Converting leads through strategic offers

From: alexhormozi

This article outlines a 10-step process for acquiring a business’s first five customers, drawing insights from the upcoming book “100 Million Dollar Leads” by Alex Hormozi [00:00:10]. The approach emphasizes a structured, personalized method to convert existing contacts into paying clients, starting with strategic free offers to build testimonials and experience. This strategy helps with lead generation and conversion by starting with a warm audience.

The 10-Step Customer Acquisition Process

Step 1: Compile Your Leads

The initial step in innovative customer acquisition strategies is to create a comprehensive list of potential contacts [00:00:17].

• List 1: Email Contacts Extract all contacts from your email account [00:00:22].
• List 2: Social Media Contacts Gather all direct message-able followers across your social media profiles [00:00:30].
• List 3: Phone Contacts Export all contacts from your phone [00:00:40].

Combining these lists will yield a significant number of potential leads [00:00:51].

Step 2: Select a Primary Platform

From your compiled lists, choose one platform where you have the largest number of contacts to begin your outreach [00:01:09]. This could be email, Instagram, or phone contacts [00:01:12].

Step 3: Personalize Your Message

Craft a personalized message for each contact, referencing something you already know about them [00:01:22]. This could be a life event (e.g., new baby, job change, recent move) or a shared interest [00:01:39]. The goal is to show you’ve taken a few seconds to craft a genuine message, avoiding generic blasts [00:01:48].

Step 4: Initiate Outreach

Commit to reaching out to 100 people every day [00:01:55]. The initial effort may feel challenging, but consistency is key [00:02:07]. This proactive approach is part of effective methods for advertising and generating business leads.

Step 5: Warm Up Engaged Leads (ACA Framework)

When a contact replies, “warm them up” using the ACA framework [00:02:16]:

• Acknowledge: Acknowledge something personal about them (e.g., “Oh, so you have two kids?“) [00:02:22].
• Compliment: Offer a sincere compliment related to their personal situation (e.g., “Wow, you must be a super mom working full-time and having two kids!“) [00:02:26].
• Ask: Transition to a question that subtly relates to the service you offer, connecting it to the compliment [00:02:34]. For a weight loss service, this might be, “Hey, so you’re Superman, how do you have time to eat right and work out?” [00:02:42]. This conversational approach avoids direct selling [00:02:48].

Step 6: Invite Referrals

Do not solicit your service directly to the contact [00:02:56]. Instead, ask if they know anyone who might benefit from your service [00:03:04]: “Do you know anyone who’s looking for X, Y, and Z? Because I’m opening up a few slots to help people do exactly that” [00:03:05]. You are asking for a favor, not a sale [00:03:15]. If they don’t know anyone, a humorous follow-up could be, “Haha, does anyone you hate come to mind?” [00:06:09] This can help overcome challenges in lead management and conversion.

Step 7: Make a Strategic (Free) Offer

If a contact expresses interest, they transition from a “lead” (someone you can contact) to an “engaged lead” (someone who has shown interest in your offering) [00:03:25]. To convert them, offer your service for free [00:03:44].

This is a crucial step in how to create compelling offers:

• Terms of Exchange: Offer your service for free in exchange for three commitments [00:03:52]:

  1. They actually use your service [00:03:54].
  2. They provide feedback on it [00:03:56].
  3. They leave a “killer review” if they feel it deserves one [00:03:57].

  This free offer helps you gain experience, improve your service, and gather testimonials [00:04:04]. It’s a form of utilizing free content for lead generation. Even if it’s monetarily free, customers are still exchanging their time and effort [00:05:21].

  A direct pitch for this free offer could be:

  “By the way, do you know anybody who is [describe their struggles] looking to [dream outcome] in [time delay]? I’m taking on five case studies for free because that’s all I can handle. I just want to get some testimonials for my service or product. I just had a girl named XXX work with me to get [dream outcome] even though she described the same struggle [the person you’re talking to] is struggling with. I’d like to get more testimonials to show it works across different scenarios. Does anyone you like come to mind?” [00:05:32]

  A shorter version:

  “I help [type of customer] get [dream outcome] in [time period] without effort and sacrifice, and I guarantee XYZ to decrease risk.” [00:06:17]

  If people don’t want to work with you even for free, ask them why to uncover and eliminate hidden costs associated with your service [00:06:40].

Step 8: Reiterate Outreach

Once you have your first free customers, return to your large contact list and continue the process [00:07:31]. Some contacts from whom you asked for referrals will provide free leads [00:07:37].

Step 9: Gradually Introduce Pricing

Once people start referring clients to you, you know your service is valuable enough to start charging [00:07:50].

• Phased Pricing: Gradually increase your price by changing the “free” offer to a discounted one for batches of customers [00:07:57].

  • Next five: 80% off [00:07:59]
  • Next five: 60% off [00:08:03]
  • Next five: 40% off [00:08:05]
  • Next five: 20% off [00:08:06]
  • Then, full price [00:08:07]

  Your value should increase as you gain experience and incorporate feedback, allowing you to eventually charge above full retail [00:08:21]. This continuous improvement helps with optimizing conversion rates for service businesses.

• Handling Free Clients at Capacity: When you reach capacity with paying customers, you can ethically ask your free clients to start paying if they wish to continue [00:08:43]. If they decline, gracefully accept, and request the promised review [00:09:12].

  • Free clients are invaluable for reviews, referrals, and potential future conversions [00:09:21].

Step 10: Maintain Lead Nurturing

Continue to engage with your large list of contacts by checking in regularly and providing value [00:09:44]. This consistent goodwill will eventually lead to contacts soliciting you for your services, driven by your testimonials and results [00:09:56]. This ongoing engagement is a key part of leveraging content and outreach to increase business profitability and effective strategies for gaining leads across industries.