“We Are No Better Than Anyone Else!”

I was at a networking meeting a while ago and sat next to a fellow businessman who, during the course of our conversation said to me, “We are no better than anyone else”! I was a bit taken aback, “how so” I asked, “We have 3 or 4 larger competitors” he elaborated “when we do a job our customers don’t know the difference, basically they can’t tell if it’s us or the larger competitors”.

I didn’t at the time but on reflection I think I know what he meant. He was telling me that the larger competitors in his industry do a great job and that his company are much smaller but they can compete on quality.

Later, as I thought about the networking event, this conversation stuck in my mind. It made me think of two things, firstly about how we present our businesses to people we meet and secondly about our aspiration for our own businesses.

How we present the business.

Do you have a few sentences that accurately describe what your business is and what you can do to help people? A 30 second elevator pitch; a sentence or paragraph that you can use every time someone asks you what you do.

Obviously you can’t hope to explain the depth of your businesses products or services in such a short time but you should be able to leave the person, or group, you are presenting to with a positive impression.

One suggestion I can make is to give an example of how you have solved a problem or delighted a customer. In my experience the thing that makes these pitches truly memorable, for positive reasons, is a great story.

Start with a sentence such as, we undertake a wide range of services, but to give you an example of a time… then launch into your example.

Whatever your pitch is practice it until you can recite it without missing a beat.

Aspirations

I am strong believer that whatever you set out to do you can and you will achieve it, if you have low ambition for your business you will achieve it. If you aspire to create something special you can and will achieve it.

When was the last time you really stood back and thought about what you wanted from your business and assessed whether you are achieving that vision?

Do you want your business to be national or a local, do you want to be the best in your field or do you want to provide the best customer service. By assessing what you want you are much closer to achieving it.

I love networking you get to meet so many interesting people and it creates opportunities for business and sometimes just one conversation can spark your imagination.