Ever Heard of President Ted Kennedy?
The reason you've never heard of President Ted Kennedy is because Ted Kennedy was never President.
The reason he was never President can be seen in his inability to articulate his own personal commercial, as can be seen
in this video clip.
You can scroll ahead to the 40 second mark to see the unraveling right before your very eyes.
Go Back To Your Roots
Austin, TX, Summer of 2004:
I was with a startup that was off to a good start.
The President of my former company was now the CEO of this high-flying tech company trying to make a name for itself in the shadow of Dell and he was aggressive but curious.
During one of his recent trips he saw Jeffrey Gitomer's "Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness" and bought copies for everyone on the sales team.
Not only did I devour it that day, it has a home on my bookshelf to this day, along with many other books by Jeffrey, including the seminal "The Sales Bible, New Edition: The Ultimate Sales Resource." (My dog-eared, highlighted, underlined, tabbed, and note-riddled copy is the original edition from 2003, but it's all good.)
As I was re-reading my book this weekend I ran across my notes on page 97, which is the "Your Personal Commercial Worksheet" and thought I'd share both my personal commercial and some ideas on how you can create your own.
Note: In a related post see "Your Elevator Pitch Is Bass Ackwards."
My Personal Commercial Worksheet
Right from Jeffrey's book mine is as follows:
- Name: I'm Wes Schaeffer, CEO of...
- Company Name: The Sales Whisperer®
- What you do (briefly): I help professional salespeople and business owners dig deep so they can make sales easy.
- Power Question: What have you implemented in your business to grow sales affordably, predictably, and aggressively this quarter?
(Ask more follow-up questions until you get the information you need.) - Power Statement: At last count I've helped 2,355 businesses automate their sales and marketing to dominate their niches by first perfecting them implementing proven processes perfected across three decades of sales experience.
- How you help: I'm not sure if I can help you but if you'd be open to scheduling a Dig Deep session with me we can review what is working, what is not, and I can outline the steps you should take to surpass your goals during a private, recorded, interactive video call. If I think your situation is hopeless, I'll let you know, refund your retainer, and we'll part as friends. Fair enough?
- Why prospect should act now: As Peter Drucker said, "Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision." Is deciding to invest a few hundred dollars and 90 minutes of your time all that courageous?
What is your Personal Commercial?
Need some help clarifying that message today?
P.S. Jeffrey was a guest on The Sales Podcast and it was awesome. To ensure you get his interview the moment it goes live be sure to subscribe here.
