We ran The Money Workshop on the weekend. We ask for feedback at the end of the workshop, including what we can improve. We had a few comments like "nothing comes to mind. that's a first!" and simply "all good," as well as "open window was too cold" and "bring an espresso machine." I think if we've got it to the level where the only complaint someone can come up with is that we only have filter coffee and not an espresso machine, we must be doing a few things right!
It was also quite gratifying. I knew the content and the concepts were great, but the presentation until now hasn't been at the same level. So we have been talking to some gun presenters, reading a lot about how people learn, and became a lot more conscious of the energy in the room. We worked on the music, the videos, the posters, the workbooks, including energisers and exercises, getting people moving around, having fun, and making it a great experience.
Apparently the most that people can listen for effectively is about 10 minutes, so we made sure there were no long stretches with me talking and nothing else happening. And I think the work paid off. One thing I was concerned about was our ongoing membership program, the Financial Independence Club. We have been selling membership of an ongoing program after the workshop for $29 a month, and getting a really high take up. However engagement during the program has been lower than I would have liked - a low percentage turn up for the monthly calls, and I think in a few cases life has taken over and the program has gone to the bottom of the pile so to speak.
I spoke to a few people about this including my mentor (thanks Paul!), and decided to create a one year platinum version of membership for around the $3k mark, which included more one-on-one interaction with the members, more accountability and a couple of other cool things. I then ran it by another friend (thanks Ivan!) who said something very interesting. He said if you have a range of options, people don't like to buy the most expensive one. People always go for the 2nd most expensive bottle of wine. So he suggested we include an even more expensive program, almost as a decoy, so that people would be more likely to buy the $3k program. Sounds logical I thought, so we also created a $12k titanium program (I know, the names leave a bit to be desired - we're open for suggestions), and included a couple more things. We made it good value, but really had it there to help sell the platinum program.
I thought we had 9 prospects for the platinum program (couples only count as one prospect, as they are both included, and there were a couple of people who I knew it wasn't appropriate for), and my target was to sell 3. As I said the workshop went really well, and I felt very comfortable talking about the different levels at the end.
Then a very strange thing happened. Two people applied for the titanium membership! I rang Ivan the next day to tell him that his decoy strategy failed miserably.
I think there is a great lesson in this. We have gone from selling a $29 product to selling a $12k product. Obviously the content from the workshop has a big impact, and people want support implementing it. And people want different levels of support. And when we weren't giving the option of a premium level, we were not only missing a great opportunity ourselves, but we were also not providing what our customers really wanted.
Where could you provide a whole different level of service to people who really want to engage fully with you and your business?
