“Here’s How My Life Can Benefit Yours”

Top salespeople talk extensively of the “benefit statement.” They know, when talking with a potential client, they should open their conversation with a benefit statement. When my colleague Brian makes cold calls, instead of saying “Hello, my name is Brian Tracy. I’m a sales trainer,” he says, “Hello, my name is Brian Tracy from the Institute for Executive Development. Would you be interested in a proven method that can increase your sales from 20 to 30 percent over the next twelve months?” That is his benefit statement. He highlights the specific benefits of what he has to offer to his prospect.

My hairdresser Gloria, I discovered, gives a terrific benefit statement to everyone she meets. That’s probably why she has so many clients. In fact, that’s how she got me as a client. When I met Gloria at a convention, she told me she was a hairdresser who specialized in flexible hairstyles for the businesswoman. She casually mentioned she has many clients who choose a conservative hairstyle for work that they can instantly convert to a feminine style for social situations. “Hey, that’s me,” I said to myself, fingering my stringy little ponytail. I asked for her card and Gloria became my hairdresser.

Then, several months later, I happened to see Gloria at another event. I overheard her chatting with a stylish grey-haired woman at the buffet table. Gloria was saying “. . . and we specialize in a wonderful array of blue rinses.” Now that was news to me! I didn’t remember seeing one grey head in her salon.

As I was leaving the party, Gloria was out on the lawn talking animatedly with the host’s teenage daughters. “Oh yeah,” she was saying, “like we specialize in these really cool up-to-the-minute styles.” Good for you, Gloria!

Like Gloria the hairdresser, give your response a once-over before answering the inevitable “What do you do?” When someone asks, never give just a one-word answer. That’s for forms. If business networking is on your mind, ask yourself, “How could my professional experience benefit this person’s life?” For example, here are some descriptions various people might put on their tax return:

Real estate agent

Financial planner

Martial arts instructor

Cosmetic surgeon

Hairdresser

Any practitioner of the above professions should reflect on the benefit his or her job has to humankind. (Every job has some benefit or you wouldn’t get paid to do it.) The advice to the folks above is

Don’t say “real estate agent.” Say “I help people moving into our area find the right home.”

Don’t say “financial planner.” Say “I help people plan their financial future.”

Don’t say “martial arts instructor.” Say “I help people defend themselves by teaching martial arts.”

Don’t say “cosmetic surgeon.” Say “I reconstruct people’s faces after disfiguring accidents.” (Or, if you’re talking with a woman “of a certain age,” as the French so gracefully say, tell her, “I help people to look as young as they feel through cosmetic surgery.”)

Don’t say “hairdresser.” Say “I help a woman find the right hairstyle for her particular face.” (Go, Gloria!)

Putting the benefit statement in your verbal “Nutshell Resume” brings your job to life and makes it memorable. Even if your new acquaintance can’t use your services, the next time he or she meets someone moving into the area, wanting to plan their financial future, thinking of self defense, considering cosmetic surgery, or needing a new hairstyle, who comes to mind? Not the unimaginative people who gave the tax-return description of their jobs, but the big winners who painted a picture of helping people with needs.