The time I stole (OK...borrowed), this idea and ended up in Portugal!
Gary Lafferty
?? Podcast Host & Founder | Helping Tech Consultancies Land $200K-$500K Clients Predictably - Without Referrals, Cold Outreach or Marketing That Doesn’t Convert | Authority-Based Client Acquisition | Int. Speaker Trainer
It was 2005 and I was doing some consulting for a property investment firm in London.
The company would buy a list of high net worth individuals and the sales team would cold call them all day every day, 5 days a week trying to sell them their investment services.
The results were slow and as you can imagine, unpredictable at best.
?You see, the big mistake that the team was making was that they did not realise that they had to make 2 ‘closes’ on their calls, but they thought they were selling just the one…the opportunity to invest!
In reality, they had to make the sale to the investors on trusting the company first, and then, if they were successful and selling the trust, then sell them on the service they provided. Trying to sell someone on two things from one call is nearly impossible!
About a year earlier I had attended a seminar where the speaker shared his message on his topic to a room of ‘only ‘partially’ interested buyers. At the end of his talk, he invited those in the audience who were interested in talking to him further to see him at the back of the room.
Nearly half the room immediately got up and made their way to the small table against the back wall, some even pushing other people out of the way to ensure they did not miss out!.
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?So I stole that idea!!
I got the team to instead of selling the opportunity over the phone, invite the investors to a 90-minute presentation where I would share our expertise, our past successes, and the opportunities that we had for those who were interested in knowing more.
The result?
After I presented to a room of 53 high net worth individuals, 28 of them booked a flight to join me in Portugal where we had a development that they could invest in. 12 of them invested and we generated $1.3 million in net profit.
I learned there and then, that trying to sell one to one over the phone is slow and unpredictable. It was holding me back.
Selling one to many not only saved me time, but I was able to address many of my buyer's fears and apprehensions in just one talk and have people pre-qualified in their interest in me, pre-educated in the service that I provided, and they all knew exactly what the next step was. I've never looked back since.
If you've been stuck or felt held back in growing your business or revenue, I hope this helps.
Gary