About the Episode
People buy on feeling, on presentation, on the future of the product or service… And this isn’t something new, this is a practice that has been around for a long time. Salespeople sometimes forget that they are part of the sale, they need to sell themselves as well, and appearance and “branding” yourself are hugely important for how your customers view you…
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- Why you may not be succeeding in sales
- Stop selling on function, sell on the outcome
- Is your predicted future protected or breached in business?
- Selling futures to close a sale
- Status and Ego Appeal
Hey what’s shakin’, I’m fired up today because today we’re going all in. I’m going to talk to you about high ticket sales, I’m going to talk to you about how to sell things that are the high ticket, and hopefully get you out of this low ticket mindset that you’ve probably been stuck in. You know, I’ve heard that phrase for years. The low ticket mindset is something that’s newer, as far as the phrasing goes, but it used to be called, like, 20 years ago, when I was working in retail, it was called shopping with your own wallet. It’s the same thing. a low-ticket mindset is the same thing as shopping with your own wallet. Because you could be thinking, Oh, I would never buy that. Or you know what, I haven’t actually spent that much money before. on myself. I haven’t been around people that have spent that much money.
And that is a limitation in how you’re succeeding in sales, or really any kind of conversations whatsoever. You could be talking to a girl that’s way out of your league, you think, right? And you’re like, oh, because that’s the same thing. It’s like a high ticket sale, right? And trying to win that person over to even just go on a date, let alone marry you and sleep with you. What? Whatever. Okay, so today, let’s give a real-world example of this. All right, let’s talk about an umbrella. How much do you spend on an umbrella? I mean, I could go to Walgreens, I could go to a drugstore, I could go to a $1 store and buy an umbrella. Right umbrellas on a whole cost. What like $15, maybe $12, depending on what it is. I’ve seen some cool little travel ones. I actually used to have one a couple of years ago, that was like the super compact thing. That one was around $30 or so. You know, but generally speaking, it’s not an expensive item. Right? Now let’s talk about a brand called the soti. Have you ever heard of Kasota? Look it up. Do these umbrellas cost between 300 and around $800?
Okay, now, what is an umbrella supposed to do? What’s its function? Its function is to keep you dry to keep the water off of your hair off of your clothes. Then why would somebody pay three to $800 for an umbrella? Have you ever paid three to $800 for an umbrella? I have. Do you want to know what mine is? Mine is an Aston Martin umbrella. And it was included with my Aston Martin. It’s a $750 umbrella. I looked at that thing. And it was actually an option. Right? You could take it off because actually, it’s this British gentleman thing because Aston Martin has a British vehicle right? There’s this stigma of this high profile, affluent individual and having this umbrella. And they included their vehicles, you can decline it if you want to. But it’s a $750 umbrella.
I was looking at this on my first thought. It’s like, well, what the heck, why is it $750? Why does the facility charge between 308 and $100? And I’m taking a look at this. I’m like no, I want to include, I want to see what this thing is all about. The function is the same. But here’s the thing, right? If you’re taking a look at the difference between those umbrellas, the function is the same. They will keep you dry, but for how long? How much time? Will they keep you dry for a meaning? Have you had one of those $12, $15, $30 umbrellas? One of the supports just kind of snaps at some points. Have you ever held a three to $800 umbrella? I have that thing I swear could be like a bat? Okay, I could go to a baseball field. And frickin hit that sucker over the fence because of how sturdy this thing is.
But you know what, they perform the same function, right? They both keep me dry. But here’s the thing when you’re having these conversations, right, people don’t buy on function. People do not buy on function. So I’m gonna tell you to stop having the conversation, the sales conversation around function. Because people buy in the future. They buy on status. They buy an ego appeal. They buy an outcome. Let’s talk about what people buy in the future. So if you can have the sales conversation and start to paint the picture for them. Imagine, right, you’re seeing this stuff all over the news. I’ll talk about cybersecurity here because that’s my industry, right? You see this stuff all over the news about getting breached, and these hacks and ransomware and businesses getting shut down. Imagine sitting back while drinking your morning cup of coffee and seeing that in the news. And you’re just like, Man, I’m glad that’s not me. I feel sorry for those people who got hit, but maybe they should have done what I did and actually spent the money on the future of being safe. Because right now we’re living in our future’s past. I’ve said that phrase before, I frickin love it right?
