What to Say to People When They Ask What You Do

You will get asked the question in a variety of different circumstances: What do you do? 

You should have a very well prepared answer to this question in two or three lengths. The first one you should have is what is often called your “elevator” pitch. This is a one sentence description of what you do. It should be sufficiently intriguing for people to want to hear more. 

You might also have different pitches depending on the circumstances under which you meet a person. Your answer at the local rotary club meeting might be different than if you are at a trade show of chemical engineers. 

My most common elevator pitch is this:  “I help small to medium sized businesses double or triple their sales in 18 months or less or I don’t get paid.”  After I deliver this line, the most common response is:  “Really? How do you do that?”  That response allows me to get going on delivering the rest of my pitch – the more detailed 30 second pitch. I would then continue:  “I work with a variety of businesses to help them dramatically increase their sales through the use of some very specific proprietary marketing techniques that I have developed. These are techniques that have been proven to work in a variety of industries. When I work with a company the bulk of my compensation is contingent upon generating results. If I don’t deliver, I don’t get paid.” 

You need to develop one of each of these “blurbs” as a minimum. I have a number of different ones developed for each of my targeted niche markets.