The thirty second introduction is perhaps one of the most common things we have to do as business owners. How do you feel when you have to give yours? Well, you know you have to do it, but what do you say?

How unique does it need to be?

Let’s face it, there are relatively few totally unique businesses that the world has never heard of before. Probably even fewer that everyone in the room has been waiting their whole lives to hear about. So, chances are, “what you do” is not totally unique. For some of us the reverse is true; we are in a business more than adequately represented in a typical networking setting. Given that, how can we possibly say something that attracts our prospects attention?

People care about themselves - probably now more than ever

I am all for positive thinking but I guess we have to accept that times are tough for a lot of people in the current economic climate. Even under more favorable circumstances people are still concerned about their “stuff” rather than yours. Given this, the most common approach I see to grabbing attention is flawed - people feel that they have to explain their services in more detail, as though it IS totally unique. Other alternatives include a cute tag line or play on words.

More detail is a turn off - people don’t want to hear that you have the best services in the world or what great customer service you give. Why? Because that is what they hear all the time and it is what the last guy said. A cute tag line may be memorable and even raise a laugh, but it doesn’t talk to their world and also it carries a risk. People may not get it, they may dislike it or may even be offended.

So what DO I say?

You know your clients better than anyone. You need to be able to answer the self-imposed question “Who do I love to work with?”. If you can’t answer that, think about it so that you can and be specific. Here is the first stage to knowing what to say. Who do you want to help? Be as specific as possible and then turn the answer into the first thing you say: “I/we work with…….”

That first stage will get attention in the room, people will self identify. If you say you work with doctors, they will know who they are, so will HR managers or anyone you identify as a target. Do not worry about those that don’t fit that profile - you don’t know who they know.

The second stage is: What do you do for them? Specifically, what pain do you take away from them? Again, if you don’t know you can ask your clients and/or figure out the history of those you have helped. Turn this into the second stage of the 30 second intro in the form of a pain statement. “We help ……. who struggle to ………”

You can do more but that approach will help people identify you are talking to them or someone you know. It has the huge advantage of being different and far more personal than 90% of the intros out there. It will go much further toward getting people to ask: “How do you do that?” which is the response you want!

I used to work in a medium sized business and I was often asked this question - what is your USP - i.e. unique selling proposition?

I have always been uncertain about USPs generally. On one hand, if you have a product or service that is totally unique in the market place AND serves a need then I think I want to invest in your company! How much is really unique in terms of what you do?

However, on the other hand, we are all unique aren’t we? Although we may run businesses that do the same thing on the face of it, each company does things a little differently, as does each person.

So, what is it that you do differently that REALLY HELPS YOUR CLIENTS IN A UNIQUE WAY. If you answer this question with: “We believe in partnership/relationship/customer service” or a variation on that, guess what? Most everyone else says that too!

So what about what you do, do your clients LOVE about you? What do they tell other people when asked what’s great about you? I am willing to bet it’s something about your personality, your philosophy, your approach rather than a unique product.

What do you think? Somewhere in there is likely to be your passion and how you tap into something that is truly important to your clients. There is the heart of your marketing message.