Because right now the decisions that you make affect what’s going to happen in the future. So if you say you’re living in your future, what kind of future do you envision right now? Do you imagine a future where in cybersecurity you’re protected? Or do you imagine a future where you are getting hits? And you have a breach? What kind of future? Are you imagining right now, if your business is? Well, if you’re talking about a business outcome or something, we talk about this in coaching a lot, or any other kind of high-ticket sales. It’s like, what kind of future do you imagine? Do you imagine a future being in the same spot as you are right now? Just barely making it by? Or do you imagine a future where you’re thriving, and you’re helping a whole lot of other people?
Because right now, you’re living in the past of that future that you’re imagining. So which future Are you imagining? What has to do with what’s going on right now and the choice that you make today? People buy into the status of people but I mean, you take a look at like the umbrella that I was talking about, right? Like the highly affluent British gentleman, I’m not British. I’m Irish for the most part. And my family moved over to Wales, but still the same area, right? So it appealed to me a little bit about the status of having this umbrella. I can tell you this, I’ve never actually once used that Aston Martin umbrella. I never have, because I haven’t had much need for it. And you know what? From a practical perspective, it’s in my trunk. I know it’s there all the time.
I know, it’s ready for me to keep me dry whenever I need it. It’s just kind of ironic because, with that vehicle, you don’t take it out in the rain, which is kind of funny to me, right? So I’ve taken my umbrella out of the vehicle, because there’s a nice trunk storage spot for this umbrella too, in case you get caught in the rain. But still, what does it matter? Because if you hand that to somebody, as you walk into a restaurant, like oh my gosh, what’s this thing, right? People buy on status. So what’s the status that they’re going to have? And whatever industry you’re in, if I take cybersecurity again, as an example, then we’ll go into the coaching of the business consulting example, as well. If I take cybersecurity, what kind of status do you think is in cybersecurity?
How about the status of still being in business? How about the status of being able to move forward with what you want to achieve? Because you know that the other stuff that you don’t want to worry about that can tear you down and rip up your business? is being taken care of? How about that status where you walk in and you’re talking amongst your peers at a dinner? Maybe it’s a chamber of commerce thing? Maybe it’s a private club, and you’re like, shoot, I’m sorry that you got hit. You know what? I’m safe. How’s that for status? I’m glad that’s not me when you’re in these conversations about ego appeal. As far as that goes, right?
There’s a reason why in my business, why when we’re replacing refresh hardware, there is a reason why the VIPs the owners, the founding partners in a law firm, the head doctor, the founding member of nonprofits, there’s a reason why they get these nice, shiny, thin, sexy laptops. Because it’s for ego appeal, its status and it shows that I am different from you. I am at a higher level than you. So this is what I’m going to have. Why do you think people buy an iPhone? The latest iPhone, you know what, there’s this, there are these groups that I’m a part of right here. And you know what, in order to take a look around, I don’t have any case on my phone.
I have no case on my iPhone. I never do. I don’t really break them. Last year was the first time I broke a screen and maybe like 10 years, right? I’m good at these. But the thing is, it hides the color. So when it comes to status and Eagle appeal, it’s like this is what it is and everybody can see what it is. I had an individual one time when I was selling a contract that I closed. This was maybe like 10 years ago, actually, it was 10 years ago, in 2010. Right? When I founded the business, I had my business. I went out and I got a Saturn, right Saturn doesn’t even exist anymore but it was an economical SUV.
I wrapped that thing so it looked like you know the company logo and was on brand and all of that stuff. I got rid of that thing after a year and a half even though it was only a year and a half old. I got a new Cadillac CTS coupe. The edges on this thing were so clean. And when I took a look at this design of this thing, I was like man, I need to have that and as I was walking out of the dealership it was the first year that the CTS coupe was around. Right and I love driving this thing was fun to drive but he’s like you’re gonna get stopped at the gas station.
People are gonna walk over to you, right? I have that with my Essen right now. But um, but he’s like, What are you buying for? I’m like, I’m buying this because I want to show that I’m successful. And within two weeks, I went in and talked with the clients, a prospect at the time, sorry, who became a client. And after we have a great meeting, he’s like, You know what, I’m gonna walk you out. And he had not signed yet. Right? This was the initial meeting, we did have the money conversation, always a little tip, always have the money conversation on the very first meeting that you have, so that you too can know if there’s a good common ground to even move forward. You and your prospect. He’s like, I’ll walk you out. No problem. So I walked out of the building. And he’s like, taking a look around. He’s like, Is that your car over there? Oh, my God, dude, it is.
