The Swartz Report: What’s Your Elevator Speech?
Last month, I attended the Small Business Member Stand Up session with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. As I’ve previously mentioned, I try to participate in as many Chamber events as possible. This allows me to network with other business owners, learning about their business while I can educate others about my business.
I considered this past meeting to be the ultimate test of perfecting the “elevator speech”.
I believe most everyone is familiar with the term, but for those who are not, the elevator speech is a very brief overview of your business. If you were to hop on an elevator and someone asked you what you do for a living, your response is limited to the time you share on the ride, hence your “elevator speech”.
During the Stand Up session, each company was allowed one minute to talk about their business, services, etc. Due to the configuration of the room and the way the microphones were being passed, I was the lucky one to go… LAST (I promise, I did not sit in the corner seat of the last row!)
The obvious disadvantage of this situation? 40+ people had already talked before me and we were pushing the clock in terms of people needing to leave to start their day. Additionally, the others were becoming tuned out due to the sheer number of people in attendance. What to do, what to do…
Of course, one advantage was being able to refine my speech in my mind while listening to others.
Should I try to sprinkle in a little humor or does that detract from the time I have to talk about my company? Bullet points or sentences? Specifics or generalities? Can I talk about Kansas, Missouri or can I make time for both?
Ultimately, I went with straight talk; what I thought to be complete sentences and just sticking to general overview. “My name is Don Swartz, and my company assists owners of commercial real estate and business personal property to minimize their annual property tax liabilities. We work nationwide, but have particular emphasis in Kansas, Missouri and other states in the Midwest.”
Surprisingly, several people did not rush out when the session was over. People were actively seeking others who had said something that sparked an interest. I had two or three individuals approach me to discuss my business in further detail, and I sought out a particular company where I thought I could be of benefit to them on a specific issue. Overall, I believe the event was a success and I’m glad I was able to participate.
When was the last time you worked on your Elevator Speech?
Do your employees have one as well… and is it consistent with the message you are trying to deliver? You never know when opportunity knocks.
Speaking of Opportunity
Reassessment is upon us in Iowa, Missouri and Colorado. Values have not changed in these states since 1.1.17 and in this economy, you can bet values are on the rise.
Deadlines to appeal real estate:
Missouri – formal appeals to the county Board of Equalization is June 17, 2019
Colorado – formal online appeals need to be submitted online by June 3, 2019 or in the mail by June 1, 2019
Iowa- deadline has passed unless you have properties in Dallas and Polk Counties where they have extended the deadline to June 5th as a result of flooding earlier this spring.
Nebraska – deadline to appeal is June 30, 2019
Please contact me if you wish to discuss this or any other property tax matters. As always thank you for your readership and interest.
Next month, we will be celebrating 5 years of Swartz + Associates, Inc. Unbelievable how fast the time has flown.
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