Over the decades that I knew Chet Holmes, he taught me quite a bit. A good deal of what was imparted wasabout becoming an ultimate strategist. As Chet always said, “the strategist will slaughter the tactician every time.”

Strategic planning is working smarter.

 Tactics -are ads, sales calls, brochures, direct mail, linkedin messages, etc

 Strategy -is the long range goal, the overall impact you make to your prospects and clients.

Questions companies should have answers to (but most don’t):

• What is the ultimate accomplishment, or ultimate position you want in the mind of your clients?
• How do your tactical efforts support and help you accomplish that position?

A great exercise to prove this point is something Chet called the Stadium Pitch. Imagine you could present in a massive stadium to every potential client you have. Today this could be the title of your Facebook Live to all your followers, it could be the name of a Clubhouse room, the title of a webinar. What would it be?

• What would you want to accomplish?
• What would be your strategic objective?
• A great stadium pitch will drive buyers up the pyramid.

Behold  “The Buyers Pyramid” one of the biggest eye-openers in this is the miniscule percentage of people, at any given time, who are actively in the market to buy a product or service like yours.

Whether you saw or heard Chet speak, or read the top-selling book, “The Ultimate Sales Machine” I wonder if you remember the answer (or fully appreciate its significance). This is important as it has huge implications regarding your potential for greater success.

The Chet Holmes® Method breaks down the entire audience of buyers in any market into 5 key categories:

1. Percent who are interested in buying “right now”
2. Percent who are “open to consider such a purchase”
3. The amount who are NOT thinking about it at this time
4. Those who don’t “believe” they are interested (based on the info they have at hand)
5. Those who are definitely NOT interested

 You see, Chet polled audiences by the thousands during his live events. He asked for a show of hands if people where “in the market” for such things as tires, cars, home remodeling, carpeting, technology, etc. What he found was, across the boards, only 3% of any market is in the “buying mode” now. 

 *Download chapter 4 of “The Ultimate Sales Machine” now on ‘Becoming a Brilliant Strategist‘ to learn more on this. 

 So, how and why is that relevant to you?

 Well, if you read the news on a Friday you will see may ads for automobile tire suppliers. They are directed at that 3% (but they do nothing to move those other potential buyers closer to choosing them when the time is right…which could be very soon). You never know when someone’s Maximum Motivation Date to buy may occur.

 The goal here is to move any outliers into a place of choosing your solution sooner and to be sure that whenever the time comes, they think of your company first. To do this your message has to be powerful and it has to be education-based to resonate.

 The lesson here is to teach your “prospects” what they need to know to make a smart buying decision and position your solution as the “obvious choice”. Wouldn’t you like to be considered the number one authority in your market? You need an education that proves this.

 One of the key ways to do this is to offer “insights” and “education” to help people make a better buying decision when the time comes (and to move them through the sales funnel rapidly).

 Let’s keep with tires as an example, mostly because it’s easy to see how a small shift has huge benefits.

 The typical tire ad has the company name at the top and some sort of “SALE” predominantly placed. They are often ineffectively competing on price for their share of that 3% of people who are buying now.

 Consider, instead, having the ad began with the headline:

Warning: Do Not Even Consider Buying New Tires Before Reading Our Free Report

 “What You Don’t Know About Buying Tires Can Cost You Money and Threaten the Safety of Your Family”.

 Many more people would be compelled to read your ad. If you then present “public service announcement-like” information you will stand out from the crowd in a huge way.

 Also, that report would include information that gets people to consider getting new tires even before they believe they need to (because you’ve educated them to the fact that even when not fully worn, their tires may no longer be safe or may be costing them fuel efficiency).

 You can move those people from ‘not buying right now’, or ‘not even thinking about it’, to becoming your client/customer more surely and more imminently. You just need to actively and skillfully create your Ultimate Sales Machine through a formalized tried and true system.

 To talk to someone about creating your own educational approach you can schedule a no-obligation consultation here.