The One Tip You Need to Succeed at Your 30-Second Commercial with Danny Wood

The 30-second commercial with Danny Wood

I have people come up to me all the time asking, “Danny, how do I sound different from my competitors?”
A well-thought-out 30-second commercial will do the trick. It takes a little preparation — after all, we are professionals. And professionals need to practice, study, and work on their craft to get to that next level.

So, I’m going to give you an overview of how the 30-second commercial works. I’ll use myself as an example.

Not long ago, I used this exact commercial while applying what we call the three-foot rule. I was heading into a big networking luncheon and had parked far away. As I got out of my car, another person did as well. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was the CEO of a company.

I said, “Well, we should probably start networking now,” and he agreed. He told me he owned a very large insurance company — in fact, the seventh-largest privately owned one in New Jersey at the time.

I said to him:

“I’m Danny Wood from Sandler Training. We specialize in sales and sales management training for entrepreneurial-driven companies and professional firms. Typically, CEOs, presidents, and owners come to me when they’re frustrated that their salespeople don’t have enough new opportunities on a consistent basis.

Or maybe they do, but they’re concerned because their sales cycles are getting longer and longer, and they don’t know what to do about it.

Or perhaps they’re closing sales but under pressure on margins — they’re just not making the margins they used to because their business has been commoditized.

We help through long-term reinforcement training. It’s like training a sales athlete or a sales musician.

I don’t suppose you’re experiencing any of those issues?”

We had a great conversation. He invited me into his office, and he became a client.

How you can use the 30-second commercial

Start by crafting these elements:

1. Opening Statement
   Who you are and what your company is.

2. Positioning Statement
   What type of company you are and where you’re located.

3. Pain Statements
   What problems do your best customers bring you?
   Prior to working with you, they were experiencing what?

   Use emotional words:
   Frustrated… concerned… anxious… upset… flabbergasted — pick your top three.

4. Benefit Statement
   Not a feature dump — just a clear sentence about how you solve those problems and what makes you different.

5. Hook Question
   Don’t assume your prospect has these issues, and don’t sound salesy by saying, “I bet you have these too, don’t you?”
   Instead ask:
   “I don’t suppose you experience any of those in your world?”
   or
   “I’m not sure if that’s relevant to you — is that worth a conversation?

Try implementing this 30-second commercial using these elements. Get invited into your next meeting instead of fighting your way in. Become a welcome guest at their office or facility.

You’ll find that using the 30-second commercial gives you far more leverage in your meetings and produces excellent results.