Let me first say, I'm not sharing this to brag in the least. I just want to demonstrate the power of the ROI close.
Let Me Take You Back About 12 Years...
I hinted in a newsletter to some business owners that I would be announcing some "big news" very soon.
Within a few hours of sending the newsletter, I received an email from the owner of a cosmetic surgery center who was thanking me for my newsletter.
Then he asked me the following two questions:
1. What was the big news?
2. How could he find out more about my coaching services?
Regarding QUESTION 1, I told him sorry, he would have to wait for the announcement just like everyone else, but that I really appreciated his excitement.
Regarding QUESTION 2, I asked him why he was asking about something that wasn't even open to the public yet.
He responded that's the kind of person he is... he likes exclusivity.
So we scheduled a call for two days later to see if he would be qualified to join this program.
It's All About the ROI
I spoke with this doctor for just under 30 minutes today, 28 to be exact. The conversation couldn't have gone any smoother... until we hit a little bump in the road.
CLIENT: "I don't doubt you are everything you say you are... but if I commit for a year... how do I know that my investment will pay off?"
ME: "I completely understand why you're asking this question. We're talking $120,000 for the year... it's not exactly a small investment."
CLIENT: "Exactly."
ME: "Let me ask you a question: Are you invested in the market? Stocks, bonds, CDs., etc.?" (Mind you, I knew from before he was high net-worth and heavily invested. Don't ask that question if the answer is no.)
CLIENT: "Sure. All of that, plus mutual funds and some other things."
ME: "Would you mind if I asked you what type of annual return would make you ecstatic? I don't mean happy, I mean ECSTATIC. Would a 40% ROI in one year make you want to do back flips?"
CLIENT: (Laughing) "Yes, 40% would definitely put a big smile on my face."
ME: "Good. So I guess a 100 or even 200 or 300% ROI in one year would pretty much give you a heart attack, right?"
CLIENT: (Laughing again): "I hope not!"
ME: "Of course, God forbid, but it would be probably the best investment you ever made, right?"
CLIENT: "Yes, I would say so."
ME: "Great. So let me put things into perspective. While you're jumping for joy potentially making 40 or even 50% ROI on your investments, if you're lucky, I help clients routinely double and triple their money using a different investment. You know what it is?"
CLIENT: "Let me guess..."
ME:
"It's Better Than Gold...
It's Called MARKETING!"
ME: "You see, despite what people say... what you hear on the news... what so many financial people might tell you, there's no investment I can think of that can make you more money, faster, with minimal risk and on-demand than marketing can. You can invest $50,000 or $100,000 today... and months later... you can have hundreds of thousands in your bank account."
CLIENT: "Yes, but it's risky."
ME: "Well, I'd be lying to you if I said there was 0 risk. But what I can promise you is when you're working with someone who at the top of his field, the risk goes down significantly... it's almost minuscule... but the upside is tremendous. It really comes down to ROI. Do you want to work one-on-one with me and possibly achieve a triple-digit ROI... or do you want to put your money in the market and count pennies?
The client was down for the count. He had no comeback because I covered his two main areas of concern: ROI and risk. (To be honest, the hundreds of testimonials I've acquired over the years did much of the selling for me... but... I still had to overcome his sticking points myself.)
The client agreed to a one-year agreement and was feeling great about it.
I urge you to review what I did above using the ROI method. Almost every business owner can apply it to their business with minor tweaks. Very few entrepreneurs use this approach... when you really think about it... the price of almost any product or service you are offering can be justified using the ROI close: "Look at how much more value you will receive versus what you're paying now."
Hope you can apply this to your business.