Americans love a good story in their personal lives as well as in business.
This is the first thing that a Finnish company needs to learn when entering one of the world’s most competitive markets. In the center of each new market entry is the question of how to sell your business idea; product or service to new consumers. In America the best way to do it is with an effective marketing story.
Like one of our business expert and partner Val Kraztmanfrom Business Finland coached the companies attending Grow to USA Fall 2018program, everything is about storytelling and from this moment forward you are storytellers. Differentiating from Finnish and Nordic markets this market prefers the marketing over the best technology or product. It’s essential to choose where you state your marketing message and to whom you are marketing. Do your market research face-to-face, study your customers and make sure that you understand and know their business. This way you can convince that your service or product is the solution for their problems. In addition, balance your value proposition so that your business viability, “Why should we do it?” is the major part and the other part “How should we do it?”; the technical solutions is the minor.
24/7 + Who Do You Help + Need
Solution + Benefit
The ASK
As an entrepreneur when you are telling a story you pitch. Here is one pitching method that was introduced to our companies during the Grow to USA 2018 Fallprogram. 24/7 Methodology. In 3 minutes pitch the technical part can be only 24 seconds and the rest of it needs to be all about your value proposition. Prepare a clear summary of your company that anyone can understand in 7 words. Notice that it should tell what you can do, not what you make. Focus on benefits and solutions. Who are your primary customers and then who, else you sell: competitors, complementors, new entrants, suppliers. Create your list ready. After that consider what is their main problem, what keeps them awake at night? When you have figured that out show how you can solve this problem. What do you offer that helps your customers solve their problem? Out of this rehearsal name your top benefits and the value you provide. The key is to consider your key elements in understandable shape that matters. Every business is helping someone. And finally, always end your pitch with ASK.
Each time you are pitching you need to remember what your goal is. First 30 seconds of the pitch must be memorable and then the goal can be for example to get 30 minutes more with this person, then next 1 hour, then next 2 hours and then business starts. So always remember to end your pitch with ask. Ask more time, ask which channel to contact, ask next meeting.
Ending this post with the same quotation as Val Kraztman.
“The most powerful person in the world is storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” Steve Jobs