“So, Jeremy, I’m not familiar with MLS. What do you do?”

“Well, um, oh, we….uh…”

Now, unless you drill for water in rural America, “Well” is the second worst word to start a framing statement. (I’m not sure of the worst word, but I’m giving Jeremy the benefit of the doubt). If you don’t know what you do, I surely don’t know what you do.

“Joe, what business are you in?”

“We fortify your financial security, protection, and growth,” he responded, in a punctuated delivery.

Research tells us we have 5-7 seconds to capture someone’s attention. People speak at 90-120 words per minute. Basic math tells us that you have 8-14 words to capture someone’s attention and begin a conversation that counts. Word choice is critical when you have so few and the stakes are so high.

A framing statement is first line of an elevator speech, and every word must be hand crafted with perfection. The only goal of a framing statement is to engage the interest of the person to ask so that he or she asks us a question. We must create a clear visual picture for our audience. Some tricks include words of opposite meaning to create mystery or intrigue, such as “We extinguish the explosive risk…” or, “We manage the huge minutia of….” And some words just don’t belong at all.

“We’re a general commercial printer, and we’re located at the corner of 15th and Tacoma.” I see. So, if you are “general” you have no special purpose for creating unique value, and I need to come to you to be your customer. After all, it your location is so that important that it made your top 14 words, then it must be because I am required to come to you to spend my money, right? During a recent workshop, I had participants write down their framing statement. Incredibly, almost 50% of the participants wrote out their location. Maybe it was their industry. Except, these were all outside salespeople at a seminar on framing statements. They came to learn how to create impact. I would say it was an excellent investment in time.

But, there are bigger waste of words.

“I’m with Northwestern Mutual.” Excuse me, I’m thinking, I need to find the restroom.

“I’m with ADP.” Gee, I’m now thinking, wasn’t there a cheese tray nearby?

“I’m a realtor.” Now I’m hoping my cell phone starts ringing.

There’s nothing wrong about starting with “I” although “we” is preferred. There’s nothing wrong with being proud about where you work, the name and the company. But unless you’re EF Hutton himself, we don’t automatically know why we should listen to you. Although, they never told us why we listened – we just did. (How’s that for an example of branding – after 20 plus years it still works!) What is vitally important about a framing statement is that its focus is your unique value to a prospect.

The goal of a framing statement is to start a conversation. Conversations include questions. Here, we are looking to generate, provoke, or prompt one or two questions we specifically want to answer. And in my opinion, “How much is that” is not a preferred question this early. Begin with the end in mind. Get the question you want to answer right out there, then work on what you need to say to get it asked.

What is a good question at this point? Several come to mind:

“How do you do that?” – shows immediate interest and a chance to come back with, “It depends, why is that important to you?”

“So is it possible to both secure my current assets and got my retirement?” could lead to “Does that mean you are not happy with your current broker?” This is a closed-ended question, but if followed by an emotional “No” you are now set up for deeper questions. Question #3 becomes “What were you trying to accomplish?”

Some answers contain implied questions, which are also acceptable as a strategy for getting your prospect into the right frame of mind.

“We help employers manage total employment costs, including unemployment and insurance.” Some will respond to that, “Insurance, what a nightmare” or, “I didn’t know you could manage health insurance costs.” Both indicate they grasp the issue, are therefore possibly a prospect, and are ready for your second question which will be, “Why do you say that?” or “What has been your recent experience with insurance?”

“We help companies be visible and get noticed.” This is a great farming statement because it gets to what every company wants. Most people respond, “So you do advertising?” which is right down the path they want. “That’s one of our areas of expertise. How do you advertise and get your name out now?” A conversation is born.

To create an effective framing statement, start with the end in mind. What question do you want the other person to ask you, and then determine what is most likely to prompt that response. Use power words in your framing statements, words which are either action or emotion oriented. Create an instant visual picture or emotional state in the other person. “We help people become experts in turning valuable prospects into profitable clients.” If you are in sales or manage sales, that will get your attention.

Does your framing statement grab the attention you need? If not, try the above. If you want additional help, call me at 866-397-5323 or send it to me in writing at jeffbowe@actumgroup.com. As a thank you for reading this far, I’ll help you create a framing statement with impact. And if it really works, you may ask what else we can do for you. After all, we’re experts at turning prospects into clients.