Ask any small business owner, especially services based, and ask them where their best clients come from and most will say the same thing.  "Word of mouth!"

That usually means referrals or even networking.  So how do we make sure we get more of this wonderful thing?

Let's start with a game.  List a few people you've had a conversation with (not customers) in the past few days, not necessarily deep and meaningful, but more than just 'hello'.

Here's some I've had:

- Chap in the lift when I dropped my gym gear back in the car.  (He jumped in to the lift which was going down, not up)

- Sales assistant at the corner shop when I picked up Saturday's paper (Oz Weekend Magazine missing again so I had a grizzle)

- Fellow at the gym said he was amazed I can dead-lift 80kg (so am I!)

- Guy whose dog was taking him for a run in the morning (the dog was winning easily).

How many of those on your list are potential clients?  In my case, and probably yours too, most likely none.  No surprise there.

Most of the people we meet, day in and day out, are not prospects – and never will be.

Most conversations are with random, never-gonna-buy people we barely know.  So the traditional response to 'what do you do', the elevator statement – highly polished, full of benefits, well-rehearsed, seeking to impress or generate interest – are mostly a waste of time.

Sure, they can be useful if you're networking because that is what's expected in that situation.  However, the vast majority of people you interact with every day will probably not be looking to engage you;  not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

Here's an idea.  Make sure you have the elevator statement for the right occasion, but also figure out what to say during the frequent, casual conversations you have every day.   You know, when somebody asks "what do you do?"

This one is not about generating interest or impressing someone.  It's about this, and nothing more:  getting them to remember what you do so they can tell other people.   That's how true word-of-mouth works.

Then, when they're asked ….. "Do you know someone who can help me with ….?"  That's when they remember you with your super-simple specific statement ( spoken sibilantly ).

People don't look for solutions 'in general'.  They have specific needs, specific situations.  So, when a Buddhist and a dictator are talking in a bar and one asks for a "results-oriented, well-rounded service professional, with an enviable record of enhancing growth … (blah, blah)", it's unlikely you will be first choice.

However, it could work better as:

- I help new businesses find the right location for their Plan

- I make sure business web sites generate leads

- I sort out business tax problems.

(Does anyone know someone who does the last one?)

Are they oversimplifications?  You bet they are.  But, they're easy to understand and remember.  The people you chat to won't remember detail, and people only want to be pointed in the right direction.

You want to be at this stage - the pointee.

Here's the bottom line (sorry it took a while).  Sales skills, experience, credentials, and data-specific client result examples are important in getting somebody to hire us.  But it is up to the prospective customer to make that judgment when they meet with us.

An engagement won't happen from a casual conversation with perhaps a near stranger, which takes place well before the selling starts.

So, the pointee needs to simplify the description of what he does so that other humans can understand it, remember it, and pass it on when the opportunity arises.

PS:   If you're travelling up in the elevator and you give your elevator statement in order to get hired in the future, would the result if going down be to travel back in time?  There's a question better referred to Stephen Hawking; I only sort out tax problems.  (Too subtle?)