1. How To Create a 30-Second Sales Pitch

Lane 0:04
So Rob, I was making a phone call the other day. And the guy I was talking to he very bluntly just asked me, What is it that you do? I kind of froze. I know what I do. But how do I how do I describe that quickly, in 30 seconds? I just, I don’t know what I don’t know what to do with that. How do you handle that?

Rob 0:24
That’s so funny. I’ve had that happen before.,I was one time I was on a call and the guy said, you know, give it to me. 30 seconds flat you at the end of Thursday, and I’m gonna hang up on you if I don’t like you. And I’m like, What? No, holy cow. Are you serious? How am I supposed to do that? So I’ve been there. And I know what you mean, that is not an easy situation. So what did you do? What did you say? Did you say anything at all? Or did you?

Lane 0:46
No, yeah, I know what I do. I think it’s, you know, I’m a geek at heart. So I know the technical aspects behind what I do, trying to simplify that. That’s not always easy for me. So I kind of stumbled through it and hope for the best. But I don’t know how well that really communicates.

Rob 1:04
All right, well, hopefully, by the end of this, we’ll be able to figure out what the components are of a good second 30 commercial, and what things you have to have in there, and the rest almost doesn’t matter. So to me, anytime that situation comes up, and I get put on the spot, I have to very quickly think about what are the big components that I need to say. So obviously, introduce yourself. Hi, my name is right. So if you haven’t already done that, sometimes I’m in a situation where I’m in a networking group, and you have to start with Hi, my name is and I’m with bla bla bla. So let’s start with that My name is Rob. And then and that would really go to some sort of a pain or a problem that somebody is having. So let’s take it from there. So what is the thing that you do? What is it that you do Lane?

Lane 1:52
So I do websites?

Rob 1:55
Okay, so you do websites mean? You build websites? Right? So from scratch, I need a website, I call you, you build it?

Lane 2:03
Yeah, we can do that. We can host it, we can build it, we can do all that kind of stuff.

Rob 2:07
All right. So what is the number one problem that people have when they call you?

Lane 2:13
A lot of times it’s either they’re, they’re starting a new business, or they’re starting a new website, and they just don’t know what to what to do? Or they have a website, and it’s just not performing well.

Rob 2:22
So I would take that information. You know, that’s the problem that they have usually, right? They just, they’re just getting started. Or there’s some sort of an issue within the website. They don’t know how to fix or they don’t know where to start. Right.

Lane 2:32
Right.

Rob 2:32
So describe it from an emotional standpoint. Now, I know you’re not you’re not very emotional kind of a guy. So but what kind of emotions with somebody with somebody who has this problem? What would they be feeling at that moment?

Lane 2:46
Oh, there’s a lot of frustration. There’s Yeah, I think mostly frustration is just that they’re not getting the results they want from their website. Or they’re they’re worried about not having the technical knowledge or experience to to build something that they think will work for them.

Rob 3:00
That right, there was a statement you could use in your 30 Second. Right there, right there.

Lane 3:04
Now just know, I just have to remember what I said.

Rob 3:05
Yeah. But just think about the position that they’re in, what is the problem that they’re running into? And if you just say, Listen, I here’s what I do. I work on websites. And the number one problem that people call me for one of the main reasons they call me for is they’re frustrated, because they don’t even know where to start. Like, I’ve never built a website, I don’t know, HTML, whatever that is, or what’s I don’t know, what are the other languages that are out there? There’s, like 16 languages. Isn’t there? Like other?

Lane 3:29
There’s a lot of languages. Yeah. Yeah.

Rob 3:32
French, German, JavaScript. Java, JavaScript. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Oh, it’s all zeros and ones. I have no idea. any of that stuff means. But but but in the end, you’re you’re fixing that problem, because you’re saying, Oh, it’s not that hard. And I can fix that frustration. The other part is, you talked about them being worried, what would they be worried about? Are they doing it right? Are they building the way that it’s supposed to be? Is it set up? Right, right? Yeah. So if, if those are the two big emotional key words that you want to pick up on? Those are two words that you should use, but what are some of the other things you could think of from an emotional standpoint? is there is there anything else that you can come up with? I can pick up a couple of them?

Lane 4:06
Now have at it? Since you’re the emotional one here.

Rob 4:09
Yeah, no, that’s true. Yeah. Before the end of this, I might be crying. But, but but one of the emotions that that I can only imagine somebody who’s trying to build a website is an emotion of anger, they’re probably angry because they’ve done a few things. They created something. And it looks horrible. Or so that would be an embarrassed piece, right? So I might be embarrassed, I might be angry because it’s not working. Some some stupid thing keeps showing up on my screen. I don’t know what that means. Why is it say that there’s an error, and it just becomes really cumbersome for them. So those are a couple of emotions that you can use to really create that message. And so when you’re having that conversation with somebody would end up having it in such a way that you’re hitting on those problems that are that are issues. Alright, so then, the other piece of putting together that commercial is if you’re going to be in a networking session. Or you’re going to be in a position where people are going to be asking you questions, but in a group setting, or you’re going to be going through this commercial, if you will, in front of people, before you get there, you should probably craft some key points too. So obviously, those emotional things are really important. That’s probably the right thing I feel like, because if, if I’m buying the one of the key things that I do know people do is they buy with emotion, but then they support those purchases with some intelligence or intellect behind it. I might buy because I want it. But when I finally do decide to buy, it’s because I’ve convinced myself these are all the reasons why somebody buys a car. And they’re like, you have it. It had this that had that. And that’s all the crap that nobody cares about. Like

Lane 5:41
But that was important to them, yeah.

