The Desert of Arizona
Rain 62 Degrees – 6:47 a.m.
I’ve told you before that I used to be a pretty naive little chap. I believed people when they said things. I generally trusted that “authorities” knew something and had some favored status that I didn’t. I thought most people were NOT only looking out for themselves.
This naiveté extended into my business career, not in a good way, but in a way that eventually offered quite a valuable lesson.
I blindly accepted the opinion of others who said the point of business was to sell.
So I learned how to do that. I read the books. I looked at how the successful people did it.
And I got good (enough) at it.
Unfortunately I missed the forest for the trees (again!).
Yes, business requires selling. But it requires selling in an effort to distribute a product or service that, in some CLEAR, OBVIOUS AND MEASURABLE WAY, makes the buyer’s life better.
In other words, the goal is to help people actually become successful, however you want to define “success.”
Frankly, that’s a MUCH bigger challenge than selling. And I was blind to that true goal for far too long.
Because to be blunt, it’s hard to create something like that.
If you create/offer/distribute things that actually add clear value to the lives of your clients and customers, they tend to come back.
You don’t need a slippery sales slope. You don’t need the neatest “retargeting” gadgets and gizmos. They’ll remember you and come back because they want MORE of what you have. They want more problems solved because you’ve proven you are able to solve problems.
Very simple right? Well, it is.
But looking back at the bulk of my own sales thinking over the years…what percentage is me thinking about “how do I sell this thing?” vs. “how do I offer something that actually provides a clear and obvious improvement in their condition?”
Eek…
I’ll give you an example I’m living right now with the Lead Lab. It starts TODAY, so there’s still time to register.
This is version 2. I learned a lot about where people are REALLY at when it comes to lead generation during the first round over the past month or so.
Ultimately, this Lead Lab has become a pretty customized experience (including a unique lead generation system diagram, with lead magnet ideas, platform ideas, sales funnel ideas and more) for each of the 15 registrants. They each get one made especially for them.
It’s taken me a lot of time. I’m still finishing up the last 2.
Hardly “push button cash.” Hardly “making money while I sleep.”
But it’s effective. And to be frank, I couldn’t find another way through without flirting with the line of doing something “half-assed.” And I wasn’t about to do that.
“Oh, but Jason, you spent X of your hours on this and only charged $397! How is that sustainable?”
It’s sustainable when you view your work as sometimes YOU being willing to make an investment in the future success of others.
“Investments” don’t pay a return in five minutes. If they did, EVERYONE would be doing it.
Investments involve a tolerable risk in exchange for a possible future payoff. Doing this is a risk I’m willing to take. Because I want to see these people succeed.
Think about that the next time you’re pricing a project for a client. What happens to the size your future fees with that client if they experience true success?
I guarantee that if you take a view like this with the success of your clients, it will only ADD to your perception as someone who is offering something UNIQUE.