The Secret To Winning The Sale: A Tale Of Two Experts…

 

“The early bird catches the worm” (William Camden)

I bet you’ve heard this saying before. But I want you to re-think it, especially if you’re in the business of selling. To illustrate why, I’m going to use a story I call ‘The Tale Of Two Experts’…

So when our story begins, I’ve been in business less than a year. At a local event, I meet a business coach, who tells me he has a manuscript he’d like me to take a look over. Great! So we arrange to meet at his office to go over the proposal…

We catch up at the arranged time and date, and while discussing the edit, he gives me a questionnaire to fill out, standard for his clients. You know the type- 20 pages long with a series of questions or statements where you tick a box somewhere between ‘Not At All’ and ‘Always’ as it best describes you. I finish the questionnaire in reasonable time, hand it back and then we part ways. He sends me the unpublished manuscript for his e-book and we arrange the follow-up meeting at his office.

So two weeks later, we re-convene. Having taken a look at his manuscript, I’ve got a proposal ready to go. In the meantime, he’s gone through my questionnaire. He leaves the office a moment and returns with the booklet I filled out. He returns, drops the booklet on his desk and (more or less) goes on to state that my biggest problem is (apparently) being average. He proceeds to flip through the pages, having written a bunch of notes in pen. He discusses what would be involved in the program should he come on board in a coaching role with me and what methods of payment would be available.

I’m not so arrogant to dismiss his feedback outright. But as a young business owner, I’m well aware that plenty of people you meet think you’re “easy game”- starry-eyed, naive and ready to throw money at anybody who’s mastered NLP and says they can make it rain for you.

But even if he was right and I am average- that would still be an improvement on where I’d been just a few years earlier: (The Night It All Lit Up To Me).

So I pass on his offer. Although I still go on to edit his ebook for a fee…

Fast forward to 6 months later:

I attend a one-day workshop concerned with time-management. This event is free, and I went on the recommendation of a colleague. The woman hosting this workshop has a background as a consultant, and soon it becomes evident that she knows her stuff- and has done a great job setting out the learning material in a way that’s easy to grasp. I leave the day impressed.

Over the next couple of years, I cross paths with this same woman at a number of other events. I even win a spot at these monthly events she hosts for professionals (I don’t remember who it was, but to whoever picked my business card out of the tin- thank you!) This further highlights the fact that she’s knowledgeable, experienced and has a track record in helping business owners’ tap into new levels of success across a range of industries.

In pursuing your ultimate goals (business or otherwise), you reach a point where you realise you can’t do it all on your own- no matter who you are. I get to this point and realise that a professional coach would be just the person to identify any untapped areas or blind spots I haven’t considered so far. A few small adjustments could make a huge difference…

It happens this same woman is holding a webinar that week…

I sign up to attend. After the webinar, I request a follow-up call with her. During this call, I outline my current position vs. my ultimate goals. So she tells me about an upcoming intensive training program she’s holding and that there are spots still available- if I’m interested?

Now here’s the thing:

When I requested that follow-up call, I knew she’d sell to me. I was prepared for it. I’m also happy to follow on her offer and sign up that same day.

10 weeks later I finish the program, with new-found clarity about what I really want from my business, with plenty of revelations along the way. I’m glad I made the investment…

So let’s break it down:

Two experts have similar knowledge and the same target audience.

They both attempt to sell to the same lead from their target audience.

One of them gets the sale. But it’s NOT the early bird. It’s the other one…

The one who has the foresight to develop an ongoing dialogue. The one who had freely shared their expertise on several occasions. The one who established themselves as “the real deal” AND had plenty of other people advocating for what they could offer…

Do all of this, and it doesn’t matter if you’re not the early bird- more often than not, you still get the worm- whatever that worm looks like for you.

If you’d love to have the same effect on your leads with the same kind of selling power, then let’s look at how we can make that happen: Contact Us

 

The Night It All Lit Up To Me…

Come back with me- to a time not so long ago…

It’s the final evening of 2010 and I’m standing on the apartment rooftop of a mates’ friend, down near the Storey Bridge in Brisbane. All around me, New Years’ Eve revelers wait for midnight to strike, for the fireworks to bang and shriek and crackle across the city skyline.

