It’s a nice idea but not a likely reality.  I’m all for having something prepared in case you do run into Oprah and she, for some reason, is ungaurded and willing to talk to you.  It’s not bad to have an Elevator Pitch, it’s just less important, by far, than having other types of messages prepared.

The truth is, you’re unlikely to run into someone who can make or break your business in an elevator and even less likely to be able to have a useful conversation with them if you do.  We’ve all heard miracle stories about the elevator pitch that turned someone into a success…we like miracle stories.  They’re more fun than telling stories about the long awkward ride where the insurance salesman, network marketer or attorney tried to convince a total stranger to do business with them.

Making the Elevator Pitch Mistake is to make the mistake of focusing on wild possibilities WHILE IGNORING the work you need to do on the tools you really need.  Instead of a fancy elevator pitch, or a super-fancy website, you might get more clients if you worked on how you package and present your services.  You might find it more useful to TRAIN your referral sources, actually teach them what to say about you.  You’d probably get more business by reconnecting with your 10 best clients, finding out why they hired you and applying that knowledge to your current prospects.

Like so many things, the Elevator Pitch isn’t a mistake all by itself.  It becomes a problem when it moves your attention from the practical to the fanciful.  Spend your time in places where it will do you the most good instead of working on snippets that require miracle opportunities to produce results.

Of course if you DO run into Oprah, tell her I’m awesome.

Once upon a time there was an attorney who lived in a magical place called “Chicago.”  Our hero was a smart guy who knew that one of the simplest ways to build his business would be to develop referral partnerships.  Since he specialized in employment law, he wanted to develop a relationship with a criminal attorney.  Since neither did the work of the other, they’d be able to share business.

So our hero set out on a quest to find a criminal attorney with whom he could share referrals and live happily ever after.

He first came upon a very smart criminal attorney who was part of a very prestigious firm.  He was willing to meet with our hero and happy to send referrals back and forth.

One problem… the criminal attorney seemed rather stuffy to our hero.  He didn’t seem to find our hero’s jokes very funny.  While a very nice man and probably a very good attorney, our hero often thought, “he has the personality of a frog.”

So the situation was not ideal but what could our hero do?  He needed a good criminal attorney and wanted the wonderful referrals.  Yet when he thought about getting together with “the frog,” he cringed.  He felt tired.  He could not make himself be excited.

Our hero sat in the woods pondering his dilemma.  “I just have to suck it up,” he said to himself. “This is what professionals do.  It’s called NETWORKING.”

Luckily a passing fairy overheard him.  Unlike most fairies, this one had on a black suite and a pair of wickedly sharp high heels.  (She was very, very beautiful.)

“You don’t HAVE to work with people you don’t like you know.  You could look for a criminal attorney who is both a qualified PROFESSIONAL and has a desirable PERSONALITY.”

“Huh,” said our hero.  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

So our fairy went on to teach our hero one of the greatest secrets to referral partnerships:

If you don’t like the people you partner with, developing and maintaining a relationship will suck and you’ll do it less and less or not at all.

If, alternately, you partner with people who you do like, you’ll find it easy, you’ll do more of it, you’ll get more referrals to clients you’ll love too.

(For this service our hero gave the fairy many thanks and much praise and a heavy bag of gold coins.)

So our hero went out again, resolved to find a criminal lawyer he could stand and even enjoy hanging out with.  He found one and they went on to pass many referrals and even occasionally get together with their wives for margaritas on our hero’s back patio.  Truly, they lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

The End

The morale of the story, develop referral partnerships with people you really like, people who are also you CHOIR and you’ll get more done and get better referrals.

Also, pay the fairy well.  Ha ha!  No seriously.

If you’re wishing for a bit of your own magic when it comes to referrals, check out this month’s classes and put the magic fairy to work in your business.  Visit our Classes & Books page at www.maverickandcompany.com

I had a chance to meet with a well-intentioned service provider yesterday.  He’d just been to a long meeting with two potential clients who turned out to have very little potential at all.

“They just don’t understand,” he said.  “They really have no idea what it will take to do this project successfully and they couldn’t see how I might be able to provide value.”

It doesn’t really matter which service in particular this person provides.  The truth is he could be selling legal services, or accounting, or finance or interior design.  His clients couldn’t see the value and he couldn’t help them see it without sounding like a pushy jerk.

EDUCATION

One of the MOST EFFECTIVE but LEAST UTILIZED secret to selling services is EDUCATION.

