Most salespeople when giving their introductory “pitch” tend to lace it with features and benefits. This, unbelievably, puts your prospect on the defensive. In this example, you are talking mostly about your company, your features, and your benefits. Prospects want you to focus on their issues, such as what is important to them, where they need help, what they might gain from your products or services, etc.

The purpose of your 30-second commercial is to quickly introduce yourself to prospective buyers in a manner that is unique (meaning you don't pump your commercial full of features and benefits, like practically everybody else) and gets to the heart of what prospects care about the most, which is alleviating pain.

Example 1. Targeted to a designer: (Jane) – Conversational

I’m very excited to be here Jane, and before getting started allow me to tell you briefly what ABC co. does. We are a wall covering firm that is focused on solving problems, and rather than tell you how wonderful and great we are, I’d like to tell you about a few of the key issues our clients typically struggle with. These include:

•     Being overwhelmed by too many product choices such as texture, color, type, etc.
•     Being unable to find unique wall coverings for their clients
•     Requested samples not arriving on time, especially for critical presentations

Follow up with:

You may have similar concerns or something completely different, so could I get some feedback first before giving you a presentation? Do any of these concerns apply to you, or if not, can you tell me things you might be struggling with?

We use this section of the Sales Playbook to document several 30-second introductory commercials that you might use for different prospective buyers.