Stand Out in the IT Crowd

What do the Cheshire Cat, Sun Tzu (author of The Art of War) and Humpty Dumpty have in common?  Each one had advice for resellers seeking to stand out in today’s crowded IT field.  Their words of wisdom were delivered by Bill Brandt, managing partner, SWOT Management Group, and Bob Dirkes, director of account services and media coach at Tech Image, during a breakout session at CompTIA’s Breakaway Wednesday morning in San Antonio.  The presentation – “Differentiating Your Elevator Sales Pitch: Making the Most of Your Three Minutes” – provided participants with counsel on honing their message to a strategic point and techniques for articulating their message in a fast and lasting way.

Cheshire and Tzu agreed with Brandt and Dirkes that no one can arrive at a destination without first looking at a map and charting a course.  For his part, Humpty added that a little personality goes a long way.  Even if your business is taking a "great fall," you need to make your message uniquely your own on the way.

From a practical perspective, Brandt told attendees that the best way to start differentiating your message is by reviewing your business plan.  Then, he walked the room through a SWOT analysis, a structured approach to examining an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

“The key is to align your strengths, against your competition’s weakness, to find the best opportunities for you!” Brandt told the crowd.

Based on that foundation, Dirkes took the session through some straightforward techniques for tapping the strengths in their personal communication style.

“Focus optimizes, structure rules and process wins,” Dirkes said of crafting a message that stands out in a crowd.  He explained the 3E philosophy – Engage, Elaborate, Educate – for effective messaging.  And he led the room through an exercise in designing a high-speed elevator pitch.

“First, tell your audiences why they should care about your pitch,” Dirkes said.  “Then, explain what you have to offer.  Finally, tell them how to engage you. How do they extract the value you have identified?”

In addition to legendary figures real and imagined, participants in the Elevator Pitch session heard from the likes of John Cleese and the late Chris Farley with some video examples of how not to make your pitch.