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Let me tell you a quick story. Many years ago, I had put together
my marketing coaching services as a package of three sessions that I
charged a few hundred dollars for. And my income wasnt very high.
One day, I woke up and realized I would never sell more than this
unless I created a bigger package. So I created a package of ten
sessions. And guess what? people bought my ten-session package
with no more resistance than my 3-session package. And I
effectively tripled my income overnight because of this! I was on to
something.
This was the beginning of packaging my services at a higher
level. Over the years Ive refined that approach and now I offer my
one-year marketing Mastery Program. And I make a lot more money,
as well as making a much bigger difference.
Many of my recent clients have had similar stories.
Sal Sylvester was selling $5,000 one-day leadership programs.
Now hes selling a comprehensive leadership program for $25-$30K.
Sharon Rich was selling career transition services for only a few
thousand dollars. Now she offers in-house consulting and training
programs up to $50,000.
So where do you start with packaging? At the core, you only need
four things, 4 tools to help you do this.
Heres those four things:
1. You need a marketing message that communicates clearly
Copyright 2012 Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing
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But your story will not have a happy ending until you start
questioning all those limiting beliefs. Until you question, them,
they will remain limiting. When you question them, youll start to
see alternatives.
You can look at this as a matter of managing forces. The first,
affirming force, is wanting to make more money. The second,
opposing force, is feeling dishonest by charging more money. By
inserting the third, resolving force, by questioning their beliefs,
something shifted inside.
If you want to change your results, you must change your
mindsets. And you do that by examining your limiting thoughts and
realizing how these thoughts are only undermining you.
Working on limiting beliefs is the most important thing you can
do to start attracting high-end clients.
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After all, they hired you to produce results. But all the time, I hear
excuses like the following.
Well, they were responsible for doing the actual work and
they didnt follow through.
Its hard to measure something like this - there are so many
variables.
Given the scope of the job, it wasnt realistic that theyd get
the kind of results they expected.
Well, my clients just dont have the budget to pay for the
more in-depth programs Id like to offer that would produce
the results we want.
I cant tell you how many times Ive heard these.
All of these thoughts absolve you of responsibility. And this is the
exact opposite of what you need to do. You need to take
responsibility for producing results, not matter the situation with
the client.
Let me answer each of these and explain the role of high-end
programs and services in all of this.
1. Well, they were responsible for doing the actual work
and they didnt follow through.
Yes, they were responsible for doing the actual work but you
didnt set things up to make sure the work actually happened.
Copyright 2012 Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing
All rights reserved. You may forward this article exactly as is.
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results? Can you imagine that a doctor would say to you, Well,
OK, I know this operation is not in your budget, so well just do
half an operation. You can sew yourself up and save quite a bit.
Insanity, right? But thats exactly what we do when we agree to
do a project or service that simply wont produce the results you
want. You want three days of training to transform your
leadership. Err ok we can do that!
NO, YOU CANT!!!!!!!
4. Well, my clients just dont have the budget to do pay
the for the more in-depth programs Id like to offer.
Sounds reasonable, right? The thing is, you forget that you are
not selling coaching, consulting or training. Those are just
processes, remember. No, you are selling results, tangible
outcomes that make a measurable difference. And thats worth a
whole lot more.
When you have listened to and understood the deepest
yearnings of a potential client and demonstrated that you can
help them fulfill those longings, you have a prospect that will pay
you to help them produce those results.
What you need to do.
If you want to grow your business, you need successes that are
measurable, that make a real difference to your clients. And you
need to be paid what you are worth. If you dont, what foundation
Copyright 2012 Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing
All rights reserved. You may forward this article exactly as is.
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getting.
But if you charge $1,000 or $1,500 a month or more, then you
wont have a problem giving your clients more value.
Also, in my experience, I enjoy working with clients at this level
much more. Its more fun, fulfilling and exciting. My clients feel
they have a real partner who will do whatever it takes to help them
get results.
It all starts with valuing yourself and your services. If you can
really make a substantial difference with your clients, then youll
never worry that youre charging too much. You can just put your
attention on your clients and do the work you need to do in order to
produce great results.
Another big issue that often stops people: How can I really
communicate to my prospects that Im worth more than the average
coach?
Simple: Actual client results. You want to make every single client
you work with into a documented success story. You need to write
down the situation of the client before you started working with
them and track their progress over time, showing the gains theyve
made.
Then turn these into written case studies and show them to your
potential clients. This is very powerful proof that you can produce
the results you said you could. And ultimately, this can justify your
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higher fees.
Finally: What if I dont have any impressive success stories yet?
Well, you can only start where you are. You want to put all your
efforts now into going the extra mile to make a measurable
difference with each and every client you have - even if theyre not
perfect clients.
Before too long youll have a number of case studies. And you can
add more and better ones as you continue to work with new clients.
Again, this work will give you more evidence and validation that you
can charge higher fees.
So lets review the four principles weve covered so far.
1. You need to package or re-package your services for the
high-end. That starts with all your written marketing materials.
2. You have to have a high-end client mindset. That starts
with questioning your current limiting beliefs.
3. You need communicate your commitment to getting
tangible results for your clients in a way that they really get
it.
4. You need to add more value to your services so you can
deliver on that commitment and justify your fees.
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The fifth and final part of this report will give you a step-by-step
action plan for enrolling clients into your high-end programs.
Presentations are the key!
My favorite way of converting qualified prospects into high-end
clients is through some kind of presentation. This can be a talk at
a professional group or conference, a webinar, or a teleclass.
You actually dont sign-up clients for your high-end services
through speaking; you pre-sell them on your concepts and
programs and then follow up with them.
For my Marketing Mastery Program, for instance, I do a series of
teleclasses to introduce the ideas in the program. I dont sell, I
educate. And in fact, I let people know that the program wont be
open for enrollment until mid-January 2013.
If you are offering a high-end service or program for groups, this
is a good approach, but you can also offer high-end services to
either individuals or companies.
Speaking is also the most effective way I know to qualify
prospects for your high-end services. After you give your talk, you
get business cards (by offering an article) and in some cases offer
what I call a Strategy Session.
For instance, your talk might be about how to increase
profitability in software firms. Your strategy session would be
called a Software Profitability Strategy Session. You offer it at the
Copyright 2012 Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing
All rights reserved. You may forward this article exactly as is.
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In order to schedule this session, I ask that you fill out the
questionnaire below and send it back to me. The more completely
you fill this out, the more I can help you. Please send it back to
me within one week or less to ensure that I can fit you in.
This little email script (of course, altered for your situation) is
like a magic recipe for getting appointments with qualified
prospects. Get the attention of prospects through a talk, follow up
with this email and youll have an over-abundance of highly
qualified prospects to speak to about your services.
Heres a sample questionnaire:
Software Profitability Strategy Session Questionnaire
1. What is the current profitability of your company, both in total
profits and as a gross and net percentage of total sales?
2. What are the measures you have taken up to now to increase
your profitability? What has work and not worked?
3. What is the ultimate profitability goal for your company?
4. Are you ready in the next few months to commit the time,
energy and resources to increasing your profitability?
5. If you increased the profitability and reached your profitability
goal, what would it mean to a) your company and b) you
personally. Please be as specific as possible.
6. What else would you like to say about your business and/or
Copyright 2012 Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing
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your marketing and selling plan, etc. This doesnt happen overnight
although a few things might if you act immediately.
So what can you do to make sure you implement these ideas?
One option is my Marketing Mastery Program. But I only do one
program a year, the next one doesnt start until April 2013 and I
only have space for 15 people. I dont take applications until mid
January. If youre interested in that, Ill be announcing this by email
later in the year.
But I do have the second best thing. And its really the only other
thing you can do with me. And thats the Marketing Club. The
Marketing Club is an online marketing tutorial site that takes you
step-by-step through everything we talked about today. The tutorial
is called the Fast Track to More Clients and is the central part of
the Club, and this is exactly the same material I take my Mastery
Program Participants through. The only difference is I dont give you
one-on-one coaching and feedback.
The Club also includes a number of bonuses, perhaps the most
important of which are the two Live Coaching Calls every month to
support you in implementing what youre learning in the Club. You
can attend these calls live, or you can listen to them later as we
record all of them.
Not only that, starting in about two weeks, Ill be offering a 6-part
teleclass series worth $174 called, How to Win the Inner Marketing
Game, and that will be included in your Club membership as well.
Copyright 2012 Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing
All rights reserved. You may forward this article exactly as is.
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But I dont price the Club at $4,000, $2,000, $1,000 or even $500
dollars. Instead, I price the Club membership at just $29 per month.
Yes, $29 per month.
How can I do it at that low price? Well, we have over 700 members,
and by the end of the year well have a thousand members.
And we dont try to upsell you to something more expensive. In
fact, when I create something new, such as that teleclass program, I
add it to the Club for free.
You can stay in the Club for as long as you like some have been
members for years - or some stay for only a few months.
If the Clubs not for you, we stop your membership and refund your
last charge. No questions asked.
One reason I price the Club this way is I want to deliver great
value to you every single month and make sure you get as much as
possible for less than a dollar a day, so youll stay as a Club member
for several months and keep getting value.
And what else can you get for $29 per month every month? Just
one business lunch will cost you $29 or more.
So, if you are serious about learning how to attract more high-end
clients, want to make more money and a make bigger contribution,
and are committed to doing the work it will take, but cant afford a
high price tag, the Marketing Club was designed for you.
And its open for new memberships right now.
Copyright 2012 Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing
All rights reserved. You may forward this article exactly as is.
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Robert Middleton
Action Plan Marketing
P.S. If the Marketing Club is not for you right now, make sure to
browse the Club and take advantage of other free information in the
Club such as the Marketing Scorecard and a handful of Marketing
Videos.