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How nice would it be to earn commissions of $2,000, $5,000 even $10