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Want to know what we think will be the marketing trends in 2022? Listen in for our ideas of what the 2022 online marketing landscape will look like and impact your business.

Episode 4 – The System We Use To Close 85-90% of Sales Calls We Have

Video Alyson did on LinkedIn – a picture of her newborn kid that a marketing email reminds her to buy every 4 days for almost 5 years.

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Alyson Lex 0:03
Every year, we wonder what's coming, especially in the last couple years, we've always wondered what's coming next. And so what Jenna and I decided, is that we are going to predict 2022, we've come up with a couple of different areas of your business and your marketing. And we're going to dive in just a little bit to what is going to work this year. And the first thing we want to start with is actually how your people are going to buy from you, the buying behavior of your audience, is going to affect everything that you do this year. So let's talk about that. Let's dive into how people are going to buy.

Jennie Wright 0:49
I want to hear your prediction first. I know

Alyson Lex 0:51
I knew you were going to throw me right under that bus Sr. This was your idea. This was my idea. And I love it. I'm so excited. So people are going to continue the trend that we've seen over the past couple years, especially and I've actually been saying this since before the pandemic, that people are gonna want to know who they're buying from. The pandemic has accelerated that as we've really required more connection in a different way. Because we can't, couldn't get that face to face connection as much. So this is going to become even more important as time goes on, they're going to want to know, you. Not just the you that you want to give them. But all of it.

Jennie Wright 1:44
Yeah, you're right. That's what we've seen a huge increase in that.

Alyson Lex 1:49
Yeah. And I've called it. And I've mentioned this, I think a couple times, maybe not on this podcast, but a thought of it is an online Mayberry.

Jennie Wright 1:58
I've heard you talk about this.

Alyson Lex 2:00
Yes. So if you think about the way that things, quote, unquote, used to be, I'm not going to talk about good old days, because that's not a thing. But when towns were smaller, and commerce was more localized, people knew you. And I remember there was, I used to be able to go to this one shopping center, and my bank and my, my hair cutter, and my hairstylist and you know, all the liquor store, and the grocery store that was all in one place. And everybody there knew me because I was always there. Well, now I buy my groceries through Instacart. And I don't drink and I bank online. And okay, I still get haircuts, but not as often as I should. So they don't know me anymore. And you feel that disconnect. People want to feel connected to the person giving them the service that they're that they're buying. Yeah, that's online Mayberry.

Jennie Wright 3:07
I resonate with the online Mayberry thing I have wanted. So I live in a big city. I live just on the outskirts of the city of Toronto, in Canada, Ontario. But I have always wanted to have that small town feel. Where some, you know, almost like when you go into chairs, like nor, like everybody knows your name kind of thing, except without the drinking, because I don't drink either. But yeah, I think that would be really, really cool. I love that.

Alyson Lex 3:32
We're a couple of squares. We are

Jennie Wright 3:35
I really, I really expanded on my home body abilities during the event. Right, everybody's like, Oh, I

Alyson Lex 3:42
can't go to this party. I'm like, Oh, darn

Jennie Wright 3:45
shocks and get to read a book. Oh, my Oh, wow.

Alyson Lex 3:51
Well, and I think too, you know, and I know that for you. You wanted to talk about I know you did some research on this because you're so much more prepared about things than I am. I think that that that community and that that connection is adding to the value that people get. Yeah,

Jennie Wright 4:11
absolutely. And you know, I did my research because you're looking at the notes. But I So Allison and I have a client who's really, how do we say he's worked in some of the upper echelons with bigger companies. And he kept dropping, you know, McKinsey, McKinsey. McKinsey, right. And I mean, I've heard this name anecdotally over the years and but McKinsey does a ton of research there. Go check them out online. They're a marketing company, you may have already heard of them. But McKinsey does a ton of research and posted online and their talk and it's in a corporate thing, but you know, they're talking but 45% of all CFOs have declined or not fully funded marketing proposals based on the fact that they didn't just demonstrate a clear line of value. So when you're and this is buying behavior, one on one if you're getting a lot of have people saying no to you, when you're making your offer, and the offer saying, you know, and your investments going to be XYZ early on, it's gonna be five grand or 15, grand, whatever it is, and people go, and they back away from the sale. That is 100% based on the fact that there's a lack of value. Right? So I, I love the, the the thought that people are being a little bit more, they're being a little more scrupulous with their money. And they're, they're really wanting to understand how is this going to benefit them.

Alyson Lex 5:40
So what this means for you, as you go into 2022. That's my poem. And

Jennie Wright 5:57
allisyn You're too cute. What this means for you in 2022.

