I meet you at one of the numerous local networking events and you introduce yourself, “Hi, I’m Bob Jones with ABC Company.” “Hi Bob. Nice to meet you. Tell me a little about your company. What is your company best at?”
… 29, 30. Time’s up! Could you answer my question in less than 30 seconds, succinctly, and with clarity?Your competitive advantage is not a list of your strengths. Not to downplay strengths, as these are important, too. But if your competitive advantage(s) list is only comprised of strengths, it is not a “competitive” advantage.
A competitive advantage is something you do that is unique. The easiest way to find your competitive advantage is to answer these questions:
1. What is my company best at in my market?
2. Why?
You can run your business without a clear understanding of your competitive advantage, but it will be for naught. Why? Because mission, vision, goals, and objectives tend to change and shift over time. Your competitive advantages, when you have identified them, will endure and grow stronger.
Photo by vierdrie.
Rick on September 19th, 2006 at 3:34 am
If you’ve only got 30 seconds, chances are you’re not going to sell anything. If any sales is going to happen, chances are that it will happen during a subsequent contact. Your ONLY job in that 30 seconds is to be memorable enough that the subsequent contact happens. Try this. “If we’ve only got 30 seconds, shouldn’t I hear about what you do?” If they comply, you answer with, “Sounds like we should talk again later. Should we trade business cards?” If they don’t comply, you answer, “If you’d rather not talk about your company here, does that mean you’d rather talk later? Do you want to trade business cards?
30 seconds (to me) is a time frame used to network. Proper understanding requires more time. If I can’t have enough time for proper understanding, I’d rather have no understanding than misunderstanding. If you like this idea, check out my blog at http://theRainMakerMaker.com
Jason Alba on September 19th, 2006 at 5:32 am
Rick, good comments, and definitely true if you only have 30 seconds and then the person is leaving. I think it is helpful to have different “30 second” pitches ready for different occassions. I have one for “me” and one for my business. And I have different versions: one for a face-to-face meeting, one for a in information networking conversation, one for a formal occassion (when you go to a meeting where everyone is asked to tell a little about your company), etc. Here’s a post I just saw this morning: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2006/09/15/how_to_describe.html on how to put one together for your business. And of course you can store all of these different versions in my website for free at http://www.JibberJobber.com. Usually the 30 seconds is just that - 30 seconds. And there’s more time to discuss after that, even at that setting.