There are only 3 reasons why people don’t buy from you.
1) The don’t want your stuff
2) They cannot afford it
3) They don’t believe you

There is not much you can do about 1 & 2 but you should never lose a deal because of trust…

The Triangle of Trust Strategy

Can you imagine any other country’s leader doing such a laid back interview as this?

part #1

part #2

part #3

(*tips not really evil)

Video #1

Video #2

Applications being taken now for the new 6 month marketing coaching programme.
You will implement my 12 step marketing system that generates leads and appointments.
Ideal for people selling consulting and big ticket items.
Just email richard@speedmarketing.co.nz for full details.

Your coach. Richard

What made the ‘Fill The Basin’ cricket event such a massive marketing success?

And what could you learn to apply on a smaller scale in your business?

Imagine if 9 days ago someone said they wanted to

1) raise $500,000+

2) attract almost every ‘A, B and C’ list celebrity in town and import a few from outta town to attend free.

3) get 12,000 people to a sell out event who were emptying their pockets (in a recession) as fast as they could

…people would laugh at you.

So what made the ‘Fill the Basin’ such a marketing success?

Here’s how it was done.

There were at least three key ingredients and each was essential.

Firstly there was a cause that everyone already feels emotional driven to act on.

Secondly there was what is called massive ‘social proof’

Thirdly there was a direct benefit for those involved.

1. A Cause That Moves People To Act

One secret to marketing is to “Enter the conversation the buyer is already having in his mind”

Find something people are already thinking about and align yourself with that.

I have a friend who pulls his hair out because he sells a service that keeps people alive in the workplace. It costs around $1500 a year to buy and it works. Great service.

Here’s his problem … potential buyers of his service are not already having a conversation in their mind about how to solve the problem he can fix. Certainly not in the numbers he needs to make a viable business out of it.

PROOF OK get this… there are more people dying at work EVERY year than died in the Christchurch earthquake. The cost long term is far more than the Christchurch quake yet he struggles to sell it.

CAUSE – ‘Yes’ saving the lives of New Zealanders at work.

CONVERSATION – Is there a ‘Conversation the buyer is already having in his mind about solving workplace safety”? Well if they are it does not include writing out a cheque.

Logic has nothing to do with it.

2. Massive ‘Social Proof’

When people see a group of peers doing something then they assume it must be right and change their behaviour.

Researchers have proved you only need a small group of people looking up into the sky before others will come along and join in, even though there is nothing there. Other tests have had the actors queue against a wall before others join the queue for nothing.

For the ‘Fill The Basin’ event we had two levels of social proof.

1) Celebrities  social proof – once Stephen Fleming had secured Shane Warne and Martin Crowe had secured his cousin Russell Crowe we had ‘A’ list celebrity social proof.

In our culture celebrities are assumed to be super beings who know more than we do. They earn more, do more and have more. Celebrities are like magnets that attract people, money and attention beyond their intrinsic value. That is why Paris Hilton gets paid $100,000 to attend parties. That is not right or wrong that is just how it is.

So if Russell Crowe and Shane Warne are coming to an event then all of a sudden there are a host of other celebrities and TV cameras who are magnetically attracted come along too. After all the event now has celebrity pulling power.

Big ‘stars attract smaller stars, who in turn attract everyone else. It’s like a black hole – everything gets sucked into the emotion of the event and you have a sell out in two days.

PROOF OK imagine if the game was just a masters Canterbury XI vs a masters Wellington XI playing, no Warne or Crowe.

It would have been a very different event right. My guess is we would not have had All Blacks, All Whites, Politicians, Academy award winning actors.

Then we had social proof 2) which was initial tickets selling fast. So now we have big celebrities small celebrities and the public buying tickets fast which causes a self fulfilling prophecy. Or a wave of viral activity.

3. Direct Benefit

My family spent about $500 going to the cricket and I was playing. We paid for our tickets, food, put money into a plastic container, bought raffle tickets etc etc etc. BUT we got something in return, we got to feel good about ourselves and release our guilt of not suffering like the Christchurch people and we got entertainment.

