Win With Flynn

Seth Godin tells a story about getting customers ready to buy. It goes like this. 

Take a $10 bill and go to the bus station, go up to someone and tell them “I’ll sell you this $10 for a dollar.” 

Nobody will buy it from you.  

Why? Because people don’t go to the bus station to make financial transactions. And people don’t like dealing with insane people. And either you are insane or it’s not a real $10 bill.  

Or try it this way. Go to your neighbor’s mailbox and drop off a $10 bill and run away. Then do it the next day and the next day, and on the fourth day knock on their door and say “hey, I’m the guy who dropped of $10 bills the last three days and I’ll give you another $10 bill for $1.”

Now they will know you are insane but insane in a very specific way and they know you can be trusted. You’ve provided that value.  

Before you leave, tell them you will be in the cul-de-sac the next day giving $10 for a dollar and ask if they will bring some friends. 

I love that story because clearly, it’s not about exchange rates. It’s about value. Adding more value than you take. And it’s about getting customers ready to buy. 

Let’s talk about me running a marathon.  

Picture me out there. I just hit the 4-hour mark, I’m tired. I’m cramping. I’m thirsty like nothing you’ve ever felt unless you’ve run super slow marathons before.  

I come off Aroura near the Seattle Center for the last quarter mile and what do I see? A beautiful, bearded man, a card table, and Dixie Cups full of delicious Busch Light beer.

It’s free.  

Did I snag one? You bet your ass I did. 

It’s strange though. A ten for one exchange at the bus station and we take a pass, but a bearded stranger with bad beer has me striking a deal that I still talk (and blog) about. 

Value on its own is not enough. Customers need to be ready to buy. 

Ten for one at home with the neighbor, you’ve got a chance. Warmed up, trusted, value first, then closing, and last of all working referrals. That’s the process. 

Ready to buy. 

The bearded beer man, a true story, closes that deal on the spot, but it’s timing and novelty. Twenty-five miles from the finish and I pass him, no deal, can’t run with a belly full of beer. After the finish line, I pass as well, other vendors, and better options.

Unless your timing is as good as the bearded man, you’ll need to take a different approach. 

A few more examples to drive this home. 

The real estate agent knocks, but you don’t want to move. What kind of value does it take to get you to pack your bags? 

The Zoom sales rep calls, but you just implemented Teams. How much would it take for you to run that project all over again? 

See what I mean? And how many doors do you need to knock on to get that perfect bearded man type of timing? 

Value has its place, but they still need to be ready to buy. 

How do we get them ready? 

The same way we did with the neighbor. We drop value in their mailbox.  

Say hello, lend a hand, ask what they are working on and how they are progressing.  

We let them know what we are working on and how we are helping others. 

The next thing you know, you aren’t the madman at the bus station, you are the neighbor with the mailbox money. The next thing you know, they will come past your place, and knock on your door with a message you won’t soon forget.  

They’ll say, “I’m ready to buy.”