Gurus say things all the time to get attention for their ads–that’s nothing new. The danger is when you take their attention-getting devices too seriously. See why this latest guru’s “grabber” is harmful for companies that take the advice.
I think it’s funny when I see people doing things while telling people they’re not doing them. When you’ve got kids, you get to see this kinda stuff every day.
But when you see it in “the wild” it’s even better…
Yesterday I started seeing a bunch of ads for an online marketing guru who’s touting his system of selling high-ticket coaching without a website, content marketing, sales funnels, or any of the other online tools that common wisdom says you need to have.
It’s an interesting idea. Who wouldn’t want to ditch all these assets and focus on something easier?
First, let’s set aside the fact that the guru was saying he doesn’t need funnels to sell his high-ticket offer while using a funnel to sell his high-ticket offer.
(“The irony is strong with this one.”)
But when people challenge the beliefs of the masses, it makes sense to think through what they’re saying before you jettison your website, funnels, and other assets that make up your online footprint.
Let’s unpack what the guy is saying and see what’s really going on.
YOU DON’T NEED A WEBSITE TO SELL HIGH-TICKET OFFERS
The guy is completely correct: you DON’T need a website to sell high-ticket products.
In his case, he’s using a landing page software tied to webinar software, tied to a questionnaire that leads to a call.
So his sales process looks something like this:
Social Media Ad > Landing Page > Webinar > Questionnaire > Sales Call
And that’s not the only way to sell high-ticket products without a bunch of online assets…
· You can use direct mail…
· You can sell from the stage (if you’re a speaker)…
· You can meet people at networking events and conferences…
· You can place space ads in magazines and (gasp!) newspapers…
· You can make radio ads, TV ads, print ads on matchbook covers, posters above urinals…
… you get the idea.
And all of those ads could send people to a call center full of people whose job is to close the sale.
Moving on to the next claim that…
YOU DON’T NEED CONTENT MARKETING, BLOGS, OR PODCASTS
Before we unpack this, let’s step back and ask ourselves a question: what is content marketing?
The way I think about it, content marketing is teaching as way to pre-sell.
Yes, the content should lead to an offer, but it should also be valuable enough to stand on its own. The reader should get something useful out of it even if they don’t buy the product or service the article was written to sell.
One reason I like going to conferences so much is the new ideas I get from the speakers and attendees.
Even when you’re at an event that’s more of a pitch-fest, the best speakers lace their sales messages with tips, tricks, and other Easter eggs that make listening to it worthwhile.
It’s kinda like the other day when I was waiting for my wife at a coffee shop across from a guitar store with my son. He got a haircut and we were going to be waiting around for about ninety minutes. Since he didn’t have anything to do, I told him to go to the guitar store and learn something. He plays guitar, and I knew it would be fun for him to be around other guitar nerds.
Fun is an understatement.
My son came back about 45-minutes later completely delighted.
He’d walked up to one of the salespeople and asked about one of the guitars. Instead of just showing it to him, he took it down, made sure it was in tune, and handed it to my son to play for a while.
He played and chatted with the salesman. They talked about different songs, techniques, guitars, and the salesman gradually steered the conversation into an offer.
Now, I don’t know how serious he was when he offered my son the guitar for just $14,000 (the tag said $15,000, so it was a bargain!), but my son learned tons about guitars–including a little tidbit that since he enjoys fingerpicking, he should be looking at smaller guitars instead of the $15,000 cadillac he’d been playing for the past 30 minutes.
What happened with the sales scenario my son found himself in?
He built a relationship with the salesman…
They built rapport…
In a way, my son built a “relationship” with the guitar he was getting pitched on…
You can think of each of the steps my son went through as a pre-sell, and that’s exactly what content marketing is.
Sure, you can just pitch anybody who walks into a guitar store, but how effective is that versus what the salesman walked my son through…
· He chose the instrument
· He chatted with the salesman about the instrument
· They talked through different guitar playing techniques, and the salesman taught him a few things
· He played the instrument
· They talked some more about other guitars that would be better suited for my son’s playing style
All this before the pitch.
Ditch the content marketing, and you’re ditching the pre-sell…
(Of course, our guru is using his webinar as his pre-sell, so even he isn’t completely ditching content marketing either.)
Anyways, it was a provocative idea–but not much more.
Yes, simplify your sales process as much as possible.
Don’t make your business, offers, and processes so complicated that they bog down any forward sales momentum.
But don’t jettison the assets and efforts that do the setup work for your sales team.
If you’re in need of a marketing strategy (or direct response copy) to bring your business leads and boost sales, send me an email at [email protected] and we’ll set up a call.
