The most successful companies are those that have a clear,
competitive advantage that they repeat continuously to get
their message out to the buying public. It is simple, direct,
clear, and benefit-oriented. The more simple your claim for
your product or service, your unique selling proposition, the
easier it is for you to build a marketing and sales campaign
around it.
During the business boom in Silicon Valley and the huge
infusion of venture capital into dot-com companies, the “elevator
pitch” became famous. There were thousands of small
companies running around trying to raise money to get
started. The venture capitalists with the money were swamped
with applications.
By one estimate, for every thousand applications
a venture capital company received, they considered
only one hundred. Of the hundred they considered, they studied
only ten. Of the ten proposals they studied, they funded
only one. The odds of getting financing were very low.
Budding entrepreneurs with new ideas had to condense
the essence of their businesses into an “elevator talk” that they
would be able to give in a matter of two or three minutes on
the elevator from the main office to the ground floor. This elevator
talk had to define the potential market, identify the problem
that the product or service would solve, spell out the
unique selling proposition or special benefit of this particular
The Principle of Simplicity—Take the Direct Approach
product or service, and give the market size and financial
results possible if this product were successful. All this information
had to be conveyed in two to three minutes.
At the height of the dot-com boom, hundreds of dot-com
entrepreneurs gathered at special conventions where they
received a couple of minutes of time on the stage to pitch
their idea to a room full of potential venture capitalists. The
ones who could summarize their entire business, including
the advantages to the customer of buying and using the product
or service, were the ones who had a chance of getting
funded.
What is your elevator talk? How could you summarize the
benefits and value of what you sell, and why someone should
buy it, in two or three minutes? What is your value offering?
Why should someone buy your product or service in comparison
with every other product or service that is available?
Here’s a question for you: “What must your prospective
customer be convinced of in order to buy your product or service
rather than that of any other competitor?”
How can you simplify and focus your advertising, marketing,
and sales activities in such a way that you could convince
your prospect overwhelmingly that she will get what she wants
most from your product or service if she buys it from you?
(1) Prospect; (2) Present; and (3)
Follow up and close.