Rob 5:42
Leather seats. Okay. Well, you get what seats don’t get you there. Right. So yeah, but but those are the people that so when you think about the emotions and the intelligence piece, think about all those first. But second to that is, who do you want to talk to? You’re in a networking situation where people would be able to refer you business. So maybe you’re talking to somebody who can’t give you the business because they don’t need you. But what should they be watching for? They should be watching for these three things, these four things wherever they might be. So for something like what you’re talking about with websites, if I was going to try to watch for somebody who needed what you sell, what would what would the top two or three things be that they would need to watch for? That if they heard these words, or they saw this action from that person? They should refer you over?

Lane 6:29
So you’re saying I need to also learn how to speak really fast to get all this information in 30 seconds?

Rob 6:34
Yes. No, you need to be armed with all of it. So that when you have to answer that question, or when you have to be if you’re in a situation where you have to get it out quickly, you know which one to talk about. So you have to talk about the emotional piece. But if you’re talking to somebody, and you’ve already decided somewhere in that conversation, that you know, they are not going to be the person that’s going to buy from you, then you need to start to think about who do they know that might know that they need you, it becomes a referral. So I’m talking to somebody I know real fast, after a few minutes, this person is never going to buy from me or isn’t gonna buy right now. So now my my words are going to change my words are going to change to you know, it’s interesting, though, I had somebody else who came to me who said, and that’s where you would fill in what they would say for you. So if they said to you, you know, I just decided I’m gonna sell this product just created this. We’re manufacturing it now. Well, that should be a spark for them to say, do you have a website? Right? Yeah. Right. And that would be the conversation that you want to have with anybody that you’re trying to work into a referral. So you start to think about who should you be talking to, like roles, positions, people in different businesses, what types of businesses or particular businesses that you want to be referred to? And then really, it’s just, you know, if you’re going to do these, if you’re doing a commercial and networking group, where you each give your own commercial, you should close it with a question or a hook or some sort of a statement that says, You know, I don’t know if there’s interest in any of this. But if there is an interest, I’d be happy to talk to your I can answer any questions that you have that kind of thing. Does that make sense?

Lane 8:00
Yeah, I think so.

Rob 8:01
So if you were to take a second now and think about how you would create a 30 second commercial, I can see you because I’m visually I can see you you’re thinking I’m trying to buy you some time. Creating a quick 30 second commercial in your head and somebody said, Hey, Lane, what what is it that you do 30 seconds or less? Give it to me go? What would you say?

Lane 8:23
Oh, gosh. So I guess if I’m the first one if I is it? Is it always that you you really you talk about the the pain points or? I mean, to get 30 seconds? Yeah. What what is that, what are they really… You know, I’m analytical. So I’m like I, you know, my brain works that I can…

Rob 8:40
That is a that is a really good. Yeah, that is a really good question. So when when somebody starts to do this, for the first time, they’re like, well, what should I say first? And honestly, it really depends on the conversation. So if you were talking to that guy in the beginning, when we talked earlier was, you know, you were on the phone, you already started the conversation with him. And then he said, Stop, let’s give me 30 seconds. What do you what do you got? Tell me what we are? Well, first of all, there’s a little bit of a game being played when they do that they’re trying to power over you. Right? And you have to think to yourself, haha, funny, funny. Funny, we’re playing a game now. Okay. I don’t care. He can push me around all he wants. But I’ll play the game for a second. But after that, I’m going to ask him a very meaningful question. So that’s all I gotta go on in your brain. So when he does that, you’re gonna feel all excited in the middle of the backside and you’re in your neck and your chest, you’re like, I don’t know what to do. But once you get past that, you’re gonna it doesn’t matter where you start. So Well, listen, I don’t have any idea why you even want to talk to me? I don’t even know why you’re on the phone this long with me already. But I’m happy to tell you what I do. Here’s what I do. I solve this problem, and then blah, blah, blah, just what you just went through. So when we talked earlier, it might be I don’t know if I even even should be talking to you. But if I should be, here’s the reason why you might want to talk to me. People sometimes get worried because they’re doing their website by themselves or trying to get it done by themselves. And they don’t feel like they’re doing a good job of it or they’re they’re frustrated because they’ve tried it. They’re breaking things because they have an existing website, its going all over the place pages or missing pictures or missing things are out of order. And the Contact Us form doesn’t work anymore. They’ve broken their whole system, or they just didn’t know where to start, you know, how do I even put this project together and put a website together? I don’t even know how to do that. That’s why people call me. Does any of that make sense? Why should we talk anymore? You tell me? Because he’s now going to answer that question. How awkward is that? And he might say, you know, I don’t need that. And then I would say, Oh, thank goodness, because I thought I had the right number, but I missed that. But now that I know that you don’t, the types of people that I work with, have those problems? Do you know anybody that has those problems? Do you know…

Lane 10:34
You’re hired Rob, you’re hired.

