Love ‘Em More

Chapter 8 of Make ‘Em Beg To Be Your Client!

Many coaches and consultants follow a launch style business model. The way it works is they will buy a bunch of ads to build up their list. Then they offer their list a free webinar where they make a pitch. There is a (falsely imposed) window to purchase whatever they are selling and the sooner (or later) you buy the more bonuses you get. I’ve had the whole process explained to me no fewer than a dozen times and every time, I am cursed with a bad case of situational narcolepsy. I just can’t keep my eyes open it sounds so exhausting.

The list is mostly burned out by the end of these launch shenanigans, and so when the coach wants to launch again, they have to go through the whole exhausting process from the start. They end up with a massive list of non-buyers which seems to give them the credibility to do speaking events and telesummits and podcast interviews where they don’t really get clients or help anyone, but I think it soothes their ego.

I probably wouldn’t have a problem with any of this if it led to hope, healing, transformation, or just generally making the world a better place. Sadly, it doesn’t. These coaches then have massive refund rates, and even the clients who don’t refund their purchases often never open the course or take any action. Instead the client feels guilty for spending money and not using the product. Instead of bringing hope and healing, the coach has created space for shame and guilt to thrive.

I know this model works for many people and if that’s you, God Bless. This is just one perspective. But to me, in order to grow and fund a movement that matters and to leave the world more beautiful than you found it, there is only one business model that makes sense: Love your prospects. Love your clients more.

And let me just go ahead and define what I mean by love for you. To love a prospect you need to see them, to hear them, and to feel them. You have to “seek first to understand, and then be understood.” You aren’t trying to sell them something. Your business has key performance indicators. Those are numbers. But your clients aren’t numbers. They are actual humans, with actual families, and actual dreams. They aren’t transactions in a log book.

Your responsibility to your business is to make something sellable and sell it. But your responsibility to your client, in my opinion, is to get them the result you promised. Your focus is to close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. And if you can’t do that, you should not have extended an offer.

But here is the funny thing about life: We don’t stop dreaming when our dreams come true.

The Dream After the Dream

My clients come to me because they want to write a book. If I make them an offer, they will get that dream. It’s as good as done. With over 400 authors, I’ve only had three not finish their books, and one of those people died. We have a better than 99% success rate. But I’m not gonna lie: I stack the deck! I just don’t make offers to people whose dream I can’t make come true, in almost every case.

When they are standing on the mountain top, book in hand, dream fulfilled, you would think that would be the moment we hug and part ways. But that’s not what happens. Instead, I watch as their pupils get larger and it dawns on them:

Oh fuck, now I actually have to market this thing!

Now, if my clients were just commodities, maybe I wouldn’t care. But it turns out, I fell in love with them way back on the sales call. We’ve journeyed together to make their dream come true. We’ve weathered a lot of storms together. Writing a book in nine weeks is not for the weak-willed. And now, this actual human that I actually love, has a new dream that I know how to help them get too. After all, I’ve generated over $10,000,000 from books I’ve marketed in the last four years alone. I really don’t know anyone else in the world who could help them take their book and use it to fill their coaching or consulting business faster or more effectively.

And so, I have a second book marketing offer that I only sell to successful book writing clients. In that program, I teach these new authors how to use their book to grow their business and hold them accountable to implementing the plans we create together.

This is the model I recommend for you too. What is the new dream that is created when you help your clients solve the problem they have when they meet you?

Finding New Customers Is Expensive

There are two marketing concepts you need to know to really understand the business model I want to teach you.

Cost per acquisition, where you calculate the money you spend to get a new customer in the door.

Life time value, which is the total revenue you can expect to make from the customer.

Hopefully it won’t surprise you to learn that if you cost per acquisition (CPA) is more than your life time value (LTV), you are definitely not funding your movement. In fact, your CPA should be about 10-20% of your LTV.

Say your cost per acquisition to get a client is $1000, and your program is $1000. What you discover here is you don’t make any money, right? But let’s say your program is $1000, but that for clients who have a new dream at the end of the program, you offer a more comprehensive follow up program that is $10,000. And let’s say 50% of your clients buy this second offer. Now your CPA is $1,000 but your LTV is $6,000. That’s a 6X return on your investment. I challenge you to find any stock that returns at that rate!

The 10X ATM

Picture walking into the center of your town, and you stick $1,000 in an envelope. You put it into the ATM machine, and the ATM machine gives you $6,000 back. How often would you use this ATM machine? If you had to walk uphill in the rain, but the ATM machine was open today, would you go to the ATM machine? Yes, you would!

And this is the sort of ATM machine we want to build in your living room, or your home office if you have one.

There are other business models, but hands down, by far, this is the most effective way to build a 6x, or even a 10x ATM in your living room.

Now, not surprisingly, it can be a difficult ATM to build. Who the fuck would let you build a 10x ATM in your living room without drama? Think of how it could be used if it didn’t require you to actually do some emotional work on yourself to build this. But the business tactics themselves are not that difficult. I’ve covered many of them in this book. The bigger challenge is the personal growth and leadership skills required for this kind of momentum. That’s why a business coach alone won’t get you to your goals. You must go deep and do your own work on your blocks and limitations if you want this ATM at your house.

I will say, if you believe in changing the world and have always wanted to reach more people and make a bigger difference, it sure is handy!

What Funding a Movement Requires

The unfair advantage of this particular business model I am teaching in this chapter, is that you have more money to acquire customers than if you have to acquire customers for 10-20% of a single program. If you only have a budget of $100 – $200 to get a new customer, it will make it significantly harder to get customers than if you have $600 or even $1000.

Most people I know who run low-dollar, launch-based businesses, are running so close to their margins they don’t have anything left over to fund a movement.

It might be possible with that model to build a small lifestyle business, but it isn’t going to really fund a movement. Your very first responsibility is to decide if you just want to focus on a tiny lifestyle business that gets your bills paid, or if you want a business that is not only sold out but gives you time and money to reach a bigger audience.

In your follow up product, you don’t necessarily need to teach anything new. Most second level programs are about accountability and implementation. The question to ask yourself is: What is the best way for your clients to implement what they learned in your program?

If they already have a plan to implement what they have learned from you, or if they can look you in the eye and say they don’t want to implement the plan, then let them go with love. It’s only your job to listen and serve if you can.

This is a totally different model of business than most coaches, healers, and consultants ever learn. It is quite standard in most other industries, however. And you have to understand if you’re building a 10x ATM in your living room, it won’t happen overnight. I promise you: It’s so worth it. Expect this to take a year of concentrated effort. Don’t be entitled and think it should happen overnight. But it’s worth the focus so you can fund your movement and do what you intend to make the biggest possible impact on this planet, as fast as possible.

Get the rest of the chapters of Make ‘Em Beg To Be Your Client! here.