When it comes to communicating, less is more.

In Lewis Carol’s THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, the White Queen advises Alice “Start at the beginning, go on to the end, and then stop.” To this royal advice, I would add “using the fewest possible words in the process…”

People don’t have a lot of time to waste these days, but that doesn’t keep businesses from wasting it. It might be because it is so hard to get a prospect’s attention, or it might be because businesses don’t do enough targeting to know what their prospects really want. But once businesses “connect,” they tend to throw everything but the kitchen sink into their communications, in the hopes that something will catch the prospect’s interest and lead to a sale.

Sarcastic M.I.T. mathematics professor and cult singer Tom Leher once said “I think that if people have nothing to say, the least they can do is shut up.”

But the problem is not that businesses have nothing to say. The problem is, the important part of the communication gets buried in so many different messages, details, and repetitions that it tends to get lost.

Treat your prospects’ time with the same respect you want your vendors to give to you. Boil your communications down to essentials. What is most unique and important about your service or product? What do prospects have to know? Communicate clearly and concisely!

You should be able to make your pitch in a 30-second commercial. That’s about 100 words. If it takes you more than that, then maybe you need help in better defining your product, service, or offer (or in targeting who it should appeal to).

Here’s an example:
“Your CMO can help guide you to the optimal target prospect for your product. Your CMO will then help you develop effective ways of approaching that prospect, establishing a relationship with them, and turning that relationship into persistent, profitable sales.” 40 words. Enough said?