Psychology Behind Elevator Speeches
Have I gone off the deep end? Psychology behind a 30 second elevator speech?
Definitely! Your elevator speech is a very important business tool. Don't leave it to chance. If you work with our inclinations and, well, psychology, you'll be a lot more effective.
Let's start with a quick review of my recommended structure for an elevator speech:
1. Name and name of your business
2. One sentence description of what you do
3. Story of how you helped a client
4. Specific request for a referral
5. Name and name of business again
6. Tag line
Not much to say about the first two except keep it short and simple. Boring us before you get to the good stuff is bad psychology.
The Story
Always remember that we buy with our emotions and then justify our decision with logic. We also make buying decisions very quickly, which is why the 30-second speech is so important. No one will make a buying decision from your speech, and you're not expecting them to. What you can expect is that they will want to hear more.
A story is going to get a "tell me more" reaction more often than a list of services. A story will allow us to make connections between you and people we know who might relate to your story. And a story can show you are good at what you do, far more effectively than telling us you're great.
Specific Request for Referral
Someone recently asked me if it was okay to ask for the referral first. I said no. Why?
Back to psychology. We decide with our emotions and justify with logic. A request for a referral is an appeal to logic. Putting it before the emotion reverses the buy cycle and makes us less likely to listen and ask "tell me more."
Is This Manipulation?
Sales psychology is considered manipulative, and often, it is. Closing techniques are almost always intended to coerce someone into "buying now" or buying something they might not want or need.
What I'm talking about isn't manipulation. As long as your story is true (or, in the case of a brand-new business owner with no clients yet, plausible) and your referral request is for someone you really can help, there's no manipulation going on.
What I am advocating for is working with our inclinations and ways of making decisions rather than working against us. We'll feel more comfortable with you, even if we don't know why. And if we are comfortable, we're more likely to refer you.
Make sense?
Next month I'll talk about the psychology behind asking for a referral and wrap it all up with why a tag line is a good idea.
