I have a friend that used to be a car salesman. He was very good at it too, to the tune of about $400K a year. One of his sales tactics was that he used to go out to the road and wave cars into the dealership. Not everyone came in, of course, but some did, and he did a good job of closing those deals.
His co-workers were quite jealous of his earnings. When they asked him for advice, he told them to go out and start flagging cars down. They resisted, and never did it.
Why? Because they said, “That’s not me”.
And not-so-strangely enough, none of his co-workers pulled in $400K a year. He was not only tops in his location, but among the top in the country.
Now this may be an extreme example, but let me give you another example from my own experience.
When I launched my group coaching program, I seriously struggled with the idea of putting together one of those super-salesey super-long sales pages for the program. I had it on my to-do list for weeks. But I couldn’t bring myself to write one. I HATE those pages! I don’t want one of those for my program because… *drumroll please*…
“That’s Not Me”
Doh! I did it! I was thinking, dare I say it, “IN THE BOX”!!
So I tried a few different ways to market the program, all the while, continuing to avoid putting together a long landing page from scrolling-hell.
I stayed in the box, hoping that by sheer magic, I wouldn’t have to ‘pitch’ my dear readers. I just moved around inside of it.
And guess what?
Nobody signed up for the program.
So I did some research. I read about conversion rates on long-form copy sales pages. It was impressive. And it was critical to me to get this program up and running. I know I make a difference - but I can only do that if I actually have clients to work with!
I decided to go outside of my comfort zone. I mean WAY outside of my comfort zone.
Lo and behold, people signed up. Not as many as I had wanted, but the group is indeed running, and the participants have been getting more out of it than even I anticipated.
I forced myself outside of the box.
And I grew to be a stronger marketer, my business grew to increase my client base, and my readers and clients are growing thanks to the fact that they signed up for the program.
So, the next time you find yourself saying, “That’s not me” - question it! Who are you serving by listening to that little voice? Are you giving into your fears, denying the world of your products and services? You may need to make a choice to do something that isn’t, dare I say it, “You”.
And that’s a good thing.
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Your post brought a smile to my face. It reminded me of Star Trek: Vogager’s Seven-of-Nine character and the Borg, who say “resistance is futile.” I too, however, have said I didn’t like the long sales letter format, and yet it hasn’t stopped me from signing up for various products and services. I wonder why this format is so effective, if there are (apparently) folks out there like you (and me!) who resist its’ very form?