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Lesson Info

Identify Other Offer Opportunities

Identifying other offer opportunities, or, in the example of the ax, the accessories. We need to know what are going to be the accessories, so that we can maximize the amount of value we're creating for your customers, and optimizing the amount of profit that your business is making. In other words, we're gonna start looking at what the other two pillars in your business model are. When I say that three-pillar business model, I'm talking about three pillars that will lift your business up and make it as great as it could be, make your highest contribution as high, as impactful as it could be. So, as I've been saying, buying and using a product, a service, an offer, a program, it changes us. It changes our experience. Ideally, it should, because value's transformation. We are different people with different experiences at the end of using a product. I like to think about life before and after Uber and Lift, right? (laughing) Before Uber and Lift, I would have to stress out about how I w...

as gonna get from one point in a strange city to another, and now I do not stress out about it. My experience of being in a strange city is measurably different because of my familiarity with this product. We can talk about the merits of that product, and the regulatory things around that product, but my experience as a consumer is different because of my interaction, my engagement with that product. Shawn is out somewhere in San Francisco right now, not stressing about how he's gonna get here this afternoon, because he knows all he has to do is call an Uber. My little Montana mouse (laughing). So that's huge. Your product has that same opportunity. It's going to create that same kind of transformation, that same kind of change. And the more we track that, the more we see an opportunity to create another offer. Just like Uber does, right? Uber doesn't just get you where you need to go, they've been experimenting with bringing you food, I think there was something about bringing you pets... They do weird things. Uber is weird. (laughter) But, they're experimenting with other opportunities because of the transformation that they've created for people. You associate a certain transformation with things, you're going to trust them to help you do something else in a similar vein, that next accessory. And so that means that every time we scratch an itch, fulfill a desire, or ease a frustration, we discover a new need, desire, frustration, or goal. That need, desire, frustration, or goal is the opportunity for your next offer. So, this is what your customer journey currently looks like, but this is what it can look like next. We can add a follow-up offer into your journey. Now, a lot of people, a lot of people, start with offering an entry-level product next. You get that core offer down, and you're like, "Now we need an entry-level product." I do not recommend that. We're gonna talk a little bit about it, but I'm gonna talk about it in a different way. For the vast majority of you here, you listening or watching, a follow-up offer is going to help you create a larger transformation for your customer faster, it's gonna put more money in your bank account a lot faster, and it's going to dramatically increase your dollar per transaction value without you needing to go out and rush to find tons of new customers right away. So having a core offer and a follow-up offer is enough to get the engine of your business really working. Your core offer kind of becomes the entry-level offer in this scenario. This is sort of two pillars. A lot of businesses work really great with two pillars. So, core offer, follow-up offer, because once your core offer has solved a need for your customer, they discover a new need. What is that new need that they discover? That's your follow-up offer. Any ideas? Jennifer, what do you think's gonna come next for you? You're gonna help people get more grants accepted, or grant applications submitted and accepted. What's the next thing? Yeah, and that's the one that I've been thinking about, is where does this go, there? Because, for me, when I'm thinking the core thing, simplest terms, is understanding how to have more powerful messaging about what you're writing, and then you're using it as artist statements, or grant applications, or proposals. So the thing is, then, am I helping them see what the next big project is? And help them develop a greater vision for where their art could go. I don't know, that's what I'm thinking about. That could be it, absolutely. Because, I know when you start getting people submitting more grants, and getting those grants accepted, they're gonna start asking all those what-if questions. They're gonna see a whole new possibility for themselves as artists. And so, filling in, literally, that next question is, "What if? What if I could be this kind of an artist? "What if people mentioned my name "at the same time they mentioned these artists' names?" It's all those what-if questions. That's what I would have an answer to. And it's interesting, because I think that, depending on the media you work in, there are different options. Some people can scale. I have a friend who does bronze sculpture, so getting more people in to help her cast. If you're a painter, what does scaling look like for you, so you can create more work? You know, what kind of studio helped you get in to do that? Or what kind of other ways can you... Cause now, if you're getting the money in, and there's more demand for your work, or you need to generate more work for bigger shows, how do you make that happen? Yeah. So, for you, thinking strategically... Let's, I'm gonna go back, here for a second. I'm gonna try and go back. The way you're gonna figure out that next step is by getting really clear on the specific ideal you want to help artists create. And that might mean actually getting more specific about what medium they're working in, or what scale could look like for them, what growth looks like for them. Because that's gonna help you... Again, you might have more outliers in the beginning of your journey, but as that journey moves on, the target customer's gonna get more and more specific, so that you can create more and more precise transformations. Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. Okay, cool. So this is, again, what your customer journey currently looks like. I took off the goals and the frustrations thing, cause that doesn't actually matter at this point, and I don't want anyone to get caught up on that. So, still starting with having an itch, and working towards the ideal, your core offer is somewhere on that journey, your follow-up offer is following somewhere after. Sometimes it's right away, sometimes it's a little bit further down the line, however that works out in your business. Yeah? Do you see the follow-up offer as something totally separate, or could you see the follow-up offer as an add-on, for instance? Right, yes, so, in my business, and likely in your business, it will be an add-on. It's another level, it's a programized version of what we offer. And I'm gonna get into a complete case study of how our three-pillar business model works, so feel free to rip it off. (laughing) And then, in other businesses, it's going to be a completely different program, a different service package. It might be a retainer package, in a consultancy model. So there's different ways to approach that. It's not necessarily a specific thing. But great question. Once you have these two things working in tandem, you start to get a system. By having a follow-up offer, you're actually gonna maximize your referrals, because what you're doing is creating customers who love you even more than they currently do. And once customers love you, your brand, your business, the transformation that they have experienced even more, they're much more likely to create referrals. So yes, a core offer can generate nice amount of referrals for you. But buying more from you, increasing the number of transactions, is actually also going to help you increase referrals. It's gonna dramatically increase that number of referrals. And then, at the same time, that means you're increasing the number of customers. So, this is how those three pieces are working. You are maximizing the number of times people buy from you, you're maximizing the amount of money they're spending with you, because that follow-up offer, most often, is more expensive then the initial offer, so you're creating a higher average transaction value, and you're increasing the number of customers. Beautiful! But it doesn't end there! For the third pillar, is what I'm gonna call first-step offer. Instead of entry-level, or inexpensive, or tripwire, or all of the other things that we've come to call this offer, I wanna call it a more functional name, something that applies more to the system that we're creating. So that first step is a way to get people on the path that they need to be on to be ready for your core offer, to get a taste of what's possible. And so that's the third pillar, that's the third thing that I think through developing. And again, if I'm moving people from first step to the core offer to follow-up offer, I'm maximizing referrals, I'm maximizing my transaction amount, and I'm maximizing the number of transactions. Because again, I'm taking people from this huge transformation in the follow-up offer, and I'm giving them a really easy way to refer others to me, through that first-step offer, or through the core offer. So now we're exponentially increasing the number of referrals we can get. We're creating a real system here for actually growing your business, based on what you're selling, not based on how hard you push your bargaining, not based on how sleazy you get with your sale systems, not based on how much money you spend on Facebook advertising, but we're increasing the number of customers you can serve just by the way you are building your business in the first place. That's huge, because what you should be seeing here, what this should look like to you, is less work. It's more focused work, it's more streamlined work, it's more systematized work. It means that every time you sell that core offer, you're setting yourself up to get more referrals to the first step. Every time you sell that core offer, you're pre-qualifying more people for that follow-up offer. Every time you sell the follow-up offer, you're getting more customers from your core offer and your first offer, because they're referring more people to you. So it becomes this whole self-perpetuating system. And then once we have that developed, or once it's in process, it doesn't all have to be done in order to do this, then we can amplify and accelerate your marketing and your sales so that you can get the most out of this. But the engine has to be there, even if the engine is just one product and it's kinda moving slow. I don't know engines, so I can't give you the real metaphor on that, but like a slower engine... (laughter) A V6, I don't know. And then there's a faster engine, maybe that's two offers. And then there's really fast engines that you pay a lot for, that's all three offers, and they're just working beautifully together. So again, increase the number of customers, increase the average transaction value per customer, and increase the number of transactions per customer. Questions? Yes. So, right now one of the things I do biweekly is a livestream about planning and organizing your business. It's completely free, so would you see that as a first step, or would you see that more as like, lead generation? It kinda depends on how you decide to build it. So, when I get into our case study, I'm gonna show you how our free trial is essentially our first step. We have a live show, too. It could be a first step, I'm gonna say it's lead gen, cause that's the way I've built the engine. You can choose to build the engine where that live, free show is your first step, maybe even for now. Maybe this is your interim plan. And that might actually influence, then, the way you approach that show, that lead generation, that marketing. You may say, "I'm actually trying to help people "take a first step on their journey. "And so, that means we need to cover "these kinds of subjects, it needs to be formatted "in this kind of way," all of those kinds of things. So that could actually influence your development, but it's your choice, ultimately. I wasn't sure if you were thinking that the first step is something people had to pay for, or if it could be free, as well. Not necessarily. Okay. Yeah. Greg? So, going back to our surveys, you're talking about your core offer. Do you use your surveys to figure out what the next offer's gonna be? Yup! Thank you. I would use surveys to figure out what all of the offers are going to be. (laughing) The more surveys, the better. Information. Any other questions? Jennifer? So, depending on the type of product, aka service, somebody may offer, is there a life cycle, in terms of, does somebody ultimately grow out of your offers? And then, that's okay, or are you shifting again? Yes, so, in the vast majority of businesses, at some point, your customers will "age out," and that's fine. Those customers take on a new role in your business, because if you've helped them come that far on their journey, they love you. And they are now a huge part of your referral engine. And so, you wanna keep in touch with them, you wanna check in with them. Maybe you do a special meet-up with them, or you just get them on the phone every so often, you say "Hey." But those people become a different part of, essentially, the engine behind your business. Now, they're no longer paying you in dollars, they're paying you in referrals, they're paying you in information, ideas. And they will appreciate that support and that opportunity, as well. I mean, at some point, the truth is, they're not gonna need you anymore. Most of us, not all of us, but most of us have the goal of our customers not needing us anymore. And when we get into that cycle of constantly creating new things to keep up with our customers, at some point, we're gonna get burned on that, because, if we're really helping our customers, they're going to decide, "You know, this has been great, and I love everything you do, but I think I'm gonna take a break." And I'm sure we've heard that from a lot of people, too. And so, you should prepare yourself and your business for that, instead of trying to keep up with it, and then somehow avoid it, cause you're not gonna avoid it. Yeah? Maria, did you have one? Yes. A question about the first-step offer. For now, I have a one-on-one 90-minute session. So my question to you is, I've been really looking at maybe creating a group program, so I can address more people at once, and have that as the first step, versus me, one-on-one, trying to talk people into even signing up for this, I call it the jump-start. So, what is your idea about that? Well, it can go either way. Those one-on-one sessions, you can get paid to sell people on other things, which is great, right? Yes. That's how it is now, yeah. Okay, yeah. That's a great way to run your business. So, if you're not feeling like, "I gotta change something," you're doing great. (laughing) Okay? On the other side, I wouldn't think about a group program as setting people up for buying a one-on-one session with you. That might set them up for buying a longterm one-on-one package with you. Yeah, that's what I was-- Gotcha, okay. To do. In that case, you've gotta make it so that the group program is focused on a particular itch, or question, or milestone that's going to get them to the place they need to be to feel comfortable, to feel prepared, working with you one-on-one. And so that's the question I would think about, is what is that one result, that one key valuable outcome, that one value proposition, that one job to be done, whichever one you like best, that I can get done for them in this group program, and it's gotta be something that's top-of-mind for them as well, that's gonna set them up and make them feel comfortable working with me one-on-one. Cause a lot of times, the barrier to entry to one-on-one coaching, consulting services, done-for-you services, is the client doesn't actually trust themselves enough to make use of that investment. And so, a group program like that can actually help them trust themselves, in addition to getting that other result out, so that they can then move on and feel really comfortable moving on with you. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, so it really can go either direction, just make it as specific as possible. The only other thing I will add to that, and it's not specific to your kind of business, but it's important, I think, in your kind of business, is that often, when people go looking for help with the kinds of things you help them with, they want a solution now. And that's why a jump-start session like that can work so well, because I can click a button, I can fill out a form, I can schedule on her calendar, and I know that that solution is coming up in a couple weeks, and that feels really, really good. But often, when people run group programs, it's only available two times a year, it's only available every quarter, and now you're putting your customers in a position where they're having to wait on something that feels really urgent. And so, what happens when you're asking them to wait for something that feels really urgent, is they go looking for solutions elsewhere. Good point, yeah. It's not an insurmountable problem, but it's one you wanna consider when you're thinking about this engine behind your business. Okay? Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. So, I've used the word business model a lot, engine, whatever you wanna think about it. Let's look at what that actually looks like, now. So we've got three offers, our three pillars, your first step, your core offer, and your follow-up. For each of these, as you plan this out, as you think through what your product plan is, you wanna create a value statement for each one of them. That's what we did in lessons two and three yesterday. You wanna understand where they're at in the customer journey. I'm helping people with this milestone, I'm helping people with this question, I'm helping people with this frustration. Where does that fall? What does that look like, specifically? How is your customer changed up to that point, and then, how are you gonna get them to the next step? You also wanna look at what the unique selling proposition is for each of those products. Essentially, what I'm saying is, everything that we've done so far for your core offer, you absolutely do need to repeat for your follow-up offer and your first step, so sorry (laughing). You need to set a price, and you need to set a sales goal, and you need to make sure that all of this works together to increase the number of customers that you're selling to, increase the transaction value for each transaction, and increase the number of transactions that each customer is having with you.