph, or add another benefit or two.
But whatever you do, take the time to formulate
your own personalised 15-second introduction. It will
be well worth the time you spend, and will reward you
with a steady stream of new prospects just begging to
do business with you!
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© 2010 All rights reserved
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