Sell Your Services in Sixty Seconds!

A couple of days ago I received an invitation to attend a workshop on how to give a better 60-second sales presentation, all for the princely sum of £147 plus VAT! With the popularity of networking clubs that are springing up all over the United Kingdom right now, I suppose the person offering this workshop is hoping to fulfil a need – or are they just jumping on the bandwagon?

But you don’t need to spend that sort of money to learn how to sell your services in 60 seconds. I’ve been doing it for more than a year now at my local chapter of Business Network International (BNI); the technique is fairly simple and readily available if you are prepared to look for it. In a nutshell, this is how you go about it.

The first thing you do is tell your audience who you are, the name of your business and what service or product you provide for your customers. Keep it as simple as possible: it should take you no longer than 10 seconds. For example, one person I know simply stands up and starts by saying, “I’m Susan Grafton and I’m a bookkeeper.”

In the next 15 seconds you should tell people why you are so good at what you do and why they should refer business to you rather than to any of your competitors. Don’t be afraid to brag at this stage. If one of your clients is a blue-chip company or a well-respected person in your community be sure to say so. And if you’ve received a testimonial from somebody tell your listeners about it and offer to show it to them afterwards. All this will add to your credibility.

Next, you tell your audience what your target market is – who you want to work with or have as clients – and describe the problems that you can solve for them. For example, I work with publishers, graphic designers, web designers, advertising and marketing consultants and even would-be authors; in fact, anybody who has a problem with the written word. A particularly effective phrase to use here is “Who do you know who…” and describe the problem that you can solve for them. This should take no more than 20 seconds.

Then, use the next 10 seconds to be very specific about who you want to do business with. In other words, if you want to be introduced to the sales manager of a specific, named company, then say so. He or she might be in the audience listening to you, or somebody else in the audience might know that specific individual personally and be able to put you in touch with them.

In the final 5 seconds of your presentation, remind your audience of who you are, the name of your business and use a short, pithy phrase that describes what you do. In BNI we call this a “memory hook” because it helps people remember what you do if they meet potential clients who could use your services or product. For example, my memory hook is “Making what you write even better!”

To make your presentation as effective as possible, write down what you want to say a few days beforehand and practise saying it out loud to make sure that it is not too long. If it is, edit it so that the timing is exactly right. I normally work on the basis that a 60-second presentation should be no more than 165 words long. If it’s any longer than this, then there is the danger that you’ll be counted out or interrupted by the network club’s timekeeper before you’ve finished what you want to say.

Finally, try to learn your presentation off by heart. It will be far more effective if it sounds as if you are talking naturally and off the cuff to your listeners than if you are merely reading from a script parrot-fashion.

If you want more information on how to give a more effective 60-second sales presentation, post a comment on my blog and I’ll get in touch with you.