Perhaps your first response is "I sell appliances," or "I own an appliance sales and service company." Good, solid replies. How do you think your friend will react to these statements? Perhaps with comments like "Great," or "Oh, really?" or "I see...well, how's business?"

Flash back to that same scenario...but this time you offer a different reply. "I advise people on how to select appliances," you say, or "I sell appliance, and offer workshops on their use," or "I sell kitchen appliances, and show people how a properly designed kitchen can save them time and money." What's the difference in these responses? The first group offers specifics of your profession. The second offer specifics plus CUSTOMER BENEFITS.

My guess: The person you've just met now perhaps replies: "Oh, really? Say, I just bought a new house with this huge kitchen. It really needs some work. Do you have any ideas for...etc." Now the person's thinking, "Hey, this guy's got some information I need. Maybe he (or she) can give me some advice." Advice leads to conversation. Conversation leads to common interests. Common interests can lead to business relationships. Good business relationships lead to referrals. Referrals lead to more business.

In football, they call it the "two minute drill." The offensive squad's given the ball, and told it's two minutes before either halftime or the end of the game. From wherever they are on the field, they've got 120 seconds to score. In business conversation, the time on the clock's much shorter than that. You've got l5, maybe 20 seconds to tell someone what you do...and how it might benefit him. So you gotta be direct, you gotta be specific...and you oughta mention benefits.

Many people give business cards to the people they meet. Most everybody carries them. I think I've got some cards around here someplace...if I can just find them! Here's another idea some marketers use. Maybe you can try it. Suppose, in addition to your business card, you offer someone a short "business biography?" Perhaps it's a basic 8-l/2" x ll" sheet, folded into thirds so it fits in your coat pocket. It could be typeset in standard letter format, or arranged in what's called a "gatefold" format. (Ask your printer about this.)

On it, you give a brief history of your business, the sales and services it offers, and its "unique selling proposition." (What do you do that's better, or different, or unique, that no other business can match?)

Here's a little checklist of things you might include in your "business biography":

1. How long have you been in business? How did you get into your business?
2. What unique skills or interests prepared you for your current career?
3. What ONE product or service do you provide that your competitors do not?
4. What's the best compliment your business ever had?
5. Have you received honors or special recognition within your community or profession?
6. What's the best modification you've made? Examples: inventory additions, new location, change of business hours, etc.
7. What the biggest disadvantage your business has? How have you been able to turn it into an advantage? (Example: A local car dealer once advertised that his "hard-to-find" location was worth the effort because of the great deals he offered.)
8. What service can you provide that's FASTER or BETTER than your competition?
9. What's the most unusual customer you've ever had? How did you satisfy that person?
10. Do you offer any free trial offers or guarantees to encourage customers to come to you?
11. What consequences -- or problems -- might a customer experience if he/she DIDN'T do business with you? (Example: You're the only store of your type in town. If a customer didn't trade with you, he/she would have to drive a long way to find similar products.)
12. Do you offer a free service or product analysis to attract customers to your dealership?
13. If you could immediately offer a NEW service...what would it be?
14. What's the funniest thing that ever happened to your business?
15. Is your business located near a historic site or prominent landmark? What makes your location unique?
16. Include all major data: Street address, zip code, phone, fax, e-mail, hours of business, directions for reaching your store.

The questions above are "idea starters" to help you develop a "point of view" article. This might be turned into a feature story you could submit to local media.

Here's a way to use it: Answer the questions above, and determine which ones would make the most interesting reading for a potential customer. These answers become the focal point of your feature story.

A few years ago, I interviewed a bicycle dealer who invented a machine that straightens bent bike wheels. I asked several of those questions we talked about earlier. A particular event inspired him to create this product. "Strange as it seems," he said, "the idea hit me at the city dump. I was throwing a bunch of wheels away, and recalled a conversation I had with my dad. "Whenever he'd discard a wheel, he'd say 'There''s just gotta be a better way than this.' " The dealer went back to the store, designed some prototypes, and soon developed a unique product that's beneficial to many bike dealers.