That ain’t coachin’ my friend

Today is part two of Visa or Mastercard from yesterday.

…as I was saying – if what they sold me was what I got, I might have at least been happy enough with that.

They sold a personalised marketing plan with 1-1 coaching.

They delivered a one-size-fits-all marketing plan “personalised” with my business name, with video walkthroughs and some email support.

Genuinely don’t know if Phil Jackson coached Michael Jordan by pre-recorded video and email – if he did, I’ll allow it.

Otherwise, that’s not coaching.

(To close the loop on this story, below is what happened, followed by the breakdown of the shady tactics).

I brought it up with them. They attempted to rectify it by “meeting me halfway”, which to them meant that someone on their team would respond to my emails with a video instead of an email 😂 I gave it a shot… it was like pulling teeth. Nothing like watching someone think about their answer to your question and repeat themselves 3 times, instead of just skimming their email.

A few weeks in, I was pretty pissed and asked for a refund, and have been ghosted ever since. Lesson learned 🫡

There are so many bait-and-switches going on here, that it’s distracting from the point of this story – the shady selling technique.

Everything that’s wrong with this

The big obvious one was that he lured people in with the prospect of getting advice from him – not only was there no advice, it wasn’t him (which is fine – he just needed to say that).

A more subtle one was in the sales copy for the program – he had said that if your offers aren’t ready, he’ll simply offer some guidance. That “guidance” was delivered as objection handling. The sales guy told me not to worry about any shortcomings in my offers, because the program would iron them out. Subtle but clever.

Now the Visa or Mastercard thing… I’ve seen this technique explained in lots of contexts, and I get it. The idea is that instead of saying something like “are you ready to buy” (where the answer can be yes or no), by offering me two ways of saying yes, theoretically I’m not even thinking about the “no”, I’m just weighing up which yes works best for me (I’ve been taught this with little kids too – don’t just say “put your shoes on”, say “do you want to put your shoes on, or shall I do it?”).

It obviously works. But what’s the cost?

• For me, I knew I made a mistake almost immediately. When they failed to fix it, I deleted everything and basically said “don’t talk to me again”.
• For them, they banked some sweet coin… but that was literally the last cent they’ll ever see out of me. If I were to name them, I’d hope it’d deter anyone who reads this too.

(I’ve never named them publicly, but I’ve shared this story before and… let’s just say no one has guessed wrong).

The lesson here? If you’re selling something and the thought of using a tactic you’ve learned makes your skin crawl, skip it. If you’re buying something and feel yourself being nudged somewhere you didn’t intend to go, pause a minute. That feeling is the warning.

So as a big 🖕 to the doucehbags, I do the opposite.

I make it easy for people to opt out; I explain who my stuff isn’t for as well as who it is for; And they’re free to tell me when they’re ready.

It’s a slower game, but it’s a game people are happier playing because they retain the control that is rightfully theirs.

Tricks, pressure, and manipulation simply aren’t part of the formula.

Owning it 🙋🏻‍♂️

Like I said yesterday, I still feel like an idiot about this purchase. Ultimately I made the buying decision – it was an expensive lesson I won’t forget.

And I guess thanks to him, I now have a very sharply tuned spidey-sense that tells me whether or not to trust something… maybe it’s tuned a little too sensitive. But given the choice, I prefer it this way.

Wanna see this in action?

I’m planning a workshop in August called something like “How I help people buy things from me.”

It’s not about sales funnels or scripts. It’s about helping the right people buy things they need without pressure.

If that sounds useful, reply with a yep or a gif or whatever you like, and I’ll make sure you’re the first to hear when it’s ready. No pressure, no pitch 😉