Quotable Business: The Simple Explanation

Posted in: Quotable Business

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
Albert Einstein

This post will show you exactly why being simple in explaining your business can be the difference in sales or no sales.

See how easy that was? In one sentence I gave you the entire overview of this article. No fluff, no overdone explanation, no rambling. That is the perfect example of why being simple, to the point and straight forward in any conversational material can mean the difference in someone skipping it, skimming it or remembering it. Bootstrappers know that time is of the essence and saving any amount of time you can is always great for business. So, why do we always seem to get into a constant ramble session when someone asks us what we do for a living? Why do we not have out elevator speech prepared and memorized (or at least the basis of it, I mean, after all we don’t want to sound like robots)?

This is an excerpt about how people see/remember ads that I found in Guerrilla Marketing - a book by Jay Conrad Levinson. I am sure this list is from before the book itself, but that’s where I found it. If you know of its original origins, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

1. The first time a man looks at an ad, he doesn’t see it.
2. The second time, he doesn’t notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it.
5. The fifth time, he reads the ad.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”
8. The eight time, he says, “Here’s that confounded thing again!”
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he will ask his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers that he wanted such a thing for a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it someday.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum of it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys the article or asks his wife to do so.

So, if that’s true, why would you rely on the conventional methods of showcasing what you do? Why not come up with a completely memorable conversation that, when spoken fluently and efficiently, can result in immediate sales? People are in a hurry and also very bored. If you keep them bored or make them believe what you’re doing is not of a benefit to them, they are sure to move on and forget about you.

Tips to give yourself the upper hand in explanations

The elevator pitch

One way to make sure you are in the proper “speed” position in business explanation is to come up with an elevator pitch. It’s a simple 30 second round up of what you do, and why the person you’re talking to should buy your product. The trick is to not sound forceful and always make sure you play into the persons needs; make them believe they need you or your product/service, and you’re sure to gain a customer.

I’ve recently come up with a business elevator pitch and have used it 2-3 times on people inside lines at the store and it worked out well; I gave them my business card, they both have called to set up meetings, and one of them is 100% ready to begin the work but wants to meet up to finalize details. If I were to sit there and mumble over my words the entire time, do you think he would have called? I doubt it.

The 15 word business statement

This is a simple, one sentence answer to what your company does and what it’s all about. Some consider it a “slogan” but I consider it so much more, and you should too. These 15 words can make or break your initial results when someone reads it or hears it out loud.

For my blog design business, I have two that I use regularly and have recently stuck it out with the current one because it conveys everything more clear to my visitors.

Our designs don’t just look good - they increase your profits

I kept it to 10 words, it explains that I am a designer, and as a result of hiring me, your product will look good and also increase your profits. Now, how many business owners can relate to wanting to increase their profits? I know I can!

There is a great power in making sure your statement’s are quick and to the point. They have instant impact, keep your readers/listeners attention (Lord knows we all have short attention spans) and hopefully, increase your chance of a sale or follow up meeting. Try it out today; come up with 15 words or less to explain your business and test it out on a few people and see how well it’s received.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Albert Einstein

About your website/company

Everyone has them, and no one reads them (normally). What are they? The little “About” pages on your website, the section on the back of your flyer detailing who you are and what you do, the information on the back of your business card. Why are these things so important but so overlooked? I’ve seen countless people write up 1,000 or more words in their about page, linking to various myspace accounts they have or youtube videos that are totally unrelated to their profession and also unprofessional in many ways.

Your about page should also be simple and to the point. One paragraph should explain everything. If you want to go into more detail after the overview paragraph that is fine, but outline it and detail it so the reader knows that the first paragraph is what your website / company is about.

If you view our About page, the first introduction is a definition of what bootstrapping is, gives a couple sentences about the website (the most recent news) and then re-states what bootstrapping is and how it’s useful to small business owners. Simple, direct and to the point.

Whatever you do, don’t ramble

I know everyone has done this at one time or another; You’re sitting across from a friend of family member and you’re bursting with excitement about your business and begin explaining it. From the introduction of your conversation you are already off on the wrong foot talking about the minute details of how the company runs, the new printer paper you got thats eco-friendly, the fax machine that lights up with five different colors and the new socks you bought that help keep you comfortable when you’re at the meetings you attend. WHY?

Regardless if they’re your friends or family, rambling like this with them just sets you up to ramble with others as well, which is NOT what you want to do. Habit is great, but a bad habit (like rambling) is HORRIBLE for business. So, if you take anything away from this article, please remember K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)

 

• Quotable Business: Taking That Risk
• Simple bootstrapping tip that costs you nothing
• Bootstrapping Your Business part one
• Building An Optimistic Business
• Quotable Business: Success VS Value

 

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7 Responses to “Quotable Business: The Simple Explanation”

• Spelling God

  April 11th, 2008 at 2:03 am

  At least spell correctly in your title, please!

  “This post will show you exactly why being simple in explaining your business can be the difference in sales or no sales.

  See how easy that was? In one sentence I gave you the entire overview of this article. No fluff, no overdone explanation, no rambling.”

  Yeah, but I barely even read that much — and no more — because of your poor proofreading. Quality of presentation matters.

• Mike Smith

  April 11th, 2008 at 2:27 am

  Thank you for pointing that out “Spelling God”

• El Miatzi

  April 11th, 2008 at 8:54 am

  the spelling thing is ok… but the point made is interesting… so simple that it misses a novice (like mi) too often…

• Jim

  April 13th, 2008 at 8:16 am

  Sometimes people can’t see the Forest, for the leaves.

• Mike Smith

  April 16th, 2008 at 8:47 pm

  @El Miatzi - Thank you for looking past some spelling mistakes. I never said I was a professor or English Major in college ANd yeah, simple is often overlooked. Many people think it’s “in the details” but attention spans are very short now with people, so simple is key

  @Jim - Yeah. exactly

• Gary Loftis

  June 22nd, 2008 at 5:19 pm

  If you are interested in the time, you don’t want to know how a watch works. If you are in business, you only want to know how to solve your problems and increase our profits. WIFM - “What’s in it for me?”

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