From time to time, clients I’m working with are selling “new” concepts and products.
Often this happens in the consulting business, where someone wants to share new ways of doing things… but it also happens when new technology, or when new products come out.
Selling new things is always a challenge, because it violates the simplest, and most reliable rule of how to be successful in business: “Sell stuff people want to buy.”
In this case, part of your sale has to include some sort of “education.” And educating people is always difficult, right?
Sure it is. So let’s take a look at an example of how to do this, without stressing out and creating too much anxiety — for you OR for your buyers:
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ATTENTION:
Current and prior customers ONLY
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Often, new things are best sold using two-step lead generation. I’ll assume you know what this is, for today’s tip.
Let’s say you’re selling a new type of financial product.
New financial products and new types of investments come out all the time, typically in response to some kind of meltdown or another.
But the marketplace is smart – it reinvents itself and forces new ideas to come out, once old ones no longer work.
When I was a financial planner back in the early 1990’s, I saw this pretty consistently — new products constantly evolve in response to one crisis or another.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and the financial markets are no exception to this rule.
And the best way of selling these new products isn’t to sell the product, it’s to sell the benefit of the product to the target marketplace.
So when equity indexed annuities came out, for example… they were developed in response to one of the many market crashes over the years.
They offered conservative investors a way to take advantage of at least some market gains, while protecting their initial investment against any downside.
These annuity contracts are actually quite complicated, and few people (including me), really understand how they work. As a matter of fact, I’m sure the people who came up with them don’t understand how they work, either, like most financial products.
Which… is why the last recession started, but… that’s another topic.
Anyway, the underlying investments in these annuities are based on sales of future contracts, and basically… the people behind these products are “betting” on the market, one way or another — and then hedging against their own downside.
It’s kind of a legal Ponzi scheme, really. In a sense that a bunch of people are collecting money and no one REALLY knows what the outcome of any of this is… but in the meanwhile, as long as it’s going on… everybody looks good on paper.
And the good news is… if the big insurance companies think they’re going to take a bath, all they need to do is package up their investments and sell ’em on Wall Street. At least… if you believe the movie “Margin Call,” that’s what happens 🙂
So… let’s look at how to sell this, because obviously, this thing is so complicated, if you try and educate someone about it… you’re going to scare them away before you get very far.
Plus, most of the people selling these things can’t explain how they work, any more than I can explain how a car engine works, or what happens after you turn the key.
And saying something like, “How this new investment product lowers your risk AND makes you a bundle!” isn’t going to attract anyone you really want. Unless you happen to do planning for a bunch of business opprotunity seekers.
Which is probably NOT a lucrative business, at all.
What you want, is serious investors. Stable families with high net worths, you can develop long-term relationships with… who will continue working with you in all areas of their planning.
So let’s take a look at what we DO know:
Marketplace:
1. High net worth people…
2. Who currently have cash to invest…
3. Or who have liquid investments that are underperforming… (like CDs)
4. People who want to participate in the stock market…
5. But who are risk-averse to fluctuations in principal balance…
6. And who don’t mind tying up their cash for long periods of time (say… 7 to 15 years)
If you want to market these products, then you’ll want to either drive people to a Free Workshop… a free 5-Step Family Planning Meeting with you… or to a Free Report which then sends them to a 5-Step Planning Meeting with you in your office.
So, you’d want to use something short and sweet, like this:
Attention, Long-Term Investors Bored With Low Rate CD’s and Muni Funds:
Are you a high net-worth investor who’s had it “up to here” trying to beat inflation? Are you sick of having to put your net worth at risk, to earn any kind of respectable return?
(Copy like this, really qualifies your target market.)
If so, then you MUST attend this exciting new workshop, called “How To Make SURE You Don’t Outlive Your Money!”
Here are some of the many things you’ll discover at this workshop:
* The 3 Biggest Mistakes high net-worth investors make, that cost you thousands!
* The secret weapon to growing your net worth, consistently used by American’s oldest and wealthiest families. And…
* How to know what to look for when you’re investing — and… maybe even more important — how to know what to look OUT for!
This is an information workshop ONLY — nothing will be sold here.
If you like having your money working for you, but dislike having to worry about the safety of your principal, then you MUST attend this free workshop.
To reserve your seat, simply call….
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Then, at your meeting, you educate your prospects and existing customers about these things.
In all likelihood, they will ask you for recommendations.
Your response to this question should be something like, “Well, I hate to make specific recommendations without knowing your specific situation. It would be like making a medical diagnosis without giving you a thorough exam — it borders on Malpractice.
However, I do have a thorough “financial health examination” I do, called a 5-Step Family Planning Meeting. There’s no cost to take this exam, no selling involved, and once we’re through, we’ll be able to identify the 5 Biggest Mistakes you’re making…”
And so on.
If you’ve done a good job at your presentation, you should be able to convert a rather large percentage of these attendees to Family Planning Meetings… and from there, well… you know the rest.
Remember, it’s MUCH easier to inform than educate — and it’s much easier to inform qualified people who want to hear what you’re talking about in the first place.
Let me know if you have any questions, by posting your questions or comments below.
And in the meantime…
Do YOU have a new idea you’re wanting to roll out? A new marketing campaign you’d love some insight on running? Then make sure you’re on this Thursday’s Maximum Money Club Call. Ask me what you’ve got going on and I’ll give you the short-cuts to getting it done.
The call is open to all Seductive Selling Newsletter Subscribers. And now you can try Seductive Selling FREE, and discover why Seductive Selling is read in 15 countries world-wide and in it’s 7th year of publication.
Now go sell something, Craig Garber
P.S. Discover how to create warmth and rapport in your sales copy
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