Please stop talking about yourself so much! One of the biggest mistakes in selling yourself and your services is by using “I” or “We” sentences. Why? Because there is a MUCH better way to refer to yourself, and it won’t cause you to rub the “I” off your keyboard.
The class full of Entrepreneurs I recently taught pulled their hair out over this challenge when I asked them to create their elevator pitches. As I reviewed what they came up with I couldn’t help but giggle a little. You’d think this class (just like any other business class I have taught) was full of egomaniacs. Which is not true, of course.
What IS true is that most business owners get caught up in describing the process of how they get awesome results. While the results are important, the how is really the secret sauce, and it should remain a secret. Many of us make the same mistake in our personal value propositions where we talk about ourselves in the worst possible ways.
Are you doing it, too?
Here are a few examples of what not to say:
- I am punctual and organized.
- We deliver great results.
- I know how to make you look good.
- We show up on time and give you what you need.
Yikes!
There are two things I want you to do immediately.
- Remove all egomaniac statements from your LinkedIn profile, your website, and your resume.
- Stop making vague statements.
Egomaniac statements read like all you want to talk about is how great YOU are. I do this… I create this… and I can do that, too… (Yes, I know I am exaggerating but I am making a point here.)
Vague statements bore me to death. Here are more examples of trite and bland attempts at self-promotion that I see more often than I should:
- I arrive at winning solutions.
- We deliver solutions that our clients want.
- I give you exactly what you envision.
It’s not about you.
Instead, focus on your clients. They need to hear quickly and with precision about how your product or service benefits THEM. Your challenge is to tell how great you are through the eyes of those who are hiring you.
Here is an example of a good pitch: My clients rave about my ability to understand their USP and turn it into a winning (your service/product), and as a result they (sell more).
Need more tips? Here’s a helpful 4 Minute Read on the subject.
Every single business on this planet wants to make an impact and/or sell more. What you need to do is tell people how your skills and knowledge will help them accomplish their goals. You don’t want to simply say that you will give them what they want—and you definitely don’t want to say so in a general manner. (Side note: Most people don’t know what they want anyway.)
What’s your impact?
Think about what you want to convey about your business. Does your service help your clients double their sales? Do your products make sales people beg for mercy because their phones are ringing off the hook? This is the kind of specificity we need in our advertising and promotions. This is how we exude the confidence that our customers and potential employers eat up.
Remember, at the end of the day it is always about what we can do for them. The more specific we are, the greater our chances of closing the deal, getting the job, or receiving the promotion.
Now, get started on this week’s homework and let me know the difference it makes for your business!
At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder’ who has appeared in over 60 radio shows, respected speaker, career coach, consummate creative entrepreneur, and author of Happy Woman Happy World. Beate is also the founder of The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds. Determined to build a community of women supporting each other, she took her life-changing formula documented it all in a book Brian Tracy calls “an amazing handbook for every woman who wants health, happiness, love and success!”
Through her corporate initiative “Why Acting Like a Girl Is Good For Business” she helps companies with gender diversification training, and to develop and retain women.
If you’d like to book Beate as a speaker on New Leadership Balance or Creative Entrepreneurship for your next event please connect with me.
