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When There's 118 Seconds Between You and Success

Guest post by: Keith Ferrazzi

Article Overview: I had him. I knew it. I had been ready with my pitch and when I got him on the phone, I sold him big time. But as soon as I heard he was hooked, I stopped. I didn’t try to close the sale then and there. Instead, I tried to better position myself to take advantage of his interest and asked him for a bit of time a few days later.

When There's 118 Seconds Between You and Success

Learn the secret of the 118-second pitch in today’s tip from my buddy, expert marketer and celebrity CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett. It’s from his new book, The Mirror Test: Is your Business Really Breathing?, all about how to best position your company to grow. It’s already on at least three bestseller lists and I highly recommend you check it out after you hit the blog and share your 118. – Keith Ferrazzi I had him. I knew it. I had been ready with my pitch and when I got him on the phone, I sold him big time. But as soon as I heard he was hooked, I stopped. I didn’t try to close the sale then and there. Instead, I tried to better position myself to take advantage of his interest and asked him for a bit of time a few days later. “Well...” “Let me ask you, are you an early morning person or an afternoon person?” “Morning.” “Great, so are you a coffee or tea man or do you like juice or water?” “Coffee.” “Milk or cream? Light or dark?” “Milk, light.” “Bagels, donuts, muffins, or cottage cheese?” “Bagels.” “Great. So I’ll see you Tuesday morning at 7:15. I’ll bring bagels and coffee and give you a fifteen-minute presentation of my product as you eat your breakfast.” Once again, my “118” had succeeded. Now, I could close the sale the way I like: in person. The 118 is my version of what some people still call “the elevator pitch”-an out-of-date name for the worthy idea that you need to sell what your company offers (and you) in the span of an elevator ride. Problem is that time used to mean up to three to five minutes. Now, it’s mere seconds. Technology has not only made things (including elevators) move faster but also has increased the need for speed and immediate relevance in pitching. You have seconds before I tune you out and maybe two minutes after that to completely sell me with your initial pitch. The 118 comes from the 118 seconds you actually have to pitch: 8 seconds to hook me and up to 110 seconds to drive it home -- less than two minutes with only seconds to spare. The first eight seconds is the length of time the average human can concentrate on something and not lose some focus. It is also the length of time of one of the toughest rides in the world: a qualified ride in professional bull riding. In these first 8 seconds, you must be compelling, strong, and focused to be successful. You must hold on as one of the meanest, toughest animals in the world tries to throw you off - just like any good prospect will. Make it those 8 seconds, and I’ll give you 110 more to drive your message home with no bull. But if you have not sold me at the end of the 118, I will start to tune out. At that point, we are moving forward to a sale or not. I speak at hundreds of meetings, conferences, and events worldwide every year, and I am constantly amazed by the inability of entrepreneurs, business owners, their managers, or their sales and marketing representatives to deliver a great, relevant 118. The 118, like the elevator pitch before it, sells much more than a business’s products or services and unique selling proposition (USP). It is an essential piece in building your brand. It conveys who you are, the assurance your business offers, and the promises you will deliver on. Think you have a brand? Brand is the biggest business buzzword, but what does it mean? To me a brand is just a promise made and kept to a customer. Your 118 helps define what promises your brand will build or make. It connects every promise you make to those around you. Too many businesses don’t focus on these promises and eventually they not only fail to build a brand, they just fail. The 118 connects directly to the foundation of every business’s growth. I’m not saying a bad one means certain failure, but I have rarely seen a good one deployed in the right way fail to help a business grow. How could it not? It conveys to anyone what he or she will get from your business. This is usually where people start to nod their heads as if to say, “I know.” But I am not looking for an “Amen.” I’m looking for action. This is proof of life, people, and no time to nod in agreement or say, “I know I should do that” or “I’ll get back to that after I keep reading.” Even when business owners can answer the “Why?” questions (and thus know why they are doing what they are doing), the typical stammering and yammering when I ask for their pitches indicates to me a huge inability to convey what they are doing to their team and customers. So, put the book down and write down your 118. Even if you have a good one, do it. I’ll wait…. Need help? I asked a few top performers about the best and worst pitches they received. Here is what a few had to say: “I was riding up the Gherkin elevator with Will Harris, the marketing director at Nokia. I asked, ‘What if you could get dozens of user-generated videos for less than $1,000 each with www.mofilm.com?" He signed up before we reached the top floor and then Nokia went on to win the Cannes UGC competition with one of those videos.” - Jeffrey Merrihue, CEO, Accenture Marketing Sciences (London) “This [insert idea here] gives us competitive advantage (the only factor that leads to profitable growth), and trades on the four things we covet: our core essence (what we know how to do and what our consumers consider our credentials/leverage), speed (because speed kills), surprise (because surprise disorients even smart competitors), and concentration (the only way smaller guys break through enemy lines with ‘fewer resources’).” - Russ Klein, President, Global Marketing, Strategy, and Innovation, Burger King Corporation “The worst elevator pitch is one I hear frequently. It goes like this: Prospect: ‘What is it that you do?’ Salesperson: ‘I represent XYZ Company.’ Stop! What does that do to help build the relationship we all need in sales? Describe not whom you represent but what you do to help people solve the problems they have. Why not answer with, ‘I help people solve the problems of living too long, becoming disabled, or dying too soon.’” - Robert D. Lowrey, Managing Partner, Northwestern Mutual “The Best: We make print clickable. The Worst: We do anything and everything a company needs us to do as cheaply as possible.” - Andy and Julie Plata, Co-CEOs, OutputLinks, Inc., Graphic Communications World Adapted from The Mirror Test by Jeffrey Hayzlett

