Have you noticed how many times you get asked this question … “So, what do you do?”. Whether it’s at a networking event, at the school gates or a party, this is a question that you’ll hear lots of times as it’s very easy to make small talk between strangers or acquaintances (as well as talking about the lovely British weather)!
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when answering this question is to tell them your job title – “I’m a coach”. “I’m a fitness instructor”. “I’m a virtual assistant.”
You haven’t actually answered the question. They don’t really want to know about that.
What you need to do here is you need to tell them what the results are that your clients get from working with you and what you actually do. Not the how, a virtual assistant, a fitness instructor, those are classed as the ‘how’. They don’t need to know that. That’s just a title.
What happens if you use titles is that people who have already met a few of those will lump you in the same category. “Oh, you’re just another accountant”. “You’re just another virtual assistant”. “You’re just another coach.”
On the other side of the coin, you’ve got those people who haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about and you might get the glazed look go over their face. You might as well just hit your head against a brick wall, because you’re then trying to educate them about what coaching is or what a virtual assistant is.
Instead, follow this very simple formula and you can very easily answer the questions so that it leaves them wanting to know more.
My name is (hopefully you know your name)
I work with (your ideal clients)
Who (what are their struggles)
I help them by (what your product or service is to help solve their struggle above, what are the results you get)
My elevator pitch is …
‘My name is Emma. I coach and train busy mums who want to start their own family friendly business so they can earn an income and still take care of the kids. Through my coaching and training programmes, I show them step by step exactly what they need to be doing to build and market a successful business so they can get that work / life balance right for them and their family’.
The response I normally get is, ‘Oh, that’s interesting. How do you do that? What exactly do you do?’ That’s the response that you need. That’s the response that you want because you’re not going to a networking event to get some sign ups straight away, ‘Yes, that’s me.’ The response you want them to do is to say, ‘Please tell me more. What do you mean? That sounds interesting.’ Those are the responses that you want.
Your action plan
Now it’s your turn, take 5 minutes to create your elevator pitch using the formula above and I’d love to hear what you come up with – share in the comments below
Emma Walker is a Business Coach supporting women wanting to build an online business
Her core mission is to SIMPLIFY, FOCUS and SUCCEED by giving women the tools and knowledge they need to build their dream business
She helps them to stop letting overwhelm take over their life and business. Instead, they learn how to ditch the overwhelm and simplify their marketing to gain the clarity they need to build their business the easy way
Through coaching, online courses and digital products, she helps awesome women to build successful and profitable online businesses!
She’s also a home schooling mum (since 2016) so knows what it’s like to have lots of demands on her time