Alyson Lex 6:02
I was, I was just going to try and have our editor take that space out, because I was laughing. But what this means for you, as you go into this year is track your numbers. Like, and so one of the things that Jennie just mentioned that I wanted to point out is some of them weren't all outright nose. It was a pullback in the scope. Yeah, to pull back. So track that to like, how much are you putting out there? What's your proposal and how much is being taken? If you notice that 4555, whatever percent of your people are pulling back in scope, there's a disconnect there, it can't just be a W or an L in the outcome column, you need to know the details. So really begin to track what those numbers look like. And you can figure out, hey, I might be missing the boat here.

Jennie Wright 7:02
Allison, and I can relate this directly to a real time experience. Also, I have a client, who, when we started working with them, we had them basically triple their price. They were offering a service, it was an online service, basically, you know, social media. And their price was really, really low. Like it was really below industry standard. And we're like, no, you've got to bring that up. So we tripled the price. I know that sounds crazy. But we got her up to like market, you know, market index, like what people were actually spending on this kind of thing. But then there was the disconnect of people pulling back and going, Oh, my God, I can't afford, you know, I can't buy that, or I don't want to buy that. And when we when we ask the client, like what is your process of actually getting them to purchase? You know, there's a difference between buying something at 397 and buying it $1,000 a month. And the process, the disconnect was that they weren't seeing the value. So we got the client to, to start using a proposal software analysis. And I really always recommend this proposal software, it's called better proposals, we'll put the link to it in our show notes. But we got this client using better proposals and actually having a formatted proposal, which you can just reuse quickly, like you can just create it and quickly change it and then bam, send it off. And the proposal having it all written out showed the value showed what they're going to get in return for their investment. And it allowed this client to justify and back up asking for three times what they had been asking for previously and close. bigger, better clients. So that's that's the end of my story. But

Alyson Lex 8:45
yes, yes. And think about how you're making people feel. Think about how they get to know you and do you get to know them. And you know, at the risk of just going a little too deep on this because I kind of want to talk about the brand of things as well. I think this is going to be really important when it comes to understanding the buying behavior because how you put yourself out there is going to matter too. Right? Your brand needs to be rooted in authenticity. It needs to be rooted in who you are. And your brand and your business really needs to show people that they can be a part of something bigger than themselves. Whether that is through what you believe in or creating a community of others or Even just the things you support. So over the last couple of years, obviously, we have seen big changes in social awareness and things like that. And your brand needs to show what you believe, because people want to do business with people that they can get behind their values. Okay, it's, it feels a little scary, but one of the best received emails that I've ever sent to my list, I put my values out there black and wipe. plain as day. This is what I believe. This is where I stand. And if that's not okay with you, that's fine. I lovingly let you go. And what that did was create real trust between my audience and myself that were on the same page. That's going to be even more important in the next 12 months. I agree.

Jennie Wright 11:12
I have thoughts. But I want to move on. I mean, it's thoughts for another day, I think because buying behavior, there's a whole thing that's happening there. But I want to I want to start talking and funnel sorry, not your brand. 100% I think there's so much with the authenticity and there, there's there's a lot going on there. But I really want to really want to dive into funnels. You know, that's my bread and butter, you know, that's where I stick this is. The thing that I love to do is I love building out funnels, funnels that work, not the BS funnels and my prediction for 22. And I will say this so happily, that bro marketing is dead. Like it has it if it hasn't died, it has to completely die. Like I know it's been declining and it's less popular. But bro marketing just needs to fizzle and pop and go away completely. And if you don't know what bro marketing is, it's that spammy, you know, really aggressive sales pitch, you know, Guy leaning on the hood of a Lambo with backup singers dancing around and stuff like showing off all the wealth and things like that, like getting off your private jet, like that kind of stuff, that stuff all has to die. And the thing that I think we're really going to focus on more is that authentic storytelling?

Alyson Lex 12:40
I absolutely agree. I think that and this is this goes back into letting them get to know you. So that's why we wanted to start with that buying behavior because it affects everything that you're doing.

