Can you guess the #1 mistake in almost every pitch?

Dale Backers

Jul 7 • General discussion

I talked to

@Travis Sago

today. One thing he said that stuck with me is that people naturally tend to focus on the wrong thing in their pitch.

Can you guess what it is?

If you’ve been following him for a while, you probably heard this before…

Let’s zoom out. If we look at Hell Island (present pain + symptoms), Heaven Island (these pains and symptoms gone), and the Bridge (our plan/offer)...

If you’re like me you’ve probably spent too much time on one thing…

Trying to sell the bridge (the plan/meat/offer).

The problem? nobody really cares about the bridge.

They care about getting off Hell Island and moving over to Heaven Island.

They don't care much what gets them there.

Travis asked me “if you want to get someone to go to Hawaii, what's your pitch?”

Do you tell them they're going to be stuck on a long expensive flight and they may be stuck by a baby with a shitty diaper? Do you sell the jet lag?

Or is a stronger pitch to show them a picture of the beach they’d stay on. Show them the sunrise or sunset from that day?

Of course the second pitch is better.

Why?

We’re selling heaven island (in this case literally).

People don't care much about how they get there.

They're willing to go through certain pains or discomfort to get to Heaven Island.

Features and benefits suck. Nobody gives a shit how many modules we have.

I reached out to a potential partner a few weeks ago. This is my exact message, I just removed a few of the personal details.

Look at my message:

"Hey [name]

Could I pay you $250 to run a poll in your [group name] Skool group?

I just ran a poll to my free Skool group of only 50 members and made over $2,000 from a $197 offer.

Here's what I'm thinking.

I would write and run the poll in [his group] to sell [his offer] to your members.

If it makes an amount money you're happy with I take a small % of the sales after the money hits your account.

Worst case it makes nothing and I pay you $250 for wasting your time.

I'll handle everything… writing the posts, closing deals in the DM's, following up, etc.

You just approve the poll.

You could make $100,000.

Or you could make nothing (and I'd give you $250).

Would that be worth a conversation"

He told me "good pitch but no."

What do you see wrong with this?

I tried to sell him on a poll. Nobody cares about polls!

I should have focused on what he actually wants. Like more revenue from his group. This would also be passive income from his audience. He’s already done the work. I’d just bring in new buyers.

Instead I talked about polls, percentages, and processes.

I sold the bridge instead of Heaven Island.

Classic mistake.

Thanks for the reminder Travis.

Maybe one day I’ll learn 😉

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