What Do You Say When Asked, ‘What Do You Do?’

November 21, 2014

Your elevator pitch is your 10 - 30 second story. Today, that's called personal branding ~Anthony Caliendo, The Sales Assassin

I recently participated in a LinkedIn group conversation where a marketing rep asked:

What do you say when someone asks you ‘What do you do?’? A company elevator pitch? Tell them your title? This question has always baffled me. Do I answer with my job description? What do you say?

My response?

Job titles are frequently meaningless: when asked what you do, tell them what you deliver; how you meet your clients’ needs. Not your company’s elevator speech: YOUR elevator speech (and make sure it’s a short elevator).

Every salesperson – in fact every entrepreneur, business owner, anyone looking for a job, and just about everybody else – should be able to tell their story in the length of an elevator ride, typically 10 – 30 seconds. Your elevator pitch is your 10 – 30 second story. Today, that’s called personal branding.

Your elevator pitch should:

• be short
• not be boring
• introduce your product or service and how it meets their needs
• include how to contact you (the business card is NOT dead!)
• showcase your style

Here’s my elevator pitch:

I’m Anthony Caliendo, the Ultimate Sales Assassin Master! I will teach you how to Master Your Black Belt in Sales using my Nine Belts to Sales Assassin Mastery. Prepare yourself for a new path to positive thinking, self-discipline and to finally controlling your sales destiny as a SAM!

As an entrepreneur, author, sales professional, speaker and sales trainer I customize my elevator pitch to my audience. With time and practice, you can develop several different pitches for different audiences. But first develop and practice your elevator pitch until you can deliver it without effort and with your own compelling style!