Amidst the laughter and chatter and the echoes of music around me, I look up at the starry night sky and think of where I stand, and the 12 months that have lead me to this moment in time…

I did 4 years at uni, put the work in, enjoyed the student lifestyle that’s typical of your early 20’s and graduated with my Bachelors’ Degree. But now I find myself working full-time in a retail job where I put in the hours, do what’s asked of me and get paid each week for doing so. Beyond that, I have no desire to move a single rung higher in the company. The hectic Christmas period has left me worn out, mentally drained and fed up- and I never want to hear young Michael Jackson’s rendition of ‘Frosty The Snowman‘ ever again for as long as I live. I worked until our store closed at 10pm tonight and arrived at this party late- but even so, less than 10 hours from now I’ll be back there, doing an open for the people who want grog at 10am on New Years’ Day. That’s who I’m cutting my night short (and missing sleep) for the sake of…

But it’s not just my job that I’ve grown weary of. I have plenty of friends and opportunities to go out every weekend, even most weeknights. Yet that happy, often drunken face in the group photos from this party or that gathering hides the real story. Truth is, I feel like an underachiever on a number of fronts, with little to show for all the potential I apparently have. Alcohol distracts me from this feeling and it numbs the anxiety- but I never really escape the situation. It’s always just around the corner again when I sober up…

I went through a period in Winter where I’d be stirred from sleep hours earlier than normal, a knot in my gut and a weight in my chest. I’d lie there, wondering if things got better- or was this how the rest of my life would be- an underwhelming existence, just another case of “what might have been”? What if this was something I just had to get used to? Maybe this was the life I deserved? Maybe the only way to get out of this was by putting on an act and playing the part of someone else every waking hour? Because maybe the real me didn’t have what it took to get where I wanted to be?

But standing here, looking across the Brisbane River at the office buildings and high-rise apartment blocks of the CBD, I’ve overcome the worst. The last few months- more or less the time since my birthday- has brought a few reminders that I am better than my circumstances, and neither am I too far off the path leading where I really want to go. Just a few small steps, in fact. So I’ve worked my way back, Christmas has come and gone and now here I am- waiting for midnight to strike, for this year to join every one before it and become history at last…

Soon enough, a few people begin counting down out loud:

10…

9…

8…

Straight away voices from everywhere join them by the second-

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

The sky lights up. Fireworks boom and shriek, high above the riverside. I get this sensation as if I’m on the very edge of something. Like tuning a radio and through the static you think you hear a voice. I think back over the past 18 months of my life just gone. I recognise how far it’s been from the life I really want, at heart.

Why should it be this way?

Whatever I have to do, whatever it takes these next 12 months to get where I want to be- I’ll do it. I’ve had enough of life how it is, I’m done with this. No more… 

I think this to myself and make the decision right there, standing on the rooftop as people celebrate around me. I feel free and uninhibited. As if despite what came up until now, from here anything is doable. Suddenly, I feel like from this point, I can take any direction and achieve whatever I seek.

I still drove home in the early hours. I still got to the store at 9:30am to open. That part didn’t change.

My life didn’t transform into a highlights reel overnight- but in the 12 months that followed, steady, definite changes took place:

I quit my job and started a new one.

I got serious about starting a business where I utilised my writing skills.

I met new people and formed stronger bonds with those I already knew.

I moved house.

New ideas, realisations, and opportunities manifested into my life.

Since then, so much else has changed in addition to all that-

The state of my life

How content I am

What I stop to appreciate and recognise

The quality of my thoughts

How I spend my time and how I feel each day

And of course, taking the step to found this business and build it up from there

Like I said, it didn’t all happen straight away, but the entire journey started that New Years’ Eve in the middle of Summer, nearly 8 years back…

This is just one example of what manifests in life when you make a firm decision. In doing so, there’s a weight behind it that has far more power and momentum than we might realise.

There are things we’ve dreamt of that can translate into reality with startling accuracy- things that once seemed like only fantasy can become so common-place in our lives that we nearly begin to take them for granted.

Opportunities, ideas, experiences, people, connections- all waiting somewhere down that line, on the other side of you making an absolute decision.

Whatever you dream of, whatever your heart goes out to- now is the time to answer that yearning, that desire that won’t sleep.

As soon as you know what it is?

Make a decision.

Make a decision, so clear and absolute that you remember it. You won’t believe the journey it takes you on…

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