Tonight’s easy. It’s Taco Tuesday. But it didn’t used to be…
I used to start planning dinner at 5:23 pm.
Dinner was always on the table by 6, and then the arguments started:
“We had hot dogs yesterday”
“I don’t eat pizza anymore”
“I asked for grilled cheese. WHERE’S MY GRILLED CHEESE?????”
Making a weekly menu always seemed like an obvious answer, but I resisted doing that for years.
I always thought it was the improvisational actor in me – “I’m better off just making it up on the fly!”
But, now that we finally follow a menu, I realize that my resistance had nothing at all to do with improv.
It had everything to do with the thought of coming up with 21 meal ideas every Sunday night.
That’s a rough way to end the weekend! No wonder I preferred one meal at a time.
But, with one meal at a time, I was becoming a short order cook. Not sustainable.
The solution was so simple that I ignored it the first three times our nutritionist suggested it.
Use the same menu every week.
That sounded like a recipe for disaster. It had all the ingredients of a terrible idea. I didn’t want to get mixed up with it at all.
But – against my better judgement I sat down one Tuesday in July with my kids and a sheet of paper with 35 squares (yes, it was worse than I thought. Somehow we’ve trained our kids to expect three meals plus two snacks every day…).
Five months later we are still using that exact same menu. And everyone (including me) loves it!
Pasta night can be spaghetti and meatballs, or lasagna, or tortellini.
Cheeseburger night can include hot dogs or be replaced by meatloaf or chili.
Taco Tuesday and Chocolate Chip Pancake Sunday are the stand-out favorites – no modifications allowed. Ever. Believe me. The November waffle incident never happened. Never. ah ah ah. NEVER HAPPENED.
It’s easier to shop, we always have the ingredients we need, the end of the day is stress free, and – here’s what really surprised me – my kids prefer it. In fact, they look forward to it and delight in knowing the schedule. In the middle of asking “What’s for dinner,” they look at each other and start jumping up and down excitedly “Taco Tuesday!”
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because you don’t need (or want) a new pitch for every event.
That’s why business networking can seem overwhelming – all that preparation.
Prepare your Elevator Pitch once and use it time after time after time after time…
Good things happen when you use the same Elevator Pitch every time!
- There’s no prep and no stress. You know what you’re going to say and you know how people will respond.
- People start to recognize you (and look forward to seeing you!)
- Consistency breeds confidence which lends credibility to your expertise
But it gets boring when people use the same Elevator Pitch every week
That’s because they have a boring Elevator Pitch.
Instead share a recent client success. That’s fun to talk about which makes it more engaging and encourages people to bring you leads that are like your best clients.
And remember: there are new people at events and group meetings all the time. Everyone has not heard your Elevator Pitch before, and those that have heard it probably won’t remember it until they’ve heard it several times. And it’s only after hearing it several times that’s they’ll be confident enough to send you referrals. Giving an Elevator Pitch once is cold calling. Using it many times is business networking.
In my group I’m supposed to mix it up…
If you want to mix it up you can share a different client success. Just don’t change how you talk about the group of people you work with and the problem you solve.
I do so many things. How can I come up with an Elevator Pitch that covers everything?
You can’t.
And you don’t want to.
Your Elevator Pitch starts the conversation.
As yourself what people usually buy from you first.
Talk about that in your Elevator Pitch.
As you get to know people better, they’ll start to understand the variety of programs you offer.
I never recommend cutting down on the products and services you offer. I highly recommend that your Elevator Pitch focus on the product or service that starts the best and most productive business conversations.
How consistent it your Elevator Pitch?
Thank you for the insight. It’s true be consistent in the elevator speech. It may sound like a broken record to you. But not to others. If they are board of hearing your speech then either A they are not the ones to waist you words on or B your boring everyone else and maybe you should refresh it. But if your getting calls then it was that person in example a
You bring up a good point! The question isn’t whether you are bored with your Elevator Pitch. The question is whether it’s attracting the right kind of leads. If it is, keep using it!