spend-moreWhat a powerful, life-changing week!

I may just be full of myself, but I think I’ve just delivered you tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of value this week alone.  (That is, if you use it.)

First, on Monday, I broke down positioning, why it’s critical for anyone billing themselves as a consultant, copywriter, freelancer, coach, or other expert.  Including, some specific, actionable strategies for positioning yourself at the top of your field.

Then, on Tuesday, I revealed the supply-demand ratio, and why this is the one thing you MUST master if you want to get off the work-client-income roller coaster, and be constantly booked with clients willing to pay you premium fees just for the privilege of doing business with you.

On Wednesday, I shared the powerful principle of Takeaway Selling, what it is, why it works, and how to do it like a rock star.  As long as you’re doing “push” selling, like the vast majority of salespeople, you’ll always struggle to close deals, and you won’t get high fees or respect from the clients and customers you get.

Yesterday, on Thursday, I cut right to the core of buyer psychology, and revealed why people REALLY buy, and specifically how to walk them through the decision-making process to get them to buy from you.

I should just quit now.  Hang up the gloves.  Call it good.  I win.

Because if you were to STOP consuming marketing, selling, copywriting, and business information TODAY, and simply focus the rest of your life and career on applying those principles, you’d definitely end up in the top 10% of income earners in our industry, if not the top 1%.

You should literally be throwing money at me right now.

(You think I’m kidding but I’m not.  You should estimate how much this information is worth to you, then send me just 5% of that as my royalty for helping you dramatically boost your income.  That’s a PayPal link, so it’s super-easy to just stop leeching off all this amazing free information, and give me monetary kudos for how much I’m enriching your life.  I have a cheeky grin while I write this, but you can decide for yourself how serious I am.)

Today, let’s talk about the one secret massively high-growth businesses and entrepreneurs get right, that the vast majority of wannabes, novices, and also-rans totally screw up…

Before you read on, I want you to answer this question…

Is it better to spend MORE or spend LESS to get a new customer?

Really, don’t read on.

Answer it.

Do you have your answer yet?

Is it better to spend more or less to get a new customer?

At this point you’re thinking it’s a trick question.  And maybe you’re right.

But I still want you to answer it before I reveal the right answer.

It’s okay to be wrong today — but once you know the real answer, you don’t want to be wrong tomorrow.

Is this enough filler text so people who try to skip down and read the answer have at least given their subconscious first response?

Let’s say it is.

Here’s the answer…  You should be excited to spend MORE to get a new customer.

This is the exact opposite of how most business people think.  It seems to go against our nature.  Yes, we want more revenue.  But really, we want more PROFITS.  And there are two ways to get more profits.  Make more, and spend less.

Until you really get the system down, making more can feel difficult.  Uncertain, at the very least.  Spending less is something you can wrap your mind around.  Try to spend as little as possible to get every new customer in through the door.

The only problem is, that dramatically limits your top line revenue!

If you’re willing to spend more to bring in a new customer, you can avail yourself of all kinds of benefits!

— Spending more gives you a broader reach.  You can advertise in more media, spend more on direct mail, advertise on more websites, and so on…  All in search of reaching the broadest segment of your market possible.

— Spending more also allows you to make a more impressive impression.  Take the company that sends a one-page follow-up letter, or a single email when you inquire about their services.  Or maybe, they answer the phone but they never follow up.  Compare that to the company that sends you a book (or five) from the CEO/President/Founder, a video series introducing you to whatever it is they do, a multi-media and multi-touch follow-up campaign, a huge packet of stuff in the mail, and so on.  Which are you more excited about?

— Spending more allows you to raise your prices, which has all kinds of benefits.  If you’re spending more, you’re bringing more interested leads in through the door.  In every group of leads, there is a small percentage willing and able to spend A LOT MORE than all the others for the solution you offer, and statistically you’ll be speaking with more of them if you’re speaking with more leads in general.  If you price for them (and accept that the low-spenders will go somewhere else), you will make a ton more revenue than you would otherwise, and that will more than offset your spending.

— Spending more combined with raising your prices allows you to invest more in customer experience.  Because you’ve raised your prices, you have a lot more wiggle room with the income that comes in.  That means you deliver a better, more interesting customer experience to the people who are doing business with you, more than justifying the increased price.

— Spending more to create more leads and customers willing to give you money also makes your life easier.  More leads and prospects means it’s easier to say “No” to bad fits or potential problem clients.  You know ‘em — the kinds of customers and clients who will make your life a living hell.  The bottom 5% of your client pool who makes up 95% of your customer service headaches.  Most of these will naturally go elsewhere when you raise prices, and when one does try to slip through, you will find it easier to turn them away because you see the line of prospects behind them with checks in hands.

— And, the long-term effect of being willing to spend the MOST on acquiring a new customer is that it puts you at the top of the niche.  All else being equal, the company who is willing to spend the most to acquire a new customer wins.  They show up everywhere, which gives customers the impression that they’re the biggest, even if they aren’t yet.  Their willingness to spend more on media drives out cheapskate competitors.  They do a better job of converting prospects, because of all they put into the selling system.  They deliver a better customer experience, so they get better word of mouth.  The effect of all these little advantages compound until they’ve risen to the top.

The advantages add up when you are willing to spend the most…

In Tuesday’s essay, I really underscored the need to put supply-demand firmly in your favor.

This is really the secret to doing it.

Now, it’s going to look different for different businesses.

For example, you have to careful about overtly selling your services in media if you want to do takeaway selling.  You may have to put a layer of media (the book, the package of stuff, the webinars, and so on) in between you and the lead generation ad, so you can legitimately do takeaway when you have interested prospects.

Or, maybe your spending focus is investing in being at seminars, and similar events.  There is such a distinct difference I’ve seen between folks who will make these investments and those who won’t, that I chalk it up as just another proof point for today’s lesson.

If you do sell “stuff” (products, info, etc.) then you have to figure out how to maximize the money you’re spending to get a customer in the door for the first time.  This most likely means optimizing what you do AFTER the first sale to maximize their lifetime value.

The key is to figure out how to make it work for YOU, in your unique situation.

If you do that, I promise it will be a breakthrough.

Yours for bigger breakthroughs,

Roy Furr