373 – Talking to people can make you a lot of money: Tom talks Offering Consultations

Episode 373 – Offering Consultations
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey, everybody it's Tom here with episode three hundred and seventy three, Screw the Commute podcast. We're here talking about offering consultations. Most people are too lazy to do it, but it's one of the best lead generation mechanisms available. Plus you can charge for it too. But I usually roll it into the cost of my products and it's brought in enormous amounts of new customers over the years. Now, I hope you didn't miss Episode 372 Mike Hayashi. He's an old friend of mine, seventh degree black belt in karate, but he's built his business with publicity. He's done like twenty five hundred seminars for people based on four hundred and fifty TV appearances.

[00:01:10] So he's really cool and you got to check him out at episode 372. And of course when you want to hear it as an episode with a specific number is go to screwthecommute.com slash and then the number 372 for him. This is 373 and this is on offering consultations. Now would you like to hear your own voice on Screw the Commute. Well if the show's helped you out at all in your business or given you ideas to help you start a business, we want to hear about it. Visit, screwthecommute.com, look for a little blue sidebar that says send a voicemail, click on it, talk into your phone or computer and tell us how the show has helped you. Hey, also put in your website so that we can give you a big shout out in your own voice on a future episode of Screw the Commute.

[00:02:02] Now, while you're over there, pick up a copy of our podcast app. It's at screwthecommute.com/app. You can put it on your cell phone or tablet and take us with you on the road and then grab also a copy of our automation ebook.

[00:02:18] I've lived and died by this stuff in this book for many years. It's just made me a fortune and saved me time and saved me carpal tunnel syndrome from too many keystrokes. Grab it at screwthecommute.com/automatefree. We charge twenty seven bucks for this book, but it's yours free for listening to the show. Now check out my school. If you want to give a young person in your life or if you want your business to really go crazy over the Internet at a shoestring price and budget, you've got to know the things that I know well. I formally put them in a school twelve years ago. I've been teaching this stuff for over like twenty two years, but I put it in a form of a school. It's the only license dedicated Internet marketing school in the country, probably the world that I am Tikvah Dawg. It's certified to operate by SCHEV, the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia. But you don't have to be in Virginia. It's true. Good quality distance learning. We have live events every week also, and the skills we teach are in high demand. Every business on earth needs the things that I have been living for twenty six years now. OK, I've been selling on the commercial Internet since it started in 1994. So we teach this stuff. And your kids, young people, you're. Oh, it could be your nephews, nieces, grandchildren, your own kids will have a real marketable skill in minimum time. You won't be sending them for years to party and then learn how to protest and then get out and compete for jobs at Starbucks. They'll have their own career in a big hurry. We actually have people making money in the first couple months that they're in the school before they even graduate and we even have an elective to teach them how to do that. So check it out at IMTCVA.org. I'll tell you how you can get a free scholarship if you're in my mentor program.

[00:04:28] All right. Let's get to the main event. Now, here's the thing, folks. If you're too lazy to talk to people, if you've got a rotten personality here, generally a person that people don't like, well, maybe this episode is not for you. But if you're a person who really wants their business to succeed and is willing to take the time to nurture prospects and keep current customers coming back for more, than this brief episode is for you.

[00:05:00] Now, I offer personal one on one consultations either with me or with one of my subject matter experts that I employ and have trained, most people won't do this and they get on their high horse thinking, well, I'm too good to do this or I'm too busy to do this. So I'm going to ask him, like, you're too busy doing what?

[00:05:26] Are you always scrambling to advertise for new customers and spending lots of time and money figuring out all the paid ads, sources available? Well, I'm not against paid ads at all. What I am what I what I do think is stupid is to bring in loads of people from paid ads and then refuse to talk to them and give them the personal attention they crave. I brought in tons of people from page ads, from paid ads, and I think it's a good source of leads. But to close them on bigger ticket products and services, refusing to talk to them is just plain bad business.

[00:06:07] Now, here's what people that take advantage of consultations are usually the most gung ho buyers and most excited about your products and services.

[00:06:17] They spend more overall, and they are more likely not only to buy your bigger stuff, but they are way more likely to refer you and say good things about you.

[00:06:30] I've had plenty of people. I'm talking folks thousands over the years that can't afford my big stuff, like my various mentor programs in my school. But you can be darn sure that every time I come out with a new e-book or lower priced product, they're right there as one of the first purchasers.

[00:06:52] Also, they refer me to others. And and another thing, when my name comes up on social media, they jump in and say things like, I know Tom, Antion, he's the real deal.

[00:07:07] Now, I'm not sure they really know me, quote, all right, but they have spoken to me personally and no matter what their financial circumstance, I heard them out and I treated them with respect. Most of the people at my level won't even talk to anyone at all unless they get paid large sums of money. Now, what cracks me up is that I get the large sums of money because I'm willing to talk to people. And I got to tell you, taking a little time out to talk to someone that turns into a long term customer is just good business sense. Let me take my big stuff like off the table for a moment, let's say I have a 30 minute consult with someone and they only buy ebooks for me for an average cost of, say, twenty seven dollars, which is at 97 percent profit. So so I clear a little over twenty six dollars each. So they you know, most of them by 10 or so of these products over, let's say, a two year period. Even at the very low end that we're talking about here, I made two hundred and sixty dollars on them, plus all the goodwill and social media mentions and possible referrals for my big ticket stuff. Now, just on the face value, that call was an equivalent of five hundred and twenty dollars per hour. Now that's half my normal consulting rate. But remember, that was the absolute low end. Most people would spend at least twice that amount and a percentage would go for the big stuff that would lead to sales of up to 59000. So now if I or my staff never spoke to these people, those numbers would be radically reduced.