Jennie Wright 12:54
Marketing to just, just, like buzzer off like go I wasn't

Alyson Lex 12:57
even going to give it the thought today. I mean, okay, so look, I have made a lot of money in the last 14 years from really hard hitting direct response. Some of that has led to the bro marketing. So I was writing all of this before bro marketing even came about. And then there's been like the branch of bro, and then the branch of everyone else. So I understand that bro marketing works for the people that it targets. And this is where knowing your audience really is important. And it's going to be even more important. We're going to talk about that in a second. But if I've had people like, you know, Allison, you can, you can totally sell to these, I don't want to and that's where it goes back to being in your brand and your authentic purpose that is so not me. I am not the hard hitter. I'm not to shame you into sales. I'm not that person. Like if you're not the right fit for me great. How can I help you find the right person? That's me that's authentic to me. And my people appreciate that. So you know, I look I hate the bros the bro marketing, I hate all of like the the shame and the hard, you know, guilt pitch and all of that. But I do think that they know, like the people who are successful there know their audience because that's what their audience resonates with. And that's what their audience wants. So I'm being a little bit of a devil's advocate here with my. And so, but those are not the people that listen to this. So that's why we're saying share your story. Share your expertise, share your experience, give them the lessons that they can pull from that to help them genuinely transform their lives. That's what we're all about. Because that's what your people that's what most people are looking for is people who actually actually give a crap. Your funnels need to show that your emails, your lead magnets, your sales pages, your webinars, everything needs to show that you genuinely care about how they're going to transform their lives. It's also and Jenny's gonna like how I'm going to talk about some segmentation, because it's data driven. Buyers will have a lower tolerance for stuff that doesn't fit into who they are, or where they are in their buying journey. They are going to have, marketing is not going anywhere. The marketing real estate is getting more and more crowded. There are other people who are clamoring for the attention of your people. So speaking to them directly, and appropriately is going to matter even more now than it has in the past. So what does that mean? That means, if I'm getting retargeted for an ad, I should be getting retargeted to the correct ad, not. If I've already visited the website, I don't want to be treated as if I haven't. An example, I did a video of this on social which I can link in the show notes. But I got pictures of my kid when he was born from this, you know, they come to the hospital and charge you a whole lot of money because you're a new parent, and you'll pay it. And I bought the book and I bought the Digital's and I bought all of it. And every four days for the last five years, I have received an email asking me to buy the pictures the Digital's and telling me that they're going to expire in two weeks, every four days for five for five years. That is an immediate turnoff, because one I already bought them. So the segmentation was off. And to really, it's the same email every four days. So and I'll link to the video I did, because it's really funny, but

Jennie Wright 17:11
I have like a mind to call them and just be like, dude, do you know? Is it a glitch? Like why? I don't know, I would just I'd Yeah, I would just want to like, call them out on that.

Alyson Lex 17:22
Right? So that's your funnel, make sure that your people are getting the experience that they want, and that they need and that they expect. We don't need to go over complicated. Super fancy schmancy. funnels start simple. But your marketing is going to matter. And it needs to be cohesive. And it needs to be in line with what your people need, not from what you need.

Jennie Wright 17:50
Talk to me about courses and programs in 2022. What do you think's going to happen?

Alyson Lex 17:56
courses and programs, I think that the divide between high ticket and low ticket is going to get broader and more defined. I think that right now we have we've we've already actually started seeing it, where you have your 717 2737 $47 courses. And then you have your 997 697 you know, 697 and above, let's call it that. And then of course you have your high tickets, which are the multiple 1000s of dollar programs, I think that divide is going to get more divided. Wow, copywriter this divide is gonna get more obvious that you are going to have people who want an only want the low ticket stuff. And the reason for that is because now it's been anchored in there. That's now the expectation just like just like I don't want to spend more than five or $10 on a new charging cable. Because that's the anchor of the market. Right if I if I buy a charging cable for my phone, because you know those

Jennie Wright 19:13
How often does it break though? Can

Alyson Lex 19:14
I just ask my don't because I just to me

Jennie Wright 19:19
a five or $10 cable is like buying jelly shoes in the 80s Yes, I did. And then falling apart.

Alyson Lex 19:30
Right? Well, and that is alright, so maybe this is a bad example. But the reason I buy the cheap ones is because the manufacturers do not make them in six foot lengths. And I do not have that many outlets close to my my. My couch is fair enough. Right? So I buy the long ones but they're cheaper and yeah, I have to replace them like once a year. Oh,

Jennie Wright 19:53
if you were on an Apple product, you could get it but we won't go there.

Alyson Lex 19:58
Okay, Anyway, we're not going to get into that debate. But the market has anchored that price. Alright, let's HDMI cables for your TV. All right, there are the really expensive ones, why am I on cables, the really, really expensive ones that are like 50 bucks, and then the cheap ones that are like, eight. All right, you're going to have the people that will always buy the $50 one. And there are people that will only buy the $8. One, because those are the two prices at which the market has anchored. A 30 a $20. Cable it's not going to sell. And so my prediction for the courses and my metaphor for courses this year is that you're going to have to choose, am I going to go cheap with a volume play? Am I going to go expensive? With a high ticket experience? I do feel and again, it's a prediction that the 197 the 297 level of courses is going to slowly disappear. And I am go ahead? No, I was gonna say I'm happy to come back at the end of the year and revisit these predictions.