People hire service providers like lawyers and event planners and interior designers precisely BECAUSE they have an expertise that those clients do not.  Unfortunately, that often also means there is also a lot they need to know about how to hire someone like you.

• How much does a good painter charge?
• How do I tell if the CPA I’m thinking of hiring is a good one?
• Do you pay an event planner by the hour?  How much?

There are typically two types of prospective clients we find most frustrating.  One kind is just not your CHOIR.  They don’t get it because they never will.

Another type however are the great people who don’t get it because they’ve never gotten educated.  There is a lot they don’t know…often starting with how to find someone like you, how to evaluate you before the hire you and how much they should be paying for someone like you.

They might actually be GREAT clients but you’ll never know if you don’t take the time to educate them.

You may think  selling a service is tough…but try buying one.  It’s hard to feel confident about the decisions you’re making when you don’t have at least a basic education about what you’re buying.

THE GOOD NEWS

The good news in all this is that the problem is also a very effective solution.

They are missing knowledge.

You have it.

GIVE IT TO THEM!!!

WHAT TO DO

Take the time to create documents that explain how things work in your industry.  Take the time to write up a page or two on the different types of people who have a title like yours and where you fit in as far as experience, expertise, and even price.  Do a bit of research and put together a short write-up of standard pricing in your industry.  Do the work to give your clients that basic background knowledge.

If you can’t write it yourself, see if someone else already has.  Gather some resources and display them on your website or give them away prior to your first meeting.

Some specific ideas to get you started EDUCATING your potential clients all the way to the bank:

• 10 Top Mistakes People Make When Hiring a
• 5 Smart Things to Remember When Hiring a
• How Much Should a Cost?
• A Guide to Hiring a
• All Are NOT Created Equal
• 7 Surprising Things About Working with a
• Ten Tips for Finding a GREAT

These can be simple articles that you use on your website, post on your blog, submit to a magazine, or offer to email a new contact.  However you deliver them, they should all have a note at the bottom with your contact information and a short blurb about your services.

Remember:  Take the time to teach your clients how to buy services like yours and you’ll find that many more of them actually buy those services…FROM YOU.

Good News!  We’re launching several great courses to help you get good at finding good clients.  If you missed out on 60 Second Commercials 101 or Referrals 101 we’ll be offering those AGAIN as well as two BRAND NEW courses:  Identify Your CHOIR and Leads Group Strategies (a 3 hour workshop.)  Visit the Classes & Books page on our website for all the latest.

• What they do
• How to talk about it
• Who to talk to (your CHOIR)

Most people are wrong.

Ask yourself, how good are your friends, colleagues and clients and understanding and communicating your value?  This one little question can tell you a lot about why you get the referrals you get now and how to get more.

If I asked 10 of your people what you do and WHO you do it for (your CHOIR), would I get 10 different answers?  Would I even get the right answers?  Would they know what you do but not who to talk to?  Would they know WHO but say the wrong thing?

Selling services can be a complex thing, ESPECIALLY when it can be hard to answer these questions for ourselves.  It’s critical to answer these questions well and specifically and even more so to educate your fan club.

If your “fan club” of potential referral sources

can’t talk about what you do or isn’t talking to the right people,

you’re MISSING OUT ON GOOD REFERRALS

AND GREAT CLIENTS.

Make sure you take the time to figure out who you really work with, create simple ways of explaining your WHO to other people and make SURE that you take the time to TRAIN YOUR FAN CLUB so they can spot your future clients and connect you to them.

SPECIFICALLY:

• Don’t Assume…they know what you do.  You’d be surprised how wrong they often get it.  Don’t take it for granted that even clients who have done work with you, even multiple times, are really clear about who you work with and why, often, they are NOT.

• Ask…go out of your way to find out how they describe you, who they think you work with and why.  The best way is to simply ASK the people you hope would send you referrals.  Amazingly, many people are willing to ask for referrals but shy about asking how people describe them, who they think they work with and so on.

• Go Basic…keep it super simple for everyone involved.  Don’t try to teach everyone about every single thing you do.  Make sure you focus on one or two key things with each potential referral source.  Trust me, they’ll often have a hard enough time remembering one basic service and client.  Overwhelming them with ALL the stuff you do is a great way to get NOTHING.

Remember, it’s YOUR JOB to educate your fan club.  If you don’t do your job, don’t assume they know who to connect you to and don’t assume you’ll get the referrals.  The one little question is:

Do you potential referral sources REALLY know

what specifically you do,

how to talk about that service

and who to talk to?

