You Need a "118." Excerpt from "The Mirror Test by Jeffrey Hayzlett

This is an excerpt from quotTHE MIRROR TEST How to Breathe New Life Into Your Businessquot by Jeffrey W Hayzlett with Jim Eber Copyright c 2010 by Jeffrey W Hayzlett Reprinted by permission of Business Plus an imprint of Hachette Book Group Inc NY All rights reserved To purchase httpamzntoHayzAmazI had him I knew it I had been ready with my pitch and when I got him on the phone I sold him big time But as soon as I heard he was hooked I stopped I didnamp8217t try to close the sale then and there Instead I tried to better position myself to take advantage of his interest and asked him for a bit of time a few days lateramp8220Wellamp8221amp8220Let me ask you are you an early morning person or an afternoon personamp8221amp8220Morningamp8221amp8220Great so are you a coffee or tea man or do you like juice or wateramp8221amp8220Coffeeamp8221amp8220Milk or cream Light or darkamp8221amp8220Milk lightamp8221amp8220Bagels donuts muffins or cottage cheeseamp8221amp8220Bagelsamp8221amp8220Great So Iamp8217ll see you Tuesday morning at 715 Iamp8217ll bring bagels and coffee and give you a fifteenminute presentation of my product as you eat your breakfastamp8221Once again my amp8220118amp8221 had succeeded Now I could close the sale the way I like in personThe 118 is my version of what some people still call amp8220the elevator pitchamp8221an outofdate name for the worthy idea that you need to sell what your company offers and you in the span of an elevator ride Problem is that time used to mean up to three to five minutes Now itamp8217s mere seconds Technology has not only made things including elevators move faster but also has increased the need for speed and immediate relevance in pitching You have seconds before I tune you out and maybe two minutes after that to completely sell me with your initial pitchThe 118 comes from the 118 seconds you actually have to pitch 8 seconds to hook me and up to 110 seconds to drive it home less than two minutes with only seconds to spare The first eight seconds is the length of time the average human can concentrate on something and not lose some focus It is also the length of time of one of the toughest rides in the world a qualified ride in professional bull riding In these first eight seconds you must be compelling strong and focused to be successful You must hold on as one of the meanest toughest animals in the world tries to throw you off just like any good prospect will Make it those 8 seconds and Iamp8217ll give you 110 more to drive your message home with no bull But if you have not sold me at the end of the 118 I will start to tune out At that point we are moving forward to a sale or notI speak at hundreds of meetings conferences and events worldwide every year and I am constantly amazed by the inability of entrepreneurs business owners their managers or their sales and marketing representatives to deliver a great relevant 118The 118 like the elevator pitch before it sells much more than a businessamp8217s products or services and unique selling proposition USP It is an essential piece in building your brand It conveys who you are the assurance your business offers and the promises you will deliver on Think you have a brand Brand is the biggest business buzzword but what does it mean To me a brand is just a promise made and kept to a customer Your 118 helps define what promises your brand will build or make It connects every promise you make to those around you Too many businesses donamp8217t focus on these promises and eventually they not only fail to build a brand they just failThe 118 connects directly to the foundation of every businessamp8217s growth Iamp8217m not saying a bad one means certain failure but I have rarely seen a good one deployed in the right way fail to help a business grow How could it not It conveys to anyone what he or she will get from your businessThis is usually where people start to nod their heads as if to say amp8220I knowamp8221 But I am not looking for an amp8220Amenamp8221 Iamp8217m looking for action This is proof of life people and no time to nod in agreement or say amp8220I know I should do thatamp8221 or amp8220Iamp8217ll get back to that after I keep readingamp8221 Even when business owners can answer the amp8220Whyamp8221 questions and thus know why they are doing what they are doing the typical stammering and yammering when I ask for their pitches indicates to me a huge inability to convey what they are doing to their team and customersSo put the book down and write down your 118 Even if you have a good one do it Iamp8217ll waitamp8230 amp8203Need help I asked a few top performers about the best and worst pitches they received Here is what a few had to sayamp8220I was riding up the Gherkin elevator with Will Harris the marketing director at Nokia I asked amp8216What if you could get dozens of usergenerated videos for less than 1000 each with wwwmofilmcomquot He signed up before we reached the top floor and then Nokia went on to win the Cannes UGC competition with one of those videosamp8221 Jeffrey Merrihue CEO Accenture Marketing Sciences Londonamp8220This insert idea here gives us competitive advantage the only factor that leads to profitable growth and trades on the four things we covet our core essence what we know how to do and what our consumers consider our credentialsleverage speed because speed kills surprise because surprise disorients even smart competitors and concentration the only way smaller guys break through enemy lines with amp8216fewer resourcesamp8217amp8221 Russ Klein President Global Marketing Strategy and Innovation Burger King Corporationamp8220The worst elevator pitch is one I hear frequently It goes like this Prospect amp8216What is it that you doamp8217 Salesperson amp8216I represent XYZ Companyamp8217 Stop What does that do to help build the relationship we all need in sales Describe not whom you represent but what you do to help people solve the problems they have Why not answer with amp8216I help people solve the problems of living too long becoming disabled or dying too soonamp8217amp8221 Robert D Lowrey Managing Partner Northwestern Mutualamp8220The Best We make print clickable The Worst We do anything and everything a company needs us to do as cheaply as possibleamp8221 Andy and Julie Plata CoCEOs OutputLinks Inc Graphic Communications WorldHailed a quotCelebrity CMOquot by Forbes Magazine and famous for his outspoken appearances on numerous television networks Jeffrey Hayzlett is widely recognized as one of the most influential marketers of our time Heamp8217ll talk to us about what he calls amp8220The Mirror Testamp8221 the title of his new book and a new way to look at your companyamp8217s marketing and sales strategy Hayzlett will share with you some of the newest ways to win with social media redefine your elevator pitch and help you to transform your business He has just lead one of the biggest iconic turnarounds of Kodak and is here to share how you can do the same for your business Will your business be positioned to fog the mirror and grow in todayamp8217s new economy

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You Need a "118." Excerpt from "The Mirror Test by Jeffrey Hayzlett

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