Jennie Wright 21:26
I struggled on this one to figure out what I think is going to happen with courses and programs. That's why I asked you first. Because I really don't know what's going to happen in 22. I actually don't have a prediction for this one. Because I don't know what's going to happen. But my feeling is is that the courses that are going to sell. And I'm not even talking about the prices, I'm going to talk about the content, the content within them is the key. So what is inside is going to matter more Alison and I have been also and I build courses for clients, you may or may not know this, but as we do, we're also researching. So we have you know, we go into Udemy, we go into all the different course platforms, we check out everybody's courses, and every you know, there's the there's the two different types, right, there's the A to Z solution. And then there's the micro course right the fix the one little problem course, and the Yeah, the just yet there's, there's these little ones in the the big ones, and people I think are going to move into the there's going to be a hyper differentiation between the two, right? It's almost like YouTube videos, where if you are trying to fix a problem with your washer, you do not search out a 25 minute video on YouTube, you want the five minute and 35 second video that's going to show you the exactly the 123 ABC of how to fix the thing with your washer, right washing machine 25 minutes seems overnight, like way too much and you're not going to want it. And that plays into that, you know, people just wanting the information when they wanted to fix the solution. But when it comes to the content, I think a lot more people are going to go and go for the A through Z solution. I think they're gonna want the full monty of what's going to fix their problem. And I think the content really has to be is going to be upgraded. So I bought a course I showed Allison, and I thought she was gonna flip her lid, because I bought a course. And we opened it up and we looked inside. And by the way, this is a competitor of mine. And the content inside was really, really basic, and really bad. Do you know the one I'm talking about?

Alyson Lex 23:54
I'm actually angry all over again.

Jennie Wright 23:57
Yeah, yeah. And this is a person that has, who does something similar to what I do actually does something very close to what I do, and has marketed it. And I actually get clients from that person who they've bought that person's product, thinking that it will give them everything they need to be able to do this thing. And then they find me and they go, Oh, I bought so and so's such and such. You know, they're one step solution. But it didn't give me everything I needed. And I'm already out $2,000 for having bought it. Now what do I do? So, yeah,

Alyson Lex 24:41
for your courses, your programs, your products, if you're marketing it as an A disease solution, the market is going to demand that it is that. Now I will say there's a caveat that no of course you can't answer every single question somebody might have. But they're really if you're selling on multiple $1,000 program, make sure that it's going to get them from where they want to be, where they are to where they want to be right now. Okay. I want to move on just really quickly to talk about social media and a lot of what we've already said about your brand and your buyers behavior. And your funnel is going to really matter on social media to authenticity, storytelling, showing up personalization, letting them feel like they know you getting to know them being social, all of that, right, there are some privacy updates. iOS, Apple really likes to say marketers don't get a say, right, so that's going to make ads and retargeting and stuff more challenging, the market is flooded, and people will find new platforms. There's that saying that a new platform comes along, and then the marketers ruin it, that's going to continue to happen. So what you are going to do in 2022, my dear listener, is you are going to be the marketer, that doesn't ruin it. You're going to show up on social media, be social, give value, make connect, make connections, build relationships, and then invite them to join your world. That's going to be the best use in 2022. For marketers on social media.

Jennie Wright 26:36
I'm not going to agree with you. But I'm also going to say and this is my pessimistic side, that we're still going to see a ton of people doing these social media trends, like the challenges and the the stuff, right? Because that's, that's just what people do. They there's a part of being social that is just, you know, having a good time doing these silly videos. But I works. I refused in 2021. And I will refuse in 2022 to point my fingers at a blank spot and expect to have this piece of text come up. I refuse, categorically refuse. And it's a thing. So I hope that all dies. Okay, onwards, we get to talk about list building. I've been dying to talk about this this whole episode. I've literally messaging Alison in the background going Can we talk about this one next? Can we talk about this next? List Building you guys you know, this is where I get on my soapbox. And I love you all for listening to me. But it's the truth. Guess what Jenny has been saying for years. And it's going to happen. Because it has to everything has to go more organic, you cannot rely on ads, people who laughed at me years ago. Yeah, good luck with that. Now when it costs 30 to 40, or even $50 a lead with how things are going on. On paid traffic, yes, you can get leads for much cheaper. And that's awesome. Because you know, if you can do it great. But the average cost per lead for a list build is about $35. So that takes a huge, huge marketing budget to be able to afford to buy leads, organic is cheaper, better in the long run. So yeah, and it's it's getting more expensive, and it's incredibly unreliable. And I, I'm going to say my little rhyme, so it's less flash more in the pan, like get get things going in terms of that authenticity. And this is where we were talking before about your brand and using storytelling and things of that nature. So it's more of the quality of the content versus what you know what you're actually saying. So content really is going to continue to matter I

