By Kevin Lawrence (www.CoachKevin.com)

• Have you ever met someone and wanted to suggest how your company could benefit them, but you didn't want to be seen as being pushy or aggressive? 

• Are you looking for a better way to introduce yourself to people you meet every day? 

• Have you ever felt that the description you give of your company could  better represent what you do? 

• Ever wish you could sell more with less work? 

Well, there's the old way, and then there's the successful approach. 

The Old Way.  You meet someone. You tell them what you do. They're not interested at all.  You either search for a way to work your occupation back into the conversation, or you just dominate the conversation and tell people what your job function is, talking their ears off with details that they don't care about at all. They stand there thinking, how can they escape the doldrums of this conversation and find someone more interesting to talk to? Ever been the victim of this one? Ever been guilty of this one? 

The Successful Approach.  You meet someone new. You give them a succinct, benefits-based description of what you do and wait until they ask you for more information. If you've piqued their curiosity enough, they'll ask you for more information. Now you have their full attention! You can ask them a couple of questions and then offer a full description of what you can do for them specifically. 

Which approach do you think would be more effective at quickly gaining the interest of and building rapport with potential customers? 

Success Tip: You only have about 15 seconds to get the attention and respect of a new person that you meet. People make a subconscious judgement about whether to deal with you in those critical few seconds. If you don't get them then, you may not have a second chance.

The Old Way 
Here's a situation we've all experienced. You're at a social function and ask someone what they do for a living. They will typically say, "I'm Adam Smith, and I'm an Accountant with Big Accounting Firm." On hearing this introduction, most people will feel that they're in for an uninspiring conversation of numbers, tax percentages and statistical models and look for an escape route. Not a person you want to have an evening of conversation with! 

The Successful Approach 
You meet another person at the same event, and they introduce themselves: "I'm Betty Smith. I help people like you to better manage their expenses to have more money left at the end of the month and less tax to pay, so they can retire early." You could be quite intrigued to learn more! 

Success Tip: There are numerous competitors out there every day offering exactly the same products and services you do. It's up to you to differentiate yourself from them in a way that your customers remember you and think of your company the next time they need what you're offering. 

What Makes the Difference 
The Successful Approach uses what we call The Core Product Offer -- a brief statement of the benefits clients could receive by doing business with you or your company. In other words, what's in it for them. There's a big perceptual difference between "I'm an Accountant with Big Accounting Firm" and "I help people like you to better manage their expenses to have more money left at the end of the month and less tax to pay, so they can retire early." Who would get your undivided attention? Which Accountant do you think people would be willing to pay more to meet with? That is not to say that Adam Smith, the first Accountant, would not be successful. But if both had the same level of technical abilities and people skills, Betty Smith will attract clients more easily and build a client base faster with her approach. 

Success Tip: Customers buy benefits -- they don't buy services. People buy peace of mind, saving money, saving time, freedom, improved image, status, increased loyalty, better returns on their investments, etc.... Find out what your customers buy -- the benefits that you give them. Use those benefits to show potential customers the value of doing business with you. 

The Core Product Offer is designed to plant a seed of interest in the mind of the other person and intrigue them to want to know more. Once they invite you to tell them more, you're set. You have their interest. Now you can ask additional questions to better understand their needs, and then give them specific details about what you can do for them. 

Success Tip: A request for information is a key buying signal. Once they've given you permission to educate them more about which of your services they're interested in, ask a few questions so that you can give them the exact information they need to facilitate their buying decision. 

Using The Core Product Offer is as simple as it sounds and more effective than you can imagine. Try it! The results will speak for themselves. 

Since you never have a second chance, make your first impression count -- in dollars and sense!