[00:09:02] Let me tell you about this, a guy who was standing next to at a speaking event, he was dressed, to be benevolent, I can say kind of oddly, and he needed some serious dental work. Now, he had seen me speak that day and was asking me questions.

[00:09:21] Now, let me take a sidebar here, though, most of the speakers at that event and many that I speak at felt they're too good to be there for the entire event. And they just blew in like big shots with their entourage and they blew out claiming they had a plane to catch for probably some better speaking.

[00:09:44] So but I always do my thing on stage and just stay at the event and talk to people. I mean, many of them can't believe I'm there for the entire event, just talking to people and answering their questions, regardless of how they look.

[00:09:59] It turns out this guy was standing next to was a multiple best selling author in his field, real bestsellers. He plunked down 5000 dollars, which was my seminar entry fee at the time, to get in my program.

[00:10:16] And he paid me 50000 dollars on the back end out of his profits from what he learned.

[00:10:21] All right. So he also paid for two other of his partners to join.

[00:10:28] I think I took home one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars from that three day event and I haven't done less than a hundred grand or been beaten at the back of the room sales at the same type of event for 20 years, all from just talking to people. All right. So, yeah, you got lots of other factors, like you got to do a great presentation.

[00:10:48] But a big part of my presentation was that I would talk to you one on one to help you learn what I know.

[00:10:57] That's what my mentor program is all about, I mean, you can have myself and my entire team talked to you by appointment whenever you need it for an entire year.

[00:11:08] And if it's an emergency, you can talk to us the same day. Nobody has this kind of service. And it's made my program the longest running, most unique and most successful program of its kind ever. I mean, it goes even way past just talking to people. They also get an immersion weekend where they actually live in my state home and they shoot video in my TV studio next door.

[00:11:35] I mean, you can't get any more personal with clients than letting them live in your house. OK.

[00:11:43] All right. So let's get back to consultations. Well, I usually start adding consultations when a product is ninety seven dollars or more on a let's say a six hundred ninety seven dollar or higher product. I add three consultations. Sometimes I give a bonus of three more for a total of six.

[00:12:03] But even on my ebook sales, I get questions from buyers and I answer them promptly so they always know they're taken care of. Sometimes I even call them back if the answer is too hard to type or if I have to ask them some questions to give them the right answer, nobody does.

[00:12:21] All right. I want them to know they're always going to be taken care of when they do business with my organization. Now, here's another thing I want you to know. In all the years I've been doing this, no one has taken advantage of me by abusing their consultation. In fact, and here's another interesting reason you should add consultation's. Many people buy because of the consultations, but never schedule one. I mean, they buy whatever product I'm selling that has bonus consultations, but they never schedule it. If I had to give all the consultations, I oh, I have to hide out in Mexico.

[00:13:00] But guess what, if they booked the call, I don't care when I would honor it and do a good job for them. But the thing is, many don't call.

[00:13:11] So what this does is allow you to give greater value and higher prices on your products and services, but really not have to deliver on all the consoles.

[00:13:23] There's nothing underhanded about this. You just have to know human nature. Not everyone will call, but if they do, I'll be there for them.

[00:13:33] So get off your high horse folks and offer one on one consultations.

[00:13:40] Now, if you'd like to have an unlimited number of consultations with me and my staff and skyrocket to results with your business, or if you want to start an online business, get in touch with me because we're one on one. We don't lump you in with a bunch of people more advanced or less advanced for you. It's all personal to you.

[00:14:03] So get in touch with me and discuss your participation in that. Plus, you get if you're in my mentor program, you get a scholarship to my school, which you can either use yourself or gift to someone. That's what some of the parents do. They get in the mentor program and they gift it to their kids and the kids take to it like water.

[00:14:24] I mean, when they think they can get their own cars and apartments and all that, I mean, we can even go as is middle school kids. We had one we had one kid in one of my programs that was eight years old and had written three books and another 12 year old had written three books. So this is these kids are great at this and you'll give them a skill that will give them a real career, not a bunch of partying for four years, deep debt and then competing for jobs at Starbucks. That's the traditional way nowadays. All right. So check it out at greatInternetmarketingtraining.com, and then give me a call. And, you know, I had a comment recently. Well, if you're such a hot shot, why is your site look so bad? The first answer is, is I have made fortunes on plain looking websites. There's a lot you know, so many people have gorgeous websites that don't make a nickel. And the second thing is this is where I send my students. It's just the repository of 19 years worth of training. So it's not meant for public consumption. It's just meant to show you about the program and then get you to see what's up and give me a call. All right. So that's at greatInternetmarketingtraining.com.

[00:15:47] All right. Get out there and do those consultations and I'll catch you on the next episode.

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