Alyson Lex 28:41
really like that more flash, I mean less flash more in the pan thing that was That was clever. And I'm I'm there for it. And one of the things that has been happening and will continue to happen. From what I've seen, and with Jenny has taught me because she is limitless build. That connection is important. So your your Summit, you can't just build a list and all going to buy you they want that connection. We've been saying that this whole episode, they want connection, they want to get to know you, that's not going to change. Alright, there are a few other things that we want to just quickly cover. You know, privacy is important. People we talked about the Apple updates are protecting the privacy of their users. People are taking steps to protect their own privacy. They they've been burned, that everybody has been scammed by somebody. Let's stick with that and show them. We're not going to scam them. We're going to keep their data protected. We've all had data breaches. I think Jenny had, you have research, right? 73% of people are saying that they use online services and only use online services that promise that data protection, they do not want to get leaked. They don't want phone calls, they don't want to spam emails, they don't want to have to change their credit cards over they don't want any of that stuff. And people are getting savvier in general. All right. One of the things that we have noticed with our clients in 2021, and we will probably notice it more in 2022. Is SSL on your site needs to be a thing. We have a couple clients that did not have it. And we're like, WTF, yeah, because it needs to happen. So

Jennie Wright 30:51
in Google, Google's Google's giving preferences to sites that do and if you don't have it, yeah, so I will freely admit that january.com did not have SSL until the beginning of 2021. And I was getting a lot of issues before that. So if you if you don't have, it doesn't matter. If you're not selling a product, you guys, but if you're selling a product is mandatory, but if you're not selling a product, you still need to have it. It's that security piece, and also Google is giving preference to it. So get get that bleep on your website. Now, my friends. And if it seems like a big problem, so with certain providers, like GoDaddy, you have to do it yourself, you have to do a whole thing yourself. But Alison has taught me because Alison is the queen of research is that if you use a site like SiteGround, it comes with that free in your package. And all you have to do is like do like a simple install. So we'll put the SiteGround link at the top. Super, super easy to do just I mean, what a smart thing to do from a company like SiteGround just make it easy for people to do makes it an easy way to sell that product or that product

Alyson Lex 31:55
comes with my hosting. I don't pay extra and it's a one click. I think the the gist of everything is show up. Be authentic lead, let them see how they can trust you to have their best interests at heart. Do you want to genuinely transform their lives? Do you take their privacy seriously? Do you care about their success, they want to know that because that's who they want to do business with. And, you know, attitudes in general are very polarizing when it comes to beliefs and values. And if you have strong beliefs and values, don't be afraid to polarize your people, because the ones who follow you, they will love that they can be part of your community.

Jennie Wright 32:47
That's Alison's really gentle way of saying the 2021 saw some real bleep happening in terms of that polarizing stuff. Like there was a lot of stuff that happened in 2021, that really got people on opposite sides of, of how they see the world. You know, we're in we're talking, we're, we're talking about a lot of the stuff that happened in the political space and the medical space. And the I mean, so much happen, you guys. And we're not even going to get on that boat, because that's not the boat we play on. But what we play in is the online marketing world. And this has been this, this is a great opportunity to look at 2022 in a positive way. What can we do that's going to change the things that we thought were going to come and go and 2020 are still here, in 2021, we still had to navigate the same problems. And the same issues. Which by the way, we're the reason we created this entire podcast. This podcast was born during the pandemic, it was born to help people to thrive through this change and through the world being completely different than what it was and having to figure out how to survive the change. And that's not going to disappear. It's going to it's going to continue. And that's why System to THRIVE is still so beneficial, and why we still need to figure out these different ways of figuring, you know, just different ways of thriving in our businesses and thriving in our worlds. So take what we hopefully take some of these are some really cool ideas. You know, again, these are just predictions, have fun with it. Make your own predictions for 2022. What's going to happen in your business what's going to happen in the online world? What do you think is going to change? post about it online, tag us tag us at System to THRIVE? Go to system to thrive.com? Check out this you know, check out the show notes for this episode. Go to Apple podcasts and leave us a review and let us know what you thought of this episode. Get in touch. You can find us on system to thrive.com is the best way to find us. And we'll be back again with more episodes in 2022. Thanks for listening