Ask The Expert featuring Adrian Ulsh, CEO Leader Publishing Worldwide

Hi Adrian, I’m a business coach that works with a lot of real estate agents. I’m really struggling to come up with a message that will quickly and effectively grab the attention of prospects who may be interested in buying or selling homes. Can you help me out?     Steve Lawrence Waco, TX.

Hi Steve,

Sounds like you’re looking for a “killer” elevator pitch. I personally call it a million dollar message because if you can come up with the perfect elevator pitch that marries the message to your market, you can make a million dollars with it.

Unfortunately, most small business owners (and coaches for that matter) won’t take the time required to develop a “killer” elevator pitch. And that is a MAJOR mistake in my opinion. Just consider the case of Dave and Yvette Smith in Dallas, Texas. Dave and Yvette are in the travel industry.

They offer a business opportunity where couples can join their down line… at which time they help them set up an in-home travel agency that books trips and vacations for families. The couples that join their organization can make a very nice income every month working from home… and they are also entitled to huge discounts on some spectacular trips as well.

Unfortunately, Dave & Yvette weren’t very good at getting that message out very effectively to their prospects. Their very first elevator pitch sounded like this…

“We help people diversify their income portfolios while taking trips.”

That’s simply NOT compelling… there’s no emotion in the wording… and it just wasn’t resonating with anyone. In fact, using the phrase “diversify their income portfolios” made the prospect listening to this actually stop listening and mentally start trying to figure out what was just said. In fact, didn’t you just do the exact same thing?

For some reason, business owners think they MUST use complex wording to try to impress prospective clients… when the exact opposite is true. Prospects just want to know how you’re product or service is going to benefit them. The easier and quicker you do that, the better they like it.

After finding themselves in the bottom 3% of all travel agents worldwide… Dave and Yvette had almost given up hope. That’s when we got involved. Once we diagnosed that their problem was their messaging, our prescription was for them to learn our process for creating and developing an elevator pitch. We wanted to show them a simple, step-by-step process that would help them create their very own “million dollar message.”

Using the process we taught them, they spent months refining their elevator pitch until they heard that one specific response that told them they had it nailed… “how do you do that?”

In just 60 short days, Yvette called us brimming with excitement. She said “guys… we nailed it!” When we asked her why she felt that way, she told us that she had a dentist appointment earlier that morning, and when she went to the receptionist to check in, the receptionist recognized her and asked what she was doing these days. That’s when she decided to try out their latest version of their elevator pitch.

“We help people make a fortune while taking dream vacations.”

She said the entire dental office “shut down.” Her exact words… “it was just like that old E. F. Hutton commercial where everything goes dead silent.” Right after I said it, two dental technicians came out of their treatment rooms and asked me “how do you do that?” I had three patients who were sitting in the waiting room and overheard me. They walked up to me immediately and asked for my business card. It was incredible.

“We help people make a fortune while taking dream vacations.”

Now THAT’S an elevator pitch. It’s short, compelling, grabs your attention and makes you instantly want to ask them “how do you do that?” They use it at every networking event they attend… and they walk out with prospects galore. They use it at Chamber events… when they attend seminars… and whenever they introduce themselves to strangers. Everyone… and I mean everyone… always ask them “how do you do that?”

By the way, the month they developed this new elevator pitch, their business revenue exploded by more than 400%. They went from a 5 figure annual income to a six figure MONTHLY income. That’s no coincidence. That’s the power of taking the time to create a powerful and compelling elevator pitch. That’s why you want to immediately create one for your coaching practice… as well as the client’s you coach… and then integrate it into all of your sales and marketing collateral.

Your elevator pitch becomes a beacon. It attracts customers to you in droves. It drives your profits through the roof, and it gets your entire staff on the same page with a unifying message.

It reduces disputes and mismanagement of projects within your business by providing a specific focus. It brings huge success to areas that used to be difficult… such as marketing. It’s literally the most powerful tool you can own in your business.

Consider a real estate agent. Suppose you were thinking of buying a home and you overheard someone say “I’m a real estate agent.” Would you immediately want to engage that individual? Of course not. But suppose they said this…

“I help families buy homes larger than they thought they could afford.”

Now would you want to speak with them? Or suppose you received a promotion at work that required you to quickly relocate out of state. Would you respond to a real estate agent or broker that said this…

“I guarantee I can sell any home within 29 days… or I sell it for free!”

Or suppose you were a real estate investor and an agent said this…

“I help savvy real estate investors take full advantage of the current drop in real estate values by showing them how to acquire multimillion dollar homes for no money down and add millions to their net worth overnight.”

Once developed, your elevator pitch becomes your core message… your new “mantra” so to speak. It becomes your “war cry” that you position in EVERY form of communication you use. It becomes the central theme throughout all of your lead generation and lead conversion materials.

That’s why you may need to spend hours… days… weeks… perhaps even months developing, tweaking and refining your elevator pitch. And you will continue to do so forever. There will ALWAYS be a new and better way to get your message out to your ideal client, and you need to ALWAYS look for that new and better way… for as long as you’re in business.

As conditions change within your industry, you should revisit your elevator pitch. Whenever you add a new innovation to your business, you should revisit it as well. Hopefully we’re convincing you that it’s worth all the time and effort you’ll put into it. And when you nail it… use it well, use it often, and use it everywhere you go.

It literally becomes your “million dollar message!”

Hope these examples help you out Steve.