How to write effective 60 second slots (and avoid the dreaded Pain of the Pasty!)

If you asked George Osborne which story he wanted the media to run with following the budget, I guess he would not have said ‘pasties’.

But that’s one of the problems with communication: your audience doesn’t always focus on the things you want them to.

It can be the same when we prepare our 60 seconds. We think we’ve been crystal clear who we want, but some of our chapter don’t always seem to refer us to the right people.

So, how do we remedy this, and avoid the Pain of the Pasty?

Well, since we want our chapter to get referrals for us, we have to give them the information they need to do that.

So, instead of preparing by thinking ‘what do I want to say about my business?’, a better approach is to ask ‘what do they need to know, so they can refer me?’

Looking at it this way helps us see that our chapter only needs to know three things…

• who you want to speak to (if I don’t know this, I’ll talk to the wrong person about you);
• the value you can bring to this person (if I don’t know this, it’ll look like I’m trying to get my ‘BNI mate’ a referral, rather than helping my contact); and
• why I can feel utterly certain you can bring this value to them (if I don’t know this, I might not be able to convince them to meet with you)

And that’s it.

And, given that your chapter only needs these three items, it makes it much easier to write your 60 seconds…

‘Good morning. I’m Mr A of Company B.

This week, I’m keen to speak to Mrs C, Sales Director of Company D, because I know she is looking to increase her sales. I want to help her do that.

It’s important to me you feel comfortable referring me, so here are a couple of relevant successes I’ve had with other customers – XXX.

So, it’s Mr A, looking to help Mrs C of Company D increase her sales’.

See how it works?

If a chapter member knew Mrs C – and, critically, trusted you enough to refer you – it’s now easy for them to do so.

And, because this approach is so quick – the above would only take 30 seconds to say – you still have time for things like the all-important memory hook and other such things.

It is weird what people remember when we communicate though. If someone asks you what this blog’s about, what would you say?  Hopefully not: ‘I dunno. Something about pasties?’.

Tagged as: audience, blog, budget, george osborne, pasty, referrals, sales director, successes