Don Alm told this interesting story about one of his customers.
What struck me about the story was how common it is.
You get an idea… you test it… and you get common reasons people say “no”.
You think… “that idea stinks” and never try anything else.
Here’s how someone bought the info, got the “No’s” and then turned it around…
For example, I was at a restaurant the other day that was doing its faxing deal.
All the time I was in there I heard the fax machine dialing and dialing and dialing.
It was very annoying.
Perhaps it annoyed them as much as it did the customers who were trying to have conversations over the dull roar of the fax machine.
Here’s what this guy did that didn’t save any money for the owners… it just saved them a hassle
Today (Easter Sunday 2006) marks the TENTH anniversary of a business that was started by a friend of mine.
I met EC at a Bill Myers seminar in Hot Springs, Ark…in 1995…where I was one of the speakers.
EC was a “personal trainer” who wanted to find a business he could start and build from his home.
He was HUNGRY to get out of the “personal trainer” biz….and had a “Burning Desire” to start his own thing.
Well…at the time…I was promoting my “FaxBux” program (a program that involved Faxing, Restaurant Daily Specials of 8 restaurants to local offices….with the restaurants paying for the service.
When…EC saw my program…liked it, bought it and started out.
I sensed that EC was NO salesperson…HOWEVER he told me he had contacted about 6 Deli owners and they ALL TOLD HIM THEY WERE ALREADY SENDING FAXES TO LOCAL BUSINESSES…so they would NOT be interested in his service.
Now…MOST people hearing these comments would shake their shoulders and think, “Well OK! I guess this biz is NOT for me!” Which EC thought. So…he called me.
When I heard what the 6 Deli owners had told him I IMMEDIATELY thought about “WHAT could be done here? HOW could we get these Deli owners to subscribe to our Daily Special service?
I asked EC some more questions;
WHO was faxing the Daily Specials? (The bookkeeper or a waitress)
WHAT was on the sheet? (Their own Daily Special with an order form so they could fax back their lunch order)
WHERE were the sheets being faxed? (To a List of fax nos of regular customers the Deli collected with a “Fish Bowl Giveaway”)
WHEN were the sheets being faxed? (Early morn to arrive at the offices in time for lunch)
HOW were the sheets being faxed? (By a standard PC with A Fax program)Thus…by asking “Who, What, Where, When, & How” an idea was forming in my head.
Then I GOT IT;
Why not offer to…”DO THE FAXING FOR THEM”?Well…in my post below where I brought up the topic of “Making Appointment Reminder Calls for Doctor and Dentist Offices”…where I mentioned I thought these offices would pay $20 to $30/day I was told that there are BIG companies now providing THIS type of service for “peanuts” and that “no way would “I” be able to get much more than they are now getting?”
These folks do NOT know about “possibility thinking”. Instead of finding reasons why something will NOT work…why not look under, around and over the subject to see HOW IT CAN BE MADE TO WORK!
Thus…I told EC that he should now go back to these Delis and tell them that HE will take over the Daily Faxing of their Daily Special sheets to THEIR offices…for a fee of $20 a DAY…$100 a week…$200 every 2 weeks.
Well…EC called me later that day and told me he got his FIRST DELI? Out of the first 6…he got 2 to accept HIS service.
Then I told him to call every Deli he could find a phone number for and say the following to whomever answers the phone;
1) Are you faxing your Daily Specials to local business offices?
If they answered “No!”…thank them for their time and go to the next call.
If they answered “Yes! We Are!” Ask if the owner could come to the phone for a minute, you have an idea you’d like to run by him.
2) Hello Mr Deli Owner…I understand you are now faxing your Daily Specials to local offices. I have a FAX business and I would like to offer to do the faxing for you for a fee of $20 a day. Would this be of interest to you?”Well…in his first week, EC was able to get 7 delis to let him do the faxing for him. He added another phone line and another pc….until he wound up with 42 Delis paying him $20 a day to do something they were already doing and took about 1 hr a day for one of the employees.
So the Delis were not saving any money by paying EC to do the faxing. The reason MUST be the hassle or frustration of doing the faxing themselves.
Anyway…I thought I’d drop this note in because EC is now celebrating his TENTH YEAR of collecting $200 every 2 weeks from 42 Delis $8,400 every 2 weeks…for TEN YEARS!
2 years ago, EC built an office building in the main town in COSTA RICA. EC now lives there, on the beautiful coast of Costa Rica.
He still operates his Deli Fax biz from his pc in Costa Rica…which instructs his computers in his 5th floor apt in the states to send out the faxes every evening so they are available the next morn.
Now…if anyone thinks this is just a “story”, I will be glad to give you EC’s name. He has posted here once or twice in the past 3 or 4 yrs.
What EC Has proved is that, “even though a business is now doing an operation themselves, they may not want to keep doing it!…and would be GLAD to PAY MORE to have someone else do it”
Food for thought,
Happy Easter,
Don Alm
No comments yet.