Learn how to help people — know, like, and trust you — while positioning yourself as a caring expert, authority, or thought leader — who can connect the dots — from what they want and need — to who you are and what you offer.
Very often, opportunity starts with the question: “so what do you do?”
Very often, you only have a few seconds to get — and then hold — a person’s attention as you’re giving your answer.
So how do you do it?
How do you hold this person’s attention… AND give him or her the answer that clearly and effectively communicates the right combination of:
1) who you help & how you help them;
2) who you are & why you do it; and
3) a dash of your “special sauce”… so they remember you.
As the poet Maya Angelou once said:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
The first thing to do is start right there. Instead of focusing only yourself and what you want… focus on this other person, what they want/need, and their experience (their struggle, dream, or both).
From there, remember, this not a pitch… it’s a cascade.
(That’s why most people get this part wrong.)
Because they still think it’s a pitch, and they treat it as such: a one shot deal, the big “at bat”, a home run or nothing.
But they couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Because every “yes” is made up of series of “yeses”. And building interest (just like cultivating relationships) operates much the same way.
Think of a waterfall (or look at the picture in this post).
You’ll notice that the water doesn’t fall directly from the top to the bottom. The water cascades —from level to level, step to step — top to bottom. (Another analogy: on your first date, you don’t ask your date to marry you.)
So (before) the next time you’re asked, “what do you do?”, consider your response.
What will you say — and in what order —so that:
1. this person will know, like, and trust you;
2. you position yourself as a caring expert, authority, or thought leader;
3. you can connect the dots — from to what they want and need — to who you are and what you offer;
4. you continue to create interest, so the person you’re speaking with keeps asking you, “tell me more…”
If you’re not sure, go back to basics: people want to be seen, heard, and understood. And they want to feel like they know, like, and trust you.
So ask them to share a story (of themselves, an experience, a case study, a success, a challenge, etc.)
And then share a story with them too.
When you do this, you’ll be giving this person an opportunity to have their business and/or life impacted by who you are and what you offer.
