The power of a general benefit statement

A general benefits statement is similar to an elevator pitch. I’ll explain the difference as we’ll cover the elevator pitch in a future article.

An elevator pitch is a short statement that will explain your business, one that might be used if you were getting into an elevator on the ground floor and met an old friend who asked what you were doing now. You can give him a short, well-rehearsed statement about what his company does before you reach the fourth floor, his destination. Hence the name elevator pitch.

A general benefit statement is exactly what it says. It’s a statement about the benefits of doing business with your company, and it’s a transition point that opens the conversation for you to begin the process of selling your product or service.

On a typical sales call, we all start the conversation with idle small talk for a few minutes, a courtesy that helps break the ice, but keep it brief. Now comes the awkward part, how do you go from the talk to the sales call? The answer, a General Statement of Benefits.

Example. Thanks for seeing me today. My company works with companies like yours every day and they find our products or services to be unique and of greater value than they expected, but beyond that they find dealing with my company easier and our customer service is the best in the industry. . I wonder if I could ask you a few questions about your organization and its requirements? Most of the time the answer will be ok, now you’re in. Ask your questions and keep asking until you have uncovered enough evidence to give you the confidence to proceed with your solution.

The secret here is that before you use a blanket statement, elaborate on it, flesh it out, fine-tune it, and then cold learn it. Once you’ve got the hang of it and it flows well, it will give you full confidence that you too have a great transition. If you are unsure and stumble upon the delivery, it will have the opposite effect.

You may only get one shot at the decision maker, so be prepared. Get your GBS general benefit statement verbatim and you’ll see how seamless the transition from talk to sale is.