Rob 10:36
Right? That and what that does? Is it pretend like get someone and they kind of think, okay, I’ll help you out. Because people want to help other people. So it’s one of those, don’t be afraid, is that we’ll talk about this in another episode. Honestly, there’s, it’s one thing that holds you back, anybody back in sales is themselves. It’s, it’s nothing else, it’s being afraid of asking or being afraid of saying things that sound to them. Like, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to say, or I don’t feel comfortable doing that, when in reality, it’s not that difficult to say. Because if you do it the right way, you’re not gonna come around as a jerk. You’re gonna come across as a guy that’s trying, and you’re going to come across as a person that sounds like they’re they mean it, and they really do want to help somebody. And that’s really the key. Because if I feel like somebody’s trying to help me, I’m not gonna bury them with a mean comment. Things happen sometimes where you just say things the wrong way, and it happens, you backtrack, but but it doesn’t always work that way. A lot of times when people are hearing somebody that’s trying hard, wants to do the right thing wants to help. They don’t feel better by making you feel bad most of the time. Right? So does that help?

Lane 11:42
That helps. That helps a lot.

Rob 11:43
All right. I don’t think we’re ever gonna hear your commercial. We’re gonna do that next time.

Lane 11:47
We can do that next time. They’ll give me a little I’ll give me a chance to to sleep on it and come up with my 30 second commercial.

Rob 11:52
All right, sounds good. All right. Was it helpful?

Lane 11:54
It was very helpful.

Rob 11:56
All right, what was the one thing you took away that you say, Boy, I’m gonna I’m gonna do this next time.

Lane 11:59
I have a part of my thing is, is have is coming up with what that message is in advance so that I know, I’m not stuck when someone says, ok just tell me, okay, well, there’s no more deer in the headlights. So at least I have something that I can I can fall back on. It’s okay, here’s my 30 seconds, it at least gets the conversation moving.

Rob 12:19
Yeah. And the funny thing is, is because you’re more analytical, you’re more of that style to pause before you say something, right? Then there’s other people out there that would rather talk before they think, who just start blabbing. And so there’s a there’s the opposite side of you, out there who somebody might be listening who says, I just can’t stop talking when when when I’m on the phone and, or on in person. And that could be an issue. So if you are one of those person, people that that decide that they have to kind of talk through all of the pains, all the different pieces. Really, what you want to do is pick one or two, three things that if you’ve already had some conversation, it makes sense to talk about, if you’ve not had any conversation with them before and you’re just cold, you might want to do three different things that all have different emotional connections to it. But by doing that, you’re kind of covering a little bit of a broad base to find out if there isn’t any interest at all. And that’s all it’s about the 32nd commercial is not to get somebody to buy. It’s just to get interest, if they want to talk to you great if they don’t move on, right?

Lane 13:17
Because it’s a waste your time. Yep.

Rob 13:18
Yeah. So don’t tell them. But but you know what I mean?

Lane 13:22
It is what it is? Yeah.

Rob 13:23
Right. But But you know, you got the extroverts out there, and you got the introverts, you and I both introverts, but you know, a lot of people are extroverts. And they will talk to a lot of people. And they will say a lot of stuff that they don’t need to say and that process, you can lose people too. So keep that in mind. If you’re one or the other. You have to keep in mind your what your strength is and what your weakness is. And if you’re strong analytical. You have strong strengths for other things. But maybe speaking, isn’t it. So now you need to cover that with having certain things planned out ahead of time, how you’re going to deal with it. And then you talk through, and then you’re done. And you listen. You have an advantage for an introvert because you’ll like to listen more than you will want to talk.

Lane 13:59
Yeah, absolutely.

Rob 14:00
Yeah. And I find that to be an advantage in sales, most people don’t think so and don’t realize that. Alright, so today we talked about how to create a good 30 second commercial, creating your sales pitch. We talked about a different pain pieces and how to convert that into something of a message that really comes into play with their emotional connection to what you’re talking about what your problems you’re solving, and then really asking them, you know, what is it that they need to have help with? If anything? If they need some help with you? Great. If not, then they don’t, based on that Lane. We think we should talk about next.

Lane 14:30
You know, as I think we’ve well established at this point, I’m not a sales guy. But you’ve shown me today how to try to gauge someone’s interest. So once I’ve found someone who is interested, how do I sell?

Rob 14:42
Yeah, that’s a good question. All right. Let’s talk about that next time.

Lane 14:44
All right.

Rob 14:45
All right. We’ll see ya.

Lane 14:46
Bye