Proof. Let’s say we stayed at home instead of going to the Basin. Everything was the same, the CAUSE, the CELEBRITIES but we did not directly get the benefit of live entertainment. Would we have contributed $500 on the day? Unlikely.

In other words we would not have got any personal benefit in return.

Here’s some ‘Fill the Basin’ cricket match supporting the Christchurch quake victims.

Please note I was given permission to post photos with me in them from the event on this blog (Thanks Flem). That’s why there are so many of me – not because I want you to see pictures of me. The rest belong to the event organizers.

The first photo is Nelson Chamberlain who won the cricket bat auction we ran on this blog.

His winning bid was a generous $4001 so we made sure he got some photos with some of the big guns – John Key Richie McCaw and me. He deserved it. Thank you Nelson.

PS more photos on the next post. Click the tab to the left marked“Fill the Basin photos 2″

Ok. If you are a junior name dropper, stand back and take notes from the master.

Last night Stephen Fleming, Gavin Larsen and I gave John Key a cricket practice at the stadium.

Why?  To get JK ready for his over against Shane Warne. That is facing 6 balls bowled by Warne.

You see our PM is the lunchtime entertainment for this charity cricket match at the basin Sunday 4pm.

Whoa that was 4 clangers slipped in there, and you did not even notice.

This Charity match to raise money for the quake victims is getting bigger by the day. Sold out already apparently.

So we (Flem, Gav and I) headed down to the stadium and our PM John Key met us there, did the usual small talk and nervous grins and we were into it.

So he put on the pads. First up he gets some pointers from Flem.

Quite frankly I thought Flem overloaded him with information. Amateur coaching error quite honestly. Remember the first time you went to drive a car and the instructor gives you three things to think of at once? Well Flem loaded him with this and that when ‘just swing from the arse sir’ would have been fine.

Now where are the photos Rich?

Good question, because I did take a few but Flem reminded me at the end that they asked for no media to be present so any photos or video (I got both) cannot be made public. See me privately for a special viewing. However I might ask John (did you like that ‘John’) on Sunday if I can slap a couple of photos on this web site. We are mates of course!

Actually we interviewed the great man a few months ago in his office (see previous blog post and video). But last night he was in ‘our’ office and we were the kings with all the answers.

John Key practice – does he need to?

Well why wouldnt he – imagine it was you, he may be used to tricky questions by old walrus face Mark Sainsbury but facing the worlds greatest bowler (Warne) in front of 14,000 people can go one of two way.

So naturally he wanted to have a practice so he looked good on the day, who can blame him.

What’s he like as a batsman? Weeeeeeeeell…

JK is …average, but he did improve as we went along and in all honesty I can say that by the end he was still … average BUT he was sledging me as I was coming into to bowl. Now I consider that a good sign. He does have a competitive streak and he likes a bit of the verbal.

Frankly Warne will have to bowl some generous stuff to help him look good but hats off to the man, he is one of us and a thoroughly likable guy.

Any funny stories about the practice?

Funny you should ask.

It wasnt till we finished that Flem let me know the PM was batting without a box or thigh pad (if you dont know what a box is go ask someone). But all jokes aside, it could have ended in tears. Admittedly we were not bowling fast but still… come on. The guys know what I am talking about here. These cricket balls pack a punch when landing on the crown jewels even at a moderate pace.

Thankfully JK was not hit in the private members area. I did not fancy having to find a way to keep the swelling down.

His press secretary had to pull him out of the net, JK was having such a good time and he was genuinely peeved to have to depart (my words and perception not his).

Is there a point to this rambling story or is this just an excuse to promote the bat I am getting signed by all members of the cricket match including two academy award winners Russell Crowe and Sir Ian McKellen?

No it is just an excuse as you suspected.

Am I that transparent?

