How To Introduce Yourself in a Way That Will Grow Your Business

I don't know about you but I just love summertime! It's a time for outdoor barbecues and pool parties and meeting lots of fun new people.

And meeting all these new people provides a terrific opportunity for growing your small business. If you think of the six degrees of separation (have you ever played the Kevin Bacon game?) almost every one you'll ever need to grow your small business is represented right there at that summertime barbecue. And you thought you were only going for the burgers!

The key is to get the person you're meeting interested in who you are and what you do and to recognize how your services can help someone he knows. And that can be difficult to do in the time it takes to say, "Joe I'd like you to meet Michelle. Michelle this is Joe."

Oh, the pressure! What's a small business owner to do? Here you are, face to face with a Kevin Bacon wannabe, the person who has the potential to send dozens and dozens of referrals your way. How do you capitalize on the next 30 seconds and not silently move into the nameless oblivion of every other partygoer currently enjoying their hotdogs and potato salad? How do you get this guy interested; how do you get him to come to the conclusion that he knows people you can help?

I can tell you what NOT to do. Do not, under any circumstances, respond by saying, "Hi, I'm a life coach." Or, "Nice to meet you. I'm a CPA." Chances are, that will bring any conversation about you and what you do to a screeching halt. Joe will answer with a brief "Hi, it's nice to meet you," and immediately excuse himself to get some chocolate cake before the icing melts in the sun.

A trap that many entrepreneurs and small business owners (and employees, too) fall into is introducing themselves with their title, like "I'm a landscaper." There are all sorts of problems with this approach, including the fact that the person you're talking to already has a preconceived notion of what your title means. But in my opinion, the biggest problem is that it's just plain ol' boring. Unless you're speaking to a very experienced conversationalist or someone who just fired their landscaper yesterday, it's going to be almost impossible to turn that introduction into a few more sentences about you and your services.

Now let me put a quick disclaimer in here... I'm not suggesting that you monopolize the conversation in any way. That would make you equally as boring. What I am saying is that simply by tweaking the way you introduce yourself, you will empower your listener to conclude whether or not there is need for further discussion about your services. And you can still accomplish this in only seven seconds.

Instead of using your title, you want your introduction to focus on who it is that you help and how it is that you help them. You want to focus on the benefits that you bring to your clients or customers. This will help your listener shift his train of thought from YOU to the people he knows that fit the description of your clients.

For instance, if I introduce myself by saying, "I'm a marketing consultant..." my listener is subconsciously focused on everything he thinks of marketing - which may or may not be good! But if I start out by saying "I work with small business owners and entrepreneurs..." my listener's focus has now shifted to everyone he knows who is a small business owner. And when I throw in some of the benefits I provide, my listener is now thinking of people he knows who could benefit from my services.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not implying that you can turn your business around and walk away with a flood of referrals simply by attending one pool party (of course I guess it depends on who's on the guest list!) But I would like to suggest that simply by changing the way you introduce yourself you will be able to engage more prospects and referral partners in mutually beneficial conversations.

And even if your new acquaintance doesn't jump right in with a referral or a desire to do business with you immediately, by entering into a conversation and getting his card and/or contact information, you are now in a position to begin the follow-up process and continue the conversation. (And this is never something you want to leave up to your prospect!)