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Article Tags: big time, few days, pitch



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Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
Re: Success - I study success intently, and would like to share: Here's two excellent and nearly identical success-formulas from a couple of the world's masters. FIRST FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Clear, Definite Purpose 3. Committed Decision 4. Take Action In Faith (Bonus Secret Sauce: 5. Repeat Consistently) I made a video about this, but am not allowed to link it yet. Google "Ryze Success Steps" for it. Oh, and this is Napoleon Hill's (Master Of Success Laws)'s Formula. SECOND FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Understand It Is Already Done (Faith) 3. Relax & Allow It To Unfold (Go about your life calmly) This one is courtesy of Abraham-Hicks (inspiration for the movie The Secret). Hope that helps!
Success Strategies - How to get the results you want now? Success Strategies and Action Steps I have used are: The Power of Choice Where you are at this present moment, is exactly perfect from the choices you have made. If you want to be somewhere else, you have to decide clearly what that is (your goal/outcome) and create action steps to achieve this. The Power of Focus The book "The Power of Focus" by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt, is one of my treasures in my Entrepreneur Library. If you focus on what you want versus what you do not want, your conscious and sub-conscious mind will direct attention to this. The movie, What the Bleep, Down the Rabbit Hole, explains this in detail about quantum physics and what we create in our lives. The Power of Commitment This is not about commitment to others. The first step is the commitment, your word, you make to yourself. Accountability and responsibility are additional success strategies and ingredients to creating the success, defined by you, that you want. The commitment to others reflects your integrity, your word and the team you work with. Co-workers, clients, yoru family, friends and community. My Success Acronyn in Success Breakthroughs(c) is: S pecific & self-directed U nlimited opportunities & possibilities C reate powerful outcomes C onsistent measureable results E xperience pwoerful transformation S olution and action-oriented S uccessful habits and outcomes Break Through to Powerful LIfestyle & Performance Choices Moira
Re: Books for the Entrepreneur - Here's one of my most recent books The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success By Brian Tracy
Re: What is your age? - Kevin, Success is the best revenge. they are telling the world that been raised by sinlge parent will not determine their success in life


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