I just witnessed a very clever online sales technique for a coaching program that had prospects begging for the new coaching system days before the product was offered — in fact, before they even knew it was going to be available.

The basis of it was pretty simple, actually. The two guys offering the program spent lots of time and energy in the days leading up to their launch — probably about 10 days — filling prospects’ in-boxes with detailed information about their business and how profitable their clients are. There was no sales pitch whatsoever, no hype. The information they sent was extremely revealing from the get-go, backed up with video to prove it.

It was very interesting to watch the progression and the interest it garnered, which you could also watch via the blog they encouraged you to visit after viewing the videos.

Here’s what they did on the surface, although I’m sure there’s lots more behind it:

1. They had a well-known, respected internet marketer (maybe more than one, I just got one) send out the first contact e-mail, recommending that you take a look at a remarkable no-hype video. (Hint: it’s good to have friends.)

2. The very basic first video (This link now takes you to a sales page that includes the first video. Now that their sales campaign is over, the individual videos aren’t available as they were when first sent out.) showed what they claimed were sales figures — the actual spreadsheets — of companies doing a certain kind of internet business. Voice over walked you through the figures, adding information here and there, but mostly the video was just looking at balance sheets showing fast growth and good to fantastic profit, from $4,479 to $208,958 per month. The feedback from this first video was astounding — immediately people wanted to know how to do this themselves, and peppered the guys with questions about how to do it. They wisely held back. (Hint: don’t hold back on information, and be specific.)

3. Continuing along the path of “free content,” the next step was to announce the overwhelming interest they’d had (2,733 questions) and to answer questions. Another video walked viewers through the beginning steps of how to get started in this particular internet business niche. No innuendo or generalities here, these guys gave a tutorial in the second video, based on the questions they received from the first video. Again, the video was very basic, nothing to write home about, but packed with content. This only made the viewers hungry for more. And these guys still hadn’t really said they had anything for sale yet, although many prospects were goading them into admitting it — “We know you must be getting ready to offer a coaching program, just cut to the chase and let me know where I can sign up!” (Hint: giving away your expertise only makes people want it more.)

4. A few e-mails assured prospects that they’d be ready soon and it would be worth the wait (they were working on it as hard as they could!) and in the meantime, out came a third video, this time of an actual classroom session (of last year’s bootcamp), with more free content and solid information regarding the business model. An announcement was made of when their coaching program would become available, and exactly when they’d be able to sign up a “limited number” of students. The response to this was very interesting, as comments poured in from people in different time zones who were worried that they would sleep through their alarms, people who were going to be on planes when registration opened, people who would be locked in business meetings, and a person who would be closing on a new house — all fearful they’d miss out on the opportunity to buy. Wow. (I didn’t need to read the blog to learn this, although I could have — they kept prospects posted on these amazing stats via e-mail.) (Hint: there’s something to be said for momentum, and the power of scarcity.)

I don’t know how this all turned out for these guys in the end. I sent them an e-mail congratulating them on their sales process, and they said that the videos, while “not the prettiest things to look at,” won the confidence of the people and were “extremely effective.” They also attribute “pure content and no hype” to really making a big difference.

[tags]expertise, give away expertise, internet marketing, online sales technique, online sales[/tags]