If they don’t, your job it to give them the answers to that question, remind them when they forget and repeatedly supply them with stories that reinforce the message.  Do THAT and you’ll find yourself happily receiving more great referrals.

If you could use some extra help training your fan club, make sure to check out Referrals 101 live in Denver on April 15^th or via webinar on April 21^st.  Click here for more details and to get registered.

Referrals are a widely misunderstood phenomenon.

• We think that trust is key to getting referrals, yet sometimes we refer people we barely know.
• We believe that if we do a good job we will earn referrals from our customers but often our best work produces no referrals.
• We tell ourselves we could get more business if we just did a better job of keeping in touch.  So we send out a flood of postcards and Christmas cards and newsletters and yet the referrals only trickle in.
• We see some people get LOTS of referrals, despite providing the same level of service, or perhaps even a lower level and we wonder why OUR phone doesn’t ring more.

Beyond the myths and mysteries are some simple strategies that can ACTUALLY help you consistently get more referrals.

What Works Better

I can’t cover all the secrets of being more referable here but I can give you one of the biggest…and I can reduce it to one simple word:

RECOGNITION

Selling to the Choir & The Sea of Faces

Your clients need to be able to look out into the sea of faces that make up their friends, family, neighbors and associates and RECOGNIZE the people that should be your clients, your CHOIR.  (Your CHOIR is a way to describe your BEST clients…the ones who naturally “get” you and adore you.  They tend to be easier and more pleasant to work for AND more profitable.  It’s o.k. to do business with members of the “Congregation” who kind-of get you, but your CHOIR members are the people you should really focus on finding.)

That means you can’t just tell them its “people who need insurance.”   The more specific you are, the more likely you are to get the referral.

• Not So Great = “people who need insurance.”
• O.k. = “people  who just bought a new house, got a new spouse or had a new baby.”
• Best Yet = “I work with a lot of men who are driver, A-type personalities who probably work too hard and play too hard and do at least one sport that could potentially get them killed.”

I know most of you don’t just work with one type of person.  I’m not saying you should.  But most people, in an effort to get more business, end up with less business or none at all because they’re being too general and too vague.

Look Around the Room

If I tell you to identify EVERYTHING in the room you’re in, you might actually start naming a few objects close to you but you’ll likely quickly blank out.  If I say Name the RED things in the room, your brain AUTOMATICALLY starts looking for red things and making a list.

Referrals work the same way.  You’ve got to help them RECOGNIZE your clients from among the sea of 125 faces.  Being able to recognize your clients doesn’t guarantee they’ll refer them to you, but it goes a LONG way toward that goal.

(Item # 725) WANT MORE GOOD STUFF ON REFERRALS?

This month we’re doing an AWESOME class called Referrals 101.  It will be held live in Denver on April 15^th and again via a webinar on April 21^st.  This class covers some of our BEST information on referrals and how to get more of them.  And, it’s only $47.  Visit our Classes & Books page for details and to get registered.

Get Registered.

Get Results.

(or in this case, get registered & get referrals.)

60 second COMMERCIALS aren’t really commercials. They’re CONVERSATIONS. Sometimes they’re a conversation between you and a room full of people, sometimes just you and the guy in the elevator. So instead of trying to create and deliver a fabulous commercial, just have a conversation. Have a conversation the same way you have conversations all day every day. If someone isn’t interested in the topic…MOVE ON. Don’t force them to hear a long speech about your business that they’re not interested in…that’s a commercial. If you can’t find the PERFECT words, just say it like you’d normally say it.

Talk like a human being, not a radio announcer. If you sell real estate, SAY THAT. You don’t need to be cute, you don’t have to be coy, you don’t have to do a commercial. You can, you should and you need to just have a conversation. Now that we’ve got that straight, let me give you a couple ways to make your CONVERSATION interesting, ways to engage your audience and alert potential customers that they might want to hear more…

