Recycling bins are baffling.
What if the paper envelope has a plastic window?
Does a used napkin go in paper or trash?
How much grease is too much grease to recycle a pizza box?
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because referrals work like recycling.
If it’s an exact match, the referral ends up in your inbox.
Otherwise the referral ends up in the landfill, never to be seen again.
How do you get more referrals to your inbox?
By being specific.
Uncomfortably specific.
Example #1:
“I show business owners how to grow their profits”
Everyone wants to grow their profits, so exact match, right?
Nope!
If you want people to think you can help them, then you must be very specific about who you’ve helped and how.
==> I provide farmers with better weather information
==> I help businesses work from home
==> We connect trucks and tractors to the internet
Notice that the middle one is still a little vague, but is so topical here in June 2020 as everyone is suddenly working from home due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Note also that farmers don’t necessarily think of themselves as business owners but will be very interested in new weather technology.
The third example is a good example of exact match. A company either has trucks or it doesn’t. And those trucks are either connected to the internet or they aren’t.
You want it to be that easy for people to self select in (or out) of what you’re offering.
Example #2:
“I help companies solve their IT challenges”
Everyone has IT challenges, right?
Again, NOPE!
I mean, they do, but they don’t think of them as “IT challenges.”
How do they think of them?
==> I help technology companies build secure remote teams
==> I help law firms avoid and defend against hacking
==> I help insurance firms move from paper to electronic documents
Notice how there is no mention of IT in any of these, even though they could all be classified as “IT solutions.”
Also notice that they name a specific industry. Does she only work with law firms? Of course not! But if you say law firm, you get the attention of insurance agencies, mortgage brokers, and real estate agents.
“If it works for them, will it work for me?”
That’s one of the strongest buying signals out there…
Example #3:
“I help businesses communicate.”
You probably already know where I’m going with this one…
What type of business?
Who are they communicating with?
==> We help window cleaning companies reach job candidates by text
==> I help restaurants get customers through social media
==> I help attorneys develop trust with their clients using video
More Examples
We cover 39 examples in 13 minutes in this video: