If you are looking for a good business book to read, I highly recommend Jeff Walker’s Launch. It reminds us of the importance of timing and the value of “setting up” your next important project. I was introduced to a great example of how “anticipation” works earlier today.
Stuart Cohen and I are training for an Ironman 70.3 Triathlon along with a mutual friend of ours, Frank Adornato. The race is not until May 15th, and they have been postponing registration week after week. Since this is a rescheduled race, and we were not originally planning to compete, we were beginning to fear that the regularly allotted positions would be taken.
We heard through the grapevine that today at 12 noon would be the day and time for registration to open. This race has four tiers of registration, each one with a different price point. We wanted “in” but also at a price we could afford.
At 11:55 am we were all positioned at our computers ready to pounce. 11:58… 11:59… and then twelve noon. We were on the website ready to handover our credit card numbers when nothing happened. 12:01… nothing. 12:05… nothing. Then, at 12:07, the registration link became “live.”
As we frantically filled out the form with phone numbers, shirt sizes, age, emergency contact names, and numbers and finally our credit card numbers, we began to sweat in hope that our computers would transfer this information to the computer that would automatically send our confirmation number. We waited. And waited. And then came the good news. We were instantly out a lot of money and were committed to making our lives extremely uncomfortable for the next four and half months.
If there was no downside to waiting until we got around to it, who knows what the final result would have been. If registration had been open for months, who knows if we would have procrastinated and decided to pass on this opportunity.
The fact that we had to wait before ensuring we had a spot on the starting line added to the anticipation and the excitement. As it turned out, we were wishing, hoping, and praying that somebody would take our money and grant us entry. I don’t know about you, but I find this to be slightly strange behavior. “Please take my money… please.”
And so, it is with you and your next group meeting, trip, cruise, or adventure. Don’t dump your wagon prematurely. Set it up with benefits. Promote the details and wait.
Get your potential participants chaffing at the bit to “pull the trigger.” Advertise a date when your registration will open, along with different tiers of pricing. Begin the countdown. Then “OPEN” for business.
If you play your cards right, your gig will sell out in record time. If I still have your attention, get on over to Amazon.com before procrastination raises its ugly head. Pick up a copy of Launch by Jeff Walker. You can thank me later.
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club. Send for details.
