Frank Yan of ALLDATA on A Sales Exercise

Frank Yan’s Sales Exercise. Here’s a fun little exercise for every salesman to try, Frank saw this in sales meeting he attended in the Powerbalance Prvilion Arena in Sacramento, formally Arco Arena, home to the Sacramento Kings.

In 10 words or less, what do you do? You have 60 seconds, GO! These are the responses that Mr. Yan has heard;



- I help you hire better sales people. I help people protect all they’ve worked to get.
- I help businesses control costs with systems, software & solutions
- I drive your corporate communications, and get messages to your shareholders.
- I help people reduce their electric bill and generate income.
- I help professionals struggling with social media win more business.
- I improve resident communications and retention in the Multi-Family industry.
- I help merchants reduce expenses related to electronic payments
- I provide cost effective internet service solutions for corporate organizations.


From these statements Frank Yan was able to tell what these people do in sales? However, were these Sacramento based sales tactics from Sacramento our sales force? Hmmm…. In some cases it is very easy to identify, but in others Frank still had no clue. Frank Yan knew that every one of these people knew what they did, the problem comes in saying it in a short 10 word sentence. Why was this so difficult? Simple, it is hard to select the one thing we do that is the MOST important. Every one of us sells something, the product or service we sell usually has multiple features and benefits. Selecting the ONE feature or benefit about our product or service and then saying it is what we do is at best difficult.



That is why this exercise that Frank chooses is so important? If you can’t say what you do in a short and simple sentence, how is a customer or client supposed to have a clear understanding after a 30 minute sales presentation?

Here is a useful tip from Frank making your 10 word statement, write out what you do in as many words as you want to. Then keep reviewing what you wrote and take out unnecessary words as you see that does not fit. Keep going through it over and over, always rewording or removing words. If you find you can’t get it to 10 words, stop working on it for a day or two, when you come back to it you may find it easier to dwindle it down further and further until you have your 10 word job description.


Knowing what you do and being able to clarify it in a short statement will help with those prospects and customers, who just never seem to have the time to speak with you.