Graham McGregor: How to get brand new clients in less than 30 seconds

If you can't say what you do in 30 seconds, you won't be able to say it in 30 minutes either. Photo / 123RF

A few days ago I had the opportunity to interview a delightful business coach in Canada called Tsufit. (Tsufit is actually her real name and it means 'hummingbird'.)

Tsufit was a former litigation lawyer, and left the corporate world to pursue a career as an actor and singer, and now she's on a mission to "show business how to use show business to get business."

Tsufit is also the author of a superb book called 'Step Into the spotlight-a guide to being noticed' which is crammed full of great ideas that any business person can use to get positive publicity for themselves.

In our interview Tsufit told me that she gains over 50 per cent of her business clients in less than 30 seconds.

She explained she does this by using memorable and entertaining 30 second messages to groups of potential clients.

Tsufit explained that many business people attend networking events and have 30 seconds to explain what they do.

Sadly, many of these 30 second presentations are boring and dull so people don't remember what you said.

That's not a very good way to get people to choose your business.

Here's the approach that Tsufit recommends:

1. Open with a dynamic attention grabbing statement.

2. Present the problem that your product or service addresses.

3. Tell us how your product or service solves it, or just make the claim and let them come and ask you more.

4. Do either step 2 or 3 above (or both) in the form of a story.

5. Tell us your name and/or company name, for the first time, two-thirds of the way through the infomercial.

6. Give us one more enticing sentence related to what you said earlier.

7. Repeat your name and then end on an interesting tag line.

Let's see the Tsufit infomercial approach in action...

A mortgage broker came to Tsufit seeking help with her message to share at a networking function she was attending.

She told Tsufit that her clients were women in their mid-40s seeking debt consolidation.
They came to her because they felt they were drowning in debt. Here's the mesage that Tsufit created for this mortgage broker:

"It's 8:40 AM. The alarm didn't go off and you're 10 minutes late for the big boardroom presentation. You rip open a pack of pantyhose and have a tug of war just to bring them up to your knees. But it says 'One Size Fits All'! One size doesn't fit all. Not with pantyhose and definitely not with mortgages. I'm Jessica Blow and I'm a Mortgage Consultant. You can pick up a 'One Size Fits All.' mortgage at the bank or you can let me shop for you to find the mortgage that fits you perfectly. Jessica Blow. Blow Mortgages. 'Cause one size never fits all."

Here's another example:

"Congratulations. Your marketing efforts have finally paid off. Bill Gates is flying in to meet with you in the boardroom of your corporate head office. Only problem is that your boardroom is your kitchen table. Do you wipe the spaghetti stains off the wall where the kids threw it last night? Or do you call me, Jane Dane, and rent a fully furnished boardroom by the hour and still have enough money left over to pick up a pizza for the kids on the way home? Jane Dane, Metro Executive Suites."

When Tsufit' s client, the manager of a serviced office facility, used this 24 second message, 8 out of the 10 women entrepreneurs listening asked for her brochure.

Here's a 30 second message that Tsufit uses for her own services:

"Four years ago, my youngest daughter, Aviva, won the public speaking contest in her school. Three years ago, my oldest daughter, Daniela, won the public speaking contest in her school. Two years ago, my second daughter, Paloma, won the public speaking contest in her school. And yesterday, my last remaining daughter, Riviera, the shy one, won the public speaking contest in her school. I'm Tsufit of Follow That Dream! I'm a public speaking coach. Now, far be it from me to exploit my daughters' accomplishments for my own personal gain. But I think the facts speak for themselves. Tsufit. For when you're ready, to get noticed!"

Many clients complain to Tsufit "I can't possibly tell them what I do in just 30 seconds".

Tsufit's response is simple. "If you can't say what you do in 30 seconds, you won't be able to say it in 30 minutes either."

Summary:
If you give a 30 second message that is entertaining and memorable to a group of potential clients you stand out and make it easy for some of these people to remember you positively and choose your business.

Think about what you do and how you can explain it to a group of people in a way that gets you positive attention in less than 30 seconds.

"Marketing is not the art of selling. It's not the simple business of convincing someone to buy. It is the art of creating conditions by which the buyer convinces himself." Harvey Mackay, Swim with the Sharks

Action Exercise:

Tsufit has an excellent series of free lessons on how you can attract brand new clients in less than 30 seconds. You can get these lessons at no charge by going to this link.

Graham McGregor is a consultant specialising in memorable marketing. You can download his 396 page 'Unfair Business Advantage' Ebook at no charge from www.theunfairbusinessadvantage.com.