My mom is rarely at a loss for words.
But my high-school potluck dinner got the best of her.
“What did you bring?” some well-meaning person asked.
My mom froze.
She had brought Kentucky Fried Chicken.
And didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t cooked.
My dad rescues her.
“You brought chicken,” he says brightly.
Relief washes over my mom’s face.
“Yeah,” she says. “I brought fried chicken.”
It was the most popular dish that evening.
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because this is marketing, not true confessions.
A woman 20 years out of the workforce is struggling with her Elevator Pitch.
And while I admire her effort to anticipate and overcome objections, she’s starting the wrong conversation.
“I want to show them that it’s a good thing that I’m old school,” she says.
As though someone’s going to hire her because she uses an actual Rolodex.
And while it could be true that some modern sales force could benefit from her old style sales techniques.
And she will undoubtedly benefit from the updated tools and techniques…
Stop!
This is the wrong conversation.
She sells medical devices.
Even over the phone I hear relief wash across her face as I name what she does and why people would hire her.
She sells.
She’s great at it.
She had a very successful career before she had kids.
There’s not a single medical device company that’s looking to add old school sales techniques to their team.
But they are looking for someone who can sell medical devices.
The Elevator Pitch focuses on the what, not the how.
She brought chicken. Whether she cooked it or not is irrelevant.
She sells medical devices. Her actual approach to selling is less relevant.
So stop struggling to describe your how.
It’s much easier to be clear and concise about your results.