“And What Do You Do?” That’s supposed to be what the Queen says to people she meets, and it’s as good an opening line as any. But it’s disappointing when people don’t tell you anything useful in reply.
I sat between two lawyers at a networking lunch recently. I asked them what they did. One said, “I’m a solicitor with the largest law firm in the town”, and the other said, “The firm I’m with is the town’s oldest solicitors”.
“Hmmm,” I thought, “how would I use that information to choose who to do business with? Why should I care about oldest and biggest?”
Introducing yourself in a way that clearly explains what you do, and how you’re differentiated from your competitors is crucial. In marketing-speak, it’s all about having a succint value proposition.
“And what do you do, Matthew?”
I help people to increase their sales and profits by developing their marketing strategy, based on a long career of doing that for many companies.
Is that better than what those lawyers said?