What Do You Do?

It seems like a rather harmless and benign question. We hear it so often that we don’t really give it much thought. Someone strikes up a conversation with you and asks, “So, what do you do?”

This apparent mundane inquiry should be heard by the sales professional as a call to action. With such an open invitation, you can begin to develop a relationship that will be either future business or a referral for new business.

Do a quick search on “60 second introductions” or “My elevator speech” and you will find rich resources and clues to why you should have several creative and intentional response to the “What do you do” question.

One source can be found over at the Powerful Presentations website.

Craig Harrison has some good counsel on how to compose your self-introduction including a number of free tools you can download to assist you in the process.

Bottom Line – DO IT! Those casual conversations are yours to turn into opportunities. During an economic time when we are all working harder to reach our sales goals, this is one way you can work smarter. Be prepared and be different.

Here is a draft of one of mine from a few years back (some names have been changed to protect the innocent)!

I’m Kim Williams with “Acme” Improvements. We free homeowners from the worry and effort of repairing and improving their home. Through seasoned project managers who oversee every job and designated, trade-specific workers, we save time and money for home owners allowing them to focus on living in their home rather than struggling with it. For over 16 years, we have been a one-stop provider of proven solutions for all non-crisis home maintenance needs- from the shingles to the foundation. We ask for no deposits and guarantee our work so there is no financial risk. Our customers have peace of mind about their home improvements and repairs because we are committed to completing our projects on time and are licensed, bonded and insured. At Acme we seek a lifetime relationship with each of our home owners and are committed to serving their home repair needs again and again!

You or your friends can get freedom from home repairs. Do we sound like the right fit for you?
Set aside some time to work on your What I Do introduction.