Anyway John Key is the first signature on the bat – in all honesty he was probably going to be the tough one to get because he might only be there for a short time and getting autographs at the wrong time can be hard. At my age chasing a person with a bat is embarrassing.

For some reason I also figure getting Russell Crowe wont be easy either. I just have the feeling he will be difficult.

So this bat, whats the story? Well if you did not read the two previous emails here is the skinny.

I am auctioning an autographed bat with some big names on it. Some of the worlds greatest ever cricketers Hadlee, Crowe, Warne, two academy award winners Russell Crowe and Sir Ian McKellen, a former All Black Captain Umaga, a current All Black Captain Richie McCaw.

Bla bla bla bla bla -  any way the intention is to get everyone on it and aution the bat and give the money to Christchurch. I was down there just after it happened and it is a humbling experience.

I am not a memorabilia collector but he’s a little secret… there are two bats I am taking to get signed and one is for me. What I am saying is this collection of names is rare.

Anyway here is the details as per the last email rant.

#####

Here are the teams (and signatures I intend to get for you)

HOW THEY LINE UP

Wellington XI: Martin Crowe (captain), Andrew Jones, Bruce Edgar, Roger Twose, Chris Nevin, Matthew Bell, Jason Wells, Gavin Larsen, Richard Petrie, Jonathan Millmow, Ewen Chatfield, Tana Umaga

Canterbury XI: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mark Greatbatch, Craig McMillan, Rod Latham, Adam Parore, Dion Nash, Justin Vaughan, Shane Warne, Richard Hadlee, Geoff Allott, Marc Ellis

Bear in mind two academy award winners Russel Crowe (Gladiator) is the coach of the Canterbury team and Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) is the match referee. And John Key will be there. Umpires Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith.

Now you should be there if you can – if you are, come up and say hi.

Whether you can or cannot here’s an opportunity that will not present itself in our lifetime again.

To help the cause I am taking a bat which I will get autographed by all the players and coaches and match referees.

So on the bat will be

• Cricket greats
• Two guys who at their retirement were the greatest test wicket takers of all time
• A former All Black Captain
• Two academy award winners
• The Prime Minister (Done)
• The creator of Speed Marketing (possibly the best scalp of all)

Let me spell that out – you will NEVER get a chance to gather that collection of names anytime soon.

If you want to bid here’s what to do

1. Send an email in to julia@speedmarketing.co.nz with your bid $xx in the subject line.
2. Remember to include your contact details so I can call you when you win

The auction will close at 7pm on Sunday night… the highest bidder gets the bat.

There will only be one winner.

I will include a couple of bonuses to sweeten the deal

1. When you collect your bat you can get a photo with me and Stephen Fleming
2. I will include a 90 minute marketing strategy session with me valued at $499

Its a great cause, I was down there last week end and the place is a mess.

People are starting to realise the implication of losing their house, their job but still have a mortgage and a family to feed.

Happy bidding.

Good luck.

Richard

Some people call this the ‘Greatest Speech Ever’, maybe, maybe not but there is a lot we can all learn.

As you watch this video notice how he DELIBERATELY uses at least 3 persuasion tools…

1) Preframe: notice as he covertly steers the event from from meaning ‘hate and violence’ to meaning a ‘greater need for peace’, “Sad news for people who love peace all over the world”

2) Body language: Notice the hypnotic calming tone of his voice

3) Empathy:  ‘‘I had a member of my family, but he was also killed by a white man” cleverly making the event less about a white v black problem but more about a battle between ‘Love’ v ‘Hate.

Control minds and you control actions (and sell more stuff).

Well years ago I desperately wanted to play cricket for New Zealand and at the time I was only a club player.

I heard a saying, and I have no idea where I heard it but it stuck in my mind.

‘If you are going to be a champion you have to think like one first’

So I conditioned my mind to think like an International player and within 18 months I was.

At the time I could not have explained what I did but here is a guy who can.

Watch this video because it can change your life (if you take action).

I fully endorse what he says is true because it worked for me.