1. Tell them something interesting about why you got into your profession. One of my new favorite people does these AMAZING pastry creations. Nicole got into her profession because her favorite thing growing up was baking with her grandmothers. Now she runs a company that does all sorts of fabulous standards AND extraordinary custom pieces that become treasured memories. (See what she’s up to and get in touch via her website www.agrandefinale.com Also, my birthday is in July and the Chocolate Raspberry Present looks AMAZING.)
2. Tell them something interesting about a specific type of client. I know a great real estate agent who has recently worked with a bunch of successful, executive men after their divorces. She’s very good at helping them quickly find a place they LOVE. These are busy men who are used to having a wife to handle the details of life for them. Working with Nancy, they have someone who will not only quickly and efficiently get them into a great property that the LOVE, she will also handle details like calling Excel to have the electric set up. For busy executives, she’s a life saver. They just have to let her know what they want and she takes care of it. (I know Nancy Levine personally and she is uber fabulous, if you want to get in touch her # is 303-619-7800.)
3. Tell them something about your background that adds unexpected value to your service. I know a presentation coach who is and has been a voice-over-actor and actor’s coach for many years. While many presentation coaches approach their work with a formula (use your hands, don’t ever use your hands) her actor’s training gives her a different perspective. Hillary’s goal is to help you find your best version of your speaking. One of her clients is an executive who THOUGHT he should be some charismatic, Tony-Robbins-style-speaker. She helped him discover his own personal approach, much like each actor brings their own approach to Hamlet. This executive is a fire-side-chat type of speaker. He’s brilliant AS THAT and would probably struggle mightily as something else. (If you could use that kind of coaching get in touch with her at www.hbvoice.com)

All these strategies are based on finding your CHOIR and letting them buy vs. selling EVERYONE…or as I like to call it death by persuasion. Your job is to speak in such a way that your CHOIR, the people who are looking to do business with someone like you, can find you, recognize you and eventually buy from you. Stay focused, keep it simple and talk to people…you’ll be off to a great start.

For more help connecting to your choir, check out our upcoming classes in the classes and books section of our website. They are AWESOME. www.maverickandcompany.com

Words are no small thing. A perfect phrase can stick in your brain, can inspire you, can round up the troops and put out fires. A perfect phrase can change everything. With just over 700 words, Abraham Lincoln turned the public health hazard, the field littered with dead bodies, the horror outside Gettysburg into a turning point of the war.

YOUR WORDS

A simple 60 second commercial might not be quite so simple if it connects you to your biggest client or a lifetime of referrals. Taking the time to find the right words, investing the money to buy the right words if necessary can pay off over and over and over.

FAMOUS EXAMPLES

Consider for a minute some of these famous phrases and how different they could have been. “I have a dream.” Martin Luther King OR “Hey guys, I’ve been thinkin’.” “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” FDR OR “Suck it up you pansies.” “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind OR “Whatever, I’m outta here.” “Give me liberty or give me death.” Patrick Henry OR “Suck it England.”

WORDS MATTER

Make sure you take the time to create words that work as hard as you do. It isn’t about being perfect, but a perfect turn of phrase can make all the difference.

ONE LAST THING

Talk is cheap.Great talk is priceless. And a great 60 second commercial will cost you about 50 bucks. If you’d like to get some great talk of your own, please check out our upcoming classes at www.maverickandcompany.com

Today I’m going to sneak you one of my favorite ones.

Mistake #3: PAPER CRAP

Mistakes are usually made by people who just don’t know a better way to do things. PAPER CRAP is the mistake you make when you give people STUFF THEY DON’T ASK FOR…your brochure, your flier, even your business card. You think you’re giving them valuable treasure, they feel like they’re getting PAPER CRAP. ‘PEOPLE DON’T WANT YOUR STUFF–Here’s the thing. People don’t want your stuff. They’ve got offices full of their own paper crap and mostly, they just don’t need or want yours. Unless they ask for it, DON’T give them stuff. It doesn’t matter how pretty your brochure is, how much you spent on it or how full it is with useful information…they’re probably going to trash it the minute they’re safely our of your sight. To them, it’s just PAPER CRAP. PAPER CRAP VS. THE CHOIR–PAPER CRAP occurs when you’re trying to sell to everyone instead of doing the work to connect with your CHOIR—the people who would just love to buy from you if they only got the chance.

Sell to your CHOIR, create resources that your CHOIR would want and need and don’t bother creating or pushing PAPER CRAP.

1. La Brea Syndrome: You’ve Been Stuck for a While
2. Repeating Patterns
3. Borrow a Brain
4. Develop New Skills
5. You Have Plenty of $ but No Life
6. You’re Working Hard but Have No $ AND No Life
7. Crunch Time

1. La Brea Syndrome

You’ve Been Stuck for a While The La Brea Tar pits are a legendary collection of fossils. Animals would wander into the tar, get stuck and eventually die there. La Brea Syndrome is when you’re too stuck to be able to get yourself out. When you’ve spent weeks or months thinking you need to make a change but still haven’t made it…it’s a good idea to get professional help. You may not be able to get unstuck on your own OR it may just take a long, long time to do it. You don’t necessarily have to sign up for a year long package…a really good coach might be able to get you unstuck in a single session. How much work you need, and how long it will take will vary from situation to situation. Don’t kid yourself about whether or not you’ll be able to deal with it on your own. If it’s been going on for a long time you’re wasting money, energy and time spinning your wheels. Get help. It will definitely be worth it.

2. Repeating Patterns

Over the course of your professional life, you’ll find some patterns repeating over and over. When you have one that is particularly damaging, it’s usually worth the investment to work with someone who can help you create new processes and paradigms so you don’t keep doing the same thing over and over. One example, you overbook yourself, work really, really hard for a while and then retreat into a work coma where almost nothing gets done. This type of cycle can kill a business if it’s not properly managed. The worse the impact of the pattern is on you and those around you, the more important it is to get help dismantling it. If you’re not sure it’s all that bad, check in with the people around you. They can usually provide clear feedback about the true impact.

3. Borrow a Brain

We can’t all be experts at everything. A good reason to hire a coach or consultant is that you want to borrow their brain. An expert, or someone with a lot of experience in a particular area or industry can add enormous value to your business for the cost of just a few hours time. If a project’s success hinges on a factor or area where you don’t have expertise, consider hiring one and borrowing their brain. Technology upgrades, major changes to your sales process, even hiring decisions are all events that often justify an investment in coaching to produce the desired result or avoid costly mistakes.

4. Develop New Skills

Professionals should be consistently and strategically growing their skill sets. If you’ve identified a set of skills you want to develop, executive coaching can be a very cost effective way to get the results you want. Unlike classes which are generally designed for a general audience, a professional coach can design a program specifically for you. You’ll avoid reviewing lessons you’ve already learned and can often learn your new skills inside of a real project you’re currently working on. That way you’re producing great results as you build your skills. This is a great way to improve the R.O.I. on a coaching investment. Great examples would be leadership skills, confrontation, marketing, time management, etc.

5. You Have $, But No Life

It’s not unusual for life to get wildly out of balance. We tend to focus our energy on the places where we feel good and confident, places where it’s likely we can produce results. For many of us, that’s our work. If you find you have plenty of $, but not much of a life, a coach is a good investment. Look for one who won’t just tell you how you should live your life, but who can help you understand your true priorities and motivations and design a good life to fulfill those needs and desires. Plan to work with this person for several weeks to help you design a life you want and develop the strategies for putting in the new priorities and breaking old habits.

6. You Don’t Have Much $ OR Much of a Life

If this describes you, it’s likely you’re missing a critical component of a successful business. You may not be charging enough, you may be giving away too many freebies, you might just be working with the wrong people. You might be in an unworkable business altogether. It’s more likely however that your approach is off. A good coach with experience analyzing and diagnosing business processes can help you isolate where you’re going so wrong and get things back on track. Remember that not all of what’s true is true everywhere…meaning a solution for a corporation may not work for your small one-man-show and vice versa. Make sure you’re working with someone who has experience with either your symptoms or your specific size business, industry, etc.

7. It’s Crunch Time

When you’re buried in an avalanche of projects, when you’re getting ready to go public, when you’re growing really fast, all of these are good times to get help. When it’s crunch time, every minute matters. A coach can help you pause to do the big picture, strategic thinking and short-term planning that can make the difference between success and failure. If you don’t feel like you have time to meet with a coach, that’s probably a good sign that you need one. Just like a hiring a trainer helps get you into the gym, a coach helps get you to do the pausing and planning that often produces your best thinking and best results. They can also provide an emotional outlet to help you deal effectively with a high pressure situation.

These are what I call your Blue Fish people.  There is something about them, something about you, that just goes together.  When you find these people they tend to stand out in your memory…almost like a Blue Fish in a sea of Red Roses.

If you want to stand out, be remembered and get referred, I recommend you start by seeking out the people who you have that click with…your Blue Fish people.  It’ll be easy to connect with them.  It’ll be easier for them to remember you.  And because you do have that friendly connection, they’re more likely to refer you.  AND because their connections are probably a lot like them, their connections are likely to be more Blue Fish people, people you will naturally connect with as well. Don’t try to impress everyone.

Don’t try to be remembered by everyone.  And CERTAINLY do not seek referrals from everyone.  Find your Blue Fish people, the places where you fit in.  It is there you are most able to Stand Out and reap the rewards of doing so.