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JAY ABRAHAMS
PRINCIPLES OF GEOMETRIC BUSINESS GROWTH
H OW TO G O F ROM M EDIOCRITY TO M ILLIONS U SING J AY A BRAHAM S B REAKTHROUGH S TRATEGIES F OR B UILDING Y OUR B USINESS
J AY A BRAHAM S
To Contact The Abraham Group, Inc: The Abraham Group, Inc. 27520 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 263 Rolling Hills Estates, California 90274 Phone: 1(310)265-1840 Fax: 1(310)541-3192 Email: apgi2@abraham.com Website: Abraham.com
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................. 6 YOUR TWO GREATEST SOURCES OF LEVERAGE: MARKETING AND INNOVATION............ 8 PRINCIPLE #2: THE PRINCIPLE OF FUNNEL VISION VS. TUNNEL VISION ........................10 PRINCIPLE #3: THE PRINCIPLE OF THREE WAYS TO GROW A BUSINESS ......................12 PRINCIPLE #4: THE PRINCIPLE OF OPTIMIZATION .................................................................13 HOW TO INCREASE YOUR NUMBER OF CLIENTS...............................................................................15 HOW TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF THE SALE PER CLIENT ...................................................................16 HOW TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SALES PER CLIENT ..................................................................16 PRINCIPLE #5: THE PRINCIPLE OF STRATEGY VS. TACTICS ................................................17 PRINCIPLE #6: THE PRINCIPLE OF THE DIVING BOARD APPROACH VS. THE POWER PARTHENON................................................................................................................................18 YOUR STRATEGIC INTEGRATED MARKETING ...................................................................................19 THE FORCE MULTIPLIER EFFECT ....................................................................................................21 PRINCIPLE #7: THE ABRAHAM NINE DRIVERS OF BUSINESS SUCCESS.............................22 SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................................24
Jay L. Abraham
Dear Fellow Entrepreneur, When most people hear about me and my exploits, they immediately think of me as a marketing genius, business growth expert, or strategy super consultant. Those titles are probably accurate, but---that is not how I personally see myself. Although my business accomplishments are legendary, I see myself predominately as a business growth scientist--- constantly experimenting, researching, calibrating and analyzing results from thousands of experiments/tests which I conduct on the frontlines of commerce and capitalism. A scientist works leveraging existing laws of nature and the universe. He creates, validates and documents theories and hypotheses. He finds new applications for these laws and develops new products, strategies or ways to solve problems. I do the same in the context of business and commerce. For the past 30 years, helping over 100,000 companies of every size, from solopreneur to multi-national conglomerate after generating the better part of $7 BILLION dollars for my clients, customers and associates after consulting with thousands of entrepreneurs and businesspeople around the world and while working in over 7000 different industries and subindustries---I have been fortunate to discover, define and validate some amazingly simple yet profound fundamental business growth principles which are extremely relevant in business, marketing and sales. These principles, which you are about to read, can be harnessed and leveraged for the benefit of ANY entrepreneur, large or small business or professional practice---including yours. Sadly, I have discovered that most business owners do not know how to create consistent, enduring revenues streams and profits. Their business and personal destinies seem precariously hinged upon the wild economic rollercoaster, the government, a single 800 lb. gorilla client or seasonal swings of business. It doesnt have to be that way---at all. Ive been obsessed for all of my life with the question of why some companies are 1000 times more successful than others why a successful Fortune 1000 company is so different than a struggling small- or medium-sized entrepreneurial one and how to turn reactive, tacticallyoriented, non-strategic, non-systematic minded business people into very much the opposite--Into supremely sophisticated, supremely strategic, supremely proactive organizations.
Jay L. Abraham P.S. Again, congratulations on taking your first steps to mastering and learning my business building methods and strategies. The financial growth and the profit increases will be quite profound, I promise. By the way, I want to tell you about a new program I am conducting in July 2004 that is designed to provide a customized, turn-key marketing makeover and re-structuring for EVERY business attending---based specifically upon my proven, multi-million dollar principles. Quite frankly, at this point in your business-building career, you may not be ready for it. But I would be remiss if I didnt at least mention it to you, because its guaranteed to work marketing miracles for almost ANY business---regardless of whether you are extremely wellversed in my body of work or whether you are just starting out. (I cant think of any better way for a new business to get started on the right track.) I believe you as an entrepreneur might enjoy learning, applying and profiting from my unique approach to building your business. To find out more about this extraordinary first ever program, contact one of my Business Growth Advisors at 1(800)635-6298 (USA) or 1(310)265-1840. I anticipate that my new program will attract some of the most ambitious, most action-oriented, most resourceful and most intrepid business owners and entrepreneurs from around the world. In fact, I fully expect it to sell out. Again, you may not be quite ready for it, but feel free to check it out and then decide for yourself. P.P.S. I almost forgot: Its far easier to do what Im about to show you, than it is to continue any of the ways youve been operating in the past.
Introduction
I have a very simple philosophy on life:
These resources (all totally within your sphere of operation and influence) are just waiting to be put to maximum use. The minute you appreciate this fact, youll quickly come to appreciate almost everything you do has infinitely greater upside leverage. In addition, youll find you can easily control or eliminate the downside risk in the process. Heres a very simple example: When you run an ad in a newspaper or magazine, or on a radio or television, that ad costs you a finite amount of money. And it costs you the same amount whether that ad pulls 10 sales or 10,000 sales. Sadly, most entrepreneurs have their business set-up such that there is no upside leverage whatsoever. Their investment of time, effort, energy and capital is not commensurate with the returns which are potentially available to them. Its lopsided---to their disadvantage. BUT---What if you could make the same action, the same activity, the same person, the same capital, the same client, everything produce more yield, more performance and then sustain it long term? If you want to grow your business, in order to get the maximum ROI, YOU MUST focus on getting the maximum upside leverage possible from as many places, resources and relationships as possible. Your job from now on is to maximize your results with the minimum effort, minimum expense, minimum time, and minimum risk. Heres my fundamental challenge to you:
You have two choices: Either you can continue working hard for your business OR you can begin to build a business that works hard FOR YOU.
Which would you prefer? Now lets focus on your two greatest sources of upside leverage
The quote really puts a business ultimate purpose in perspective, doesnt it? But lets clarify this critical concept so that you can begin to take advantage of the upside leverage thats available to you right now in your own business. Simply put, innovation is the ability to engineer breakthroughs to increase value to the customer. I have spent a lot of time studying the most successful-performing companies in their respective categories, and what I found out in analyzing them was that they tended to be the companies that deliberately engineered and introduced the most amount of quality breakthroughs on a continuous basis in four specific areas: 1) Strategy, 2) Marketing, 3) Innovation, 4) Management. Now most people think that being an innovator requires you to take on new, perhaps risky, perhaps unknown areas of endeavor---areas you are not familiar with and have no experience. That is patently untrue. I have discovered that one of your greatest sources of leverage comes from maximizing and creating breakthroughs in what youre already doing. Let me explain: Whether Jay Abraham is in your life or not, your business has what I call critical mass and velocity in motion. For example: Youve got many sales and revenue generating activities going on. Youve got sales people. Youve got ads running. Youve got people calling. Youve got word of mouth. Youve got phone calls. Youve got customer service. Youve got all these contact and impact points. I believe first of all youve got to maximize what youre currently doing BEFORE you can ever go out and expand your organization. (Otherwise you would be taking on unacceptable levels of risk by stopping whats currently working and then suffering all the while you are trying to rebuild your primary revenue sources.) You cant maximize what youre currently doing, unless you break it down to its core components, processes and drivers. I learned that important strategy when I worked with W. Edwards Deming. (He was the father of process improvement and Total Quality Management.) Because only when you do that, can you test, can you monitor, can you quantify, and can you measurably improve your results.
Marketing is the process of educating the customer of the value you bring to the marketplace.
If marketing is the other purpose of a business, doesnt it make sense to focus your efforts on the creation of a customer? Doesnt make sense to develop streamlined systems, processes and procedures which increase the number of customers, maximize the price at which theyll buy and the frequency at which theyll purchase? Regardless of the business or industry you are in, you must, from now on, consider the fact that you are in the marketing business. In the highest and best interests of yourself, your stakeholders, your clients and business, you must shift your thinking and conduct yourself as a marketer. And that your company is first and foremost---a marketing company. You must be committed to educating and informing your marketplace, your prospects and your clients. You must become expert at articulating what your product or service is/does as well as how it brings greater benefit, greater advantage and greater results into their lives. Lets make no mistake: Being innovative and marketing can be risky. BUT--based upon what Ive discovered and perfected, it doesnt have to be that way---AT ALL. Using the simple, effective principles I am about to teach you, you can own your market---with minimal risk or expense. Let me prove it to you. The next Principle of Geometric Business Growth will simplify my innovation and marketing directive to you. (One small caveat: You must be willing to step outside your comfort zone and be willing to think outside the box youve put yourself in.)
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth 1. Increase the number of clients. 2. Increase the average size of the sale per client. 3. Increase the number of times clients return and buy again.
Theres ONLY three. Its significantly less daunting when you only have to focus on three categories. In fact, comparably its very easy. Observation: Most business owners try to grow their business incrementally and linearly. I believe they leave money on the table because they fixate solely on just one aspect of growing a business---growing more buyers or clients. However, when you increase the number of clients AND you focus on the size of the transaction, plus you also increase the frequency at which they re-purchase and you grow in terms of getting more frequency or utilization out of each client--youll maximize the overall value of the client to your business.
Your goal should always be to leverage your relationship with the client to its maximum benefit, result and mutual value.
Armed now with the principle of Three Ways to Grow Your Business, you now have my foundational strategy you need to start growing your business systematically, deliberately and consistently. Now I want to show you how I grow businesses geometrically. Its an exciting and enduring principle I call optimization.
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Example of 1000 Clients, $100 Transaction Value, Purchasing 2 Times a Year # of Clients 1,000 Transaction Value Per Client $100 Transaction Per Year 2 Total Income = $200,000
But look what happens if you increase these three numbers by just 10%. If all you did was increase those three categories across the board by a mere 10%, it would increase your total revenue by very respectable 33%!
Example of 10% Increase Across The Board # of Clients 1,100 Transaction Value Per Client $110 Transaction Per Year 2.2 Total Income = $266,200
It gets even better: A modest, yet doable increase of 25% across the board in these categories nearly doubles your income to $390,625!
Example of 25% Increase Across The Board # of Clients 1,250 Transaction Value Per Client $125 Transaction Per Year 2.50 Total Income
= $390,625
As you can see, the results become massive very quickly. Focusing your efforts on implementing this one simple formula in your business is this one small way you can easily increase your income and grow your business by 100%, 200% or more.
If you dont focus on geometric business growthif you dont bring the power of optimization to bear if you dont work on the geometry of your business then youre going to always work harder for your company than your company will work for you.
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My goal is to teach you how to get your company working harder and harder for you in a perpetual manner, so that youve got revenue generating systems in place that will sustain, thrive and survive. Your ultimate goal should be to build an asset an enduring asset that will be worth so many times more than the mere increases in income in earnings in salary or in dividends we can stimulate for you. This is a wealth-building play of the highest magnitude---if you understand it. AND if you execute consistently. Youll be shocked at how truly easy this is going to be. Youll also be surprised when you discover that the strategies Im advocating dont require a huge marketing budget either. Too good to be true? Its not. Lets get a little more specific. Here are a few clarifying and powerful examples of how various companies have increased their numbers in these three vital categories.
It turned out the first sale, on average, resulted in about $200 profit for the company. Of that, 10% or $20 went to the salesman or woman, $180 to the company. On average, the client bought five times a year for three years. So basically, each time that company got a new client, they were receiving $3,000 in cumulative profits (i.e. lifetime value).
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth My solution: Instead of giving the sales people 10% of the profit on a sale to a new, first time client, give them 100% of the profit of the first sale. The company managements response: Youre insane! I smiled pleasantly and went on to explain that as long as their sales people maintained sales from existing clients at past levels or above, give them 100% of profit on the first sale for every new client they bring in. Theyll be ten times more motivated to sell new clients. And every time they bring in a new client, the sales person makes an additional $200, but the company makes an additional $2,800. The company implemented the plan and sales grew six times in nine monthsand they said they were sorry for calling me insane.
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth These arent just random, unrelated business-increasing anecdotes. Each example represents a well thought-out, documented, income-increasing principle or leveraging strategy. This leads me to the next integrated principle which differentiates me from other marketing consultants. Understanding and applying strategies like these will lead to increased company revenues and increased personal success and income for you---but to fully maximize your business performance and results, you must adopt a superior strategic mindset.
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth results (up to 100 times greater results by marketing strategically). Plus---it gives you a tremendous competitive advantage. 2) You must use strategic marketing to put your business on a stratospheric growth course for future profits---because without it, you are destined to a mediocre and disappointing outcome compared to your fully realized potential. 3) You must learn to effectively and optimally use strategic marketing in your business undoubtedly it is todays most important business performance success factor. 4) Right now, your biggest limitation, by far, is your TACTICALLY oriented mindset. You must overcome this key obstacle and bring down the barriers of tactical thinking to unleash the full potential of strategic marketing thinking. 5) Today, you must adopt to use a strategic mindset to make your current competition practically irrelevant and meaningless. A strategic mindset gives you the ability to leverage and integrate every opportunity which comes on your radar. It makes every tactic and activity work five times harder for your business. And best of all it creates an entrepreneurial platform where you can take advantage of all the strategies, activities, resources and relationships which will drive your business to extraordinary success. The key to doing it lies totally in your ability to masterfully market strategically.
Principle #6: The Principle of the Diving Board Approach vs. The Power Parthenon
The next thing Im all about is the Power Parthenon of Geometric Business Growth. Its a philosophy thats predicated on a very simple assumption--I believe 99% of all companies today, and 99% of all companies ten years ago, generate the vast majority of their revenue, their stability, their income from only ONE primary revenue activity or marketing approach. Its the worst thing in the world you can do.
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth Because with only one pillar supporting your entire revenue stream it looks to me like a diving board, which is very, very, very precarious. And a diving board has never been a means for propelling anyone upward to growth on a sustaining basis. You do go up for a minute in time in the process of plummeting down. I try to get everybody I ever work with to build pillars and pillars and pillars much like the Parthenon in Greece of additional primary, secondary and complimentary revenue and income-generating approaches again all borrowed from outside their industry. If each one only creates or adds 10% more 15% more 20% more of sales, clients, profits the combined geometric effect is hundreds and hundreds of percent growth. Many people, upon first hearing of my success stories, think that my press and my track records are almost too impressive to be true. But theyre not. Im just one of the few people who understands how much more you can get out of an opportunity, out of an asset, out of an ad, out of a sales call, out of an effort, out of a day. And thats what Im teaching you here today in a systematic manner.
31 Strategies To Grow Your Business---Geometrically 1. How to Increase Your Number of Clients: How you can Increase Your Lead or Inquiry Generation Through: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) Referral systems. Acquiring customers at break-even up front and make a profit on the back-end. Guaranteeing purchases through risk reversal. Host/beneficiary relationships. Advertising. Using direct mail. Using telemarketing. Running special events or information nights. Acquiring qualified lists. Develop a Unique Selling Proposition. Increasing the perceived value of your product/service through better customer education. Using public relations. Sequential Integrated Internet, Website & Email
How you can increase your customer retention rate by: 14) 15) Delivering higher-than-expected levels of service. Communicating frequently with your customers to "nurture them.
How you can increase your conversion from inquiry to sale by: 16) 17) 18) 19) Increasing sales skill levels of your staff. Qualifying leads up front. Making irresistible offers. (i.e. Risk Reversal) Educating your customers by giving "reasons why.
2. How to Increase Average Transaction Value: 1) 2) Improving your team's selling techniques to up-sell and cross-sell. Using point-of-sale promotions.
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth 3) 4) 5) 6) Packaging complementary products and services together. Increasing your pricing and hence your margins. Changing the profile of your products or services to be more "up market." Offering greater/larger units of purchase.
3. How to Increase Transaction Frequency: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Developing a back-end of products that you can go back to your customers with. Communicating personally with your customers to maintain a positive relationship. Endorsing other people's products to your list. Running special events such as "closed door sales," limited pre-releases, etc. Pre-framing or programming customers in advance. Price inducements for frequency of purchase.
Do you see how many exciting and powerful options and opportunities you have available to you---right under your nose? There are dozens more, but these are my favorite fast track ones that most businesses start out using. I have listed these strategies and options, to give you an overall sense of the profit possibilities which are available to you. I wanted to prove to you beyond a doubt that there are many, many strategies which can be engineered and integrated into your business---ALL which can catapult your business geometrically---in a very short period of time. Heres another unique distinction Ill offer you: In my work with clients, I am well known for putting lots of ideas into play immediately and simultaneously. Its fast and its furious (and its fun!). Its not unlike a military campaign, where everything seems to happen at once. Let me explain.
Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth Effect. Its a proven strategy of dominating the enemy in military terms. Its also a proven strategy of predominately and eminently owning your market in the business and entrepreneurial arena. Its letting the combined, geometric power of all kinds of different factors come together and give you the highest and best leverage possible. In the military, they create multiple avenues of penetration at the same time -- going by land, going by sea, frontal attacks, side attacks, surprise attacks, missiles, going ahead to penetrate and soften the market, air attack, land attack, stealth attack, etc. By leveraging and integrating the power of the Force Multiplier Effect, it significantly increases the combat potential of the entire force and thus enhances the probability of a successful mission accomplishment. Your goal must be to strategically integrate every part of your marketing. You may be tempted to operate tactically. Dont do it. Create a plan that assures every dollar you spend contributes to your overall revenue and profits--and reinforces and leverages the other existing pillars within your Power Parthenon. Armed with the force multiplier effect, plus my other breakthrough concepts and principles, I want to now give you specific direction on where to focus your time, money and efforts for highest and best results in your business---The Abraham Nine Drivers.
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth Abraham Nine Drivers of Business Success 1) Your Marketing change your marketing, change your results. Enormous leverage, up to 2100% leverage in each improved activity you do, if you put a system together thats not only operational, but also continually tests, monitors, and measures. 2) Your Strategy. Changing your business and marketing strategy, is the fastest, most powerful way to change your results. 3) Your Capital... human, intellectual, financial. Human capital is basically the people working for you. Intellectual capital is the intellectual property. It could be the proprietary systems, the procedures that are unique and distinctive to you. And obviously financial capital. Enormous upside leverage in all three of those. 4) Your Business Model. The business model is decisively different than your strategy. You can have a big, sweeping strategy, but the business model may be wrong. The strategy may perform OK, but wont be optimal for you. 5) The Relationships you have. Your existing network of the business relationships, the professional relationships, the collegial relationships, the employee relationships, the mastermind relationships is the easiest, most cost effective driver to leverage. 6) Your Distribution Channels - and thats a very broad concept that describes all the different means you have of impacting the market, from the advertising you do the selling organization you do the associations youve got its a very broad and sweeping area. 7) Your Products and Services. The different products and services you have or you create will give you enormously greater or less leverage... frequency of purchase profit. It will give you enormously renewed ability to get far greater yield and sustained income from the relationships that you breed with clients.
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Jay Abrahams Principles of Geometric Business Growth 8) Systems, Procedures and Processes. Your ability to systemize your marketing, your operations, your management gives you enormous freedom, even though they imply structure and rigidity. 9) Your Ideology. This is the whole mindset that youre basing your operating system around. Ive done entire seminars where we focus almost exclusively on your mindset. Its that powerful. Are there others? Of course. Regardless of how many others that are out there, I can guarantee that you that the time you invest in optimizing and focusing only on these nine will absolutely pay off---geometrically. These must be at the top of your priority list. When you change, improve, or add to any of these nine drivers, it meaningfully improves your performance and results. But---if you learn how to maximize all nine, your profits will soar. The only question now is this: How effective will you be at maximizing the principles, strategies and drivers which Ive documented within this report? You owe it to yourself and your business to put them to the test.
Summary
These are just some of the key success and income-increasing principles, distinctions and strategies which I am known for. They are a few of my most powerful, most enduring, most universally applicable and most effective strategies for building your business massively. But again, dont limit their power and effectiveness by looking at any of them as individual concepts. As you have read, I strategically integrate all of them into everything I do. When you combine them together and execute them as a unified master strategy, they will produce geometric business growth in income, results and success as they have for thousands of other entrepreneurs. My unique business philosophy allows you to avoid the costly learning curve in almost everything you do in business. That saves you time, money and opportunity costs. It enables you to run rings around all of your competitors, before they ever figure out what you did to them. And it virtually guarantees you greater success and multiplied profits from every business-building step you ever take. In closing, Id like to leave you with one last thought. In my experience, many entrepreneurs torture themselves over one question: Am I worthy?
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In other words, Am I worthy to own a successful, growing, thriving business? Am I worthy of the trust and respect of my clients, employees and peers? Am I worthy of the super success I desire? I think it is the absolute wrong question to ask yourself. I am reminded of a quote from my friend Robert Proctor. He said something which I deeply believe: Do not ask Am I worthy or do I deserve this goal Rather ask Is this goal worthy of YOU. Youre about to begin a wonderful and exciting journey. Embrace these strategies, apply them with diligence and your final destination will be financial security, distinction, recognition, and much deserved success. I wish you the best of success in all your entrepreneurial and business endeavors.
To find out more about Jay Abraham and his breakthrough business building programs, strategies and principles, contact:
The Abraham Group, Inc. 27520 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 263 Rolling Hills Estates, California 90274 Phone: 1(310)265-1840 Fax: 1(310)541-3192 Email: apgi2@abraham.com Website: Abraham.com
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