And he had a pretty nice one, so it was a Mercedes that he had. He’s like, wow, that’s a pretty sharp vehicle. Like, Thanks, dude. I just got it a couple of weeks ago. And it’s a lot of fun to drive. You know, I think the edges are really cool. He’s like, I like it. But let me tell you the reason why I actually walked you out here, I walked you out here to actually look at your car. I didn’t know what kind of car you had. I didn’t know what you pulled up in. I’ve been back in my office. But I wanted to see what you drive. Because most IT people drive beat-up pieces of crap. And if you’re putting effort into your image, I know that you are successful. And I only do business with successful people who value appearance that puts time into themselves that actually care about the presentation, not of their services and their solutions, but the presentation of themselves. And never looked back after that, that was a lesson that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Because people buy on their future they buy status, they buy an ego appeal, they buy on emotion. And then they justify it with logic afterward. They make their decisions based on their future, their status, their ego appeal, and their emotions. And then they justify it with logic later, after the decisions have already been made. In order to sell high tickets, you have to kill the low-ticket mindset. And that could mean for you to go out and buy something today, or over the next couple of weeks to step into that. If you’re looking to make let’s say $50,000 in commissions this year, or you want to add another extra, you know, zero onto the end of whatever it is that you’re doing right now, it’s time to stop shopping with your own wallet and stop selling with your own wallets and start selling based on their future, their status, their ego appeal their emotions. And it’s time to do something for you.
When I first dropped weights, I used to wear this brand called Robert Graham all the time called Robert Graham. I don’t know if you know this, but the shirts are anywhere between $150 and sometimes $2,000 . I started buying these shirts. Now I always had a little secret with this right there was a Robert Graham outlet store that I would go to so I’d get him at pretty steep discounts. But the fact of the matter is, it was still about appearance late, right I can still be frugal and still be the high ticket, you can still be smart about your choices, and still be the high ticket. But if you expect to make the same amount of money for the rest of your life, and never seem like you can get ahead, never seem like you can make ends meet to pay your bills to get some kind of break, as you call it.
It’s probably because you’re not stepping into the future that you desire for yourself. Because you’re holding yourself back right now in a moment of scarcity. And what’s worse, if you’re in sales, you’re having conversations with customers with prospects that will translate to them. Those low ticket vibes will translate into your conversation with them and you will struggle in generating money for yourself. If you want to move to a point where you decide that I see the future, I see one of these two choices because you are also going to buy based on your future, your status, and your ego appeal. Why do you think people with next to no money will go out and buy a Louis Vuitton bag during Christmas? Come on now.
There’s something about it because when you grab it, it makes you feel good. That’s the emotional side of it. It makes you feel like you belong. And that is something that occurred now. I’m not saying don’t do this irresponsibly, right because maybe you got some medical bills or whatever. But put this on there. Put this on your list and be like, I am going to go do this within the next couple of weeks. Because when I step into this, that’s stepping into your future because it changes your past, which is right now, when you’re living in your future is past when you go out and do something for yourself and decide to step into something financially into the future that you desire financially.
And that’s the choice just like I’m saying, what do they want? In my example about cybersecurity, right? If you say, my future, do I see it the same as where I’m at right now? Is that what I want? Or do I want something where money is no longer an issue, and I don’t know what that number is to you? That could be anything, right? It could be a million dollars, it could be $100,000 a year in salary, whatever it is. And you start to look at that and say, This is what I’m looking for.
You can backtrack to right now and figure out exactly what you’re doing. What’s keeping you from getting there? And you start to eliminate those things from your life. And what’s more, you start to learn how to get there. And one of the biggest ways that that’s ever helped me is stepping into it before I was actually there. You step into your future before it’s actually in the present by doing something by taking some kind of action. For me, it’s always been to buy something that represents what that future is. I chose a high ticket because if you personally will only ever buy low tickets. Your clients and your prospects are only ever going to buy low tickets. This is 2023 and it’s a high-ticket year. Go ALL IN.