Why do people continue to allow these lies to hinder their own success?

[Khalid Adam]

I have been wondering why some people take the following as truth and blame the economy, customers, staff, competition when they struggle?

Which one of these do you NOT believe in & how did you come to realise that they are self imposed shackles?

Now I realise that all of them work but they are the unnecessary hard approach to business success.

1. “Make more phone calls today than you did yesterday.”

2. “You’ve just got to get in front of more people.”

3. “You should run some ads and get your name out there.”

4. “Prove to your customer that you’re willing to work harder, drive more miles, and bend over further than everyone else to earn his business.”

5. “You have to pay your dues now, but in only 2-3 years you’ll have enough customers and referrals that you won’t have to cold prospect hardly at all.”

6. “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”

7. “People need to see your ad 6-12 times before they’ll remember it.”

8. “If you want to educate customers about new ideas, you have to buy ‘em all doughnuts, lunch or dinner, and do a big dog & pony show.”

9.“You can’t charge a premium price for a commodity product.”

[yourvirtualboard]

Originally Posted by Khalid Adam

I have been wondering why some people take the following as truth and blame the economy, customers, staff, competition when they struggle?

Which one of these do you NOT believe in & how did you come to realise that they are self imposed shackles?

1. “Make more phone calls today than you did yesterday.”

2. “You’ve just got to get in front of more people.”

3. “You should run some ads and get your name out there.”

4. “Prove to your customer that you’re willing to work harder, drive more miles, and bend over further than everyone else to earn his business.”

5. “You have to pay your dues now, but in only 2-3 years you’ll have enough customers and referrals that you won’t have to cold prospect hardly at all.”

6. “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”

7. “People need to see your ad 6-12 times before they’ll remember it.”

8. “If you want to educate customers about new ideas, you have to buy ‘em all doughnuts, lunch or dinner, and do a big dog & pony show.”

9.“You can’t charge a premium price for a commodity product.”

For a start-up I'd say that at least 5 apply and if you did a survey of active members on here I'd guess a high percentage would be in that phase.

For me personally when I started, it took 2 years before enough quality referrals started coming so that I didn't have to make so many phone calls but initially I made a lot of calls and got in front of a lot of people. If you're not prepared to work harder, drive more miles, and bend over further than everyone else to earn his business - what are you really saying?

[Khalid Adam]

I guess i can conduct a survey but how many solos enter into self employment after investing time and money on courses/coahing/consulting about attracting clients?

what i am really saying that these are lies that have spread like cancer and the only reason they "apply" is because people are chasing customers (prospecting) instead of setting up a system that bypasses all 9 lies and makes prospects chase them (positioning).

by the way, this is no secret and i didnt learn it on my own (not a genius). there are courses available on positioning, building sales pipelines, becoming experts so that people come to you, so i dont understand why people still do it the hard way.

For example, it took you 2 years to attract enough quality referrals. I did it in 3 months when i went into finance brokering after real estate and with no prior experience in finance.

how? i went to a seminar on getting referrals for mortage brokers back in 2003. The presenter taught us how to position ourselves as the niche expert and approach real estate agents to get referrals even if they have their own finance arm.

so if you are aware that at least some of these are lies, what happened for you to realise this?

for me, it was the initial seminar and the ongoing self development by investing in courses on positioning.

[The Infotainer]

I tend to agree with 7

but the rest are rubbish

although I thought 7 was 3-9 times but then again I never did business or marketing courses to compare that to

[JohnSheppard]

For the sake of being arguementative;

How do you charge a premium price for a commodity product?

Like you can wrap it in pretty ribbon or something, but...then it's no longer a commodity?

Also...no matter how well you position yourself...you still have to do a certain amount of advertising...

For example...I'm really good looking...but none of you guys would know that

[Khalid Adam]

ok how about optimum results come after 3-9 times but if it you get no result from the first time, change the pitch/offer/message?

what do you mean by "the rest are rubbish"? do you accept them as lies or do you believe that they are "facts" of business life?

You are a valued member (at least in my eyes) on FS so please share your experience.

Originally Posted by The Infotainer

I tend to agree with 7

but the rest are rubbish

although I thought 7 was 3-9 times but then again I never did business or marketing courses to compare that to

[Khalid Adam]

you mean like selling ordinary fruit as a fruit basket or corporate gift basket with other healthy stuff?

once we understand that people DO NOT pay for the "thing" you sell or do but for the experience before, during and after the transaction.

another example is starbucks vs dunking donuts. both sell coffee so why such a difference? well for starters, there are no small, medium or large at starbucks. they changed the language to ensure their difference. Second, the pastries, third the experience. justifies the price.

then look at cars. a humble toyota aurion comes in at least 2 versions. same cars. different add ons. then you can look at a sedan and how they are turned into coups or amgs and m3s and the price changes again.

Experience, perception, position draws clients out of the woods.

there is advertising that is designed to get response (positioning) and advertising that gets nothing (Waste of money?).

This video might be helpful to understand how a commodity can be sold at premium price.

Originally Posted by JohnSheppard

For the sake of being arguementative;

How do you charge a premium price for a commodity product?

Like you can wrap it in pretty ribbon or something, but...then it's no longer a commodity?

Also...no matter how well you position yourself...you still have to do a certain amount of advertising...

For example...I'm really good looking...but none of you guys would know that

[The Infotainer]

they are statements based on no data to support them

[JohnSheppard]

Originally Posted by Khalid Adam

you mean like selling ordinary fruit as a fruit basket or corporate gift basket with other healthy stuff?

Yeah thats pretty much what I mean...like as soon as you dress up the commodity it's not really commodity any more...

Like if you look at the supermarket shelves....plain cous cous, plain spaghetti, plain milk, etc, are all low priced because...they're commodity...all the same...

Make them different any how you like it and it's no longer commodity, and they all command a higher price...

Originally Posted by Khalid Adam

This video might be helpful to understand how a commodity can be sold at premium price.

I didn't watch it all, I don't have the time for videos (can't scan them)...the video is a good reminder though...but again he is differentiating, which doesn't make it a commodity any more...

Like that guy, positioning yourself in the high end is the sensible thing to do if you are about making money...it's certainly alot more difficult tho



hmm but then I guess maybe I'm just arguing semantics...probably am actually...

[JamesMillar]

Originally Posted by Khalid Adam

I have been wondering why some people take the following as truth and blame the economy, customers, staff, competition when they struggle?

Which one of these do you NOT believe in & how did you come to realise that they are self imposed shackles?

1. “Make more phone calls today than you did yesterday.”

2. “You’ve just got to get in front of more people.”

3. “You should run some ads and get your name out there.”

4. “Prove to your customer that you’re willing to work harder, drive more miles, and bend over further than everyone else to earn his business.”

5. “You have to pay your dues now, but in only 2-3 years you’ll have enough customers and referrals that you won’t have to cold prospect hardly at all.”

6. “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”

7. “People need to see your ad 6-12 times before they’ll remember it.”

8. “If you want to educate customers about new ideas, you have to buy ‘em all doughnuts, lunch or dinner, and do a big dog & pony show.”

9.“You can’t charge a premium price for a commodity product.”

Hey Khalid - what are your views on item 9. We've had ongoing debates in our office about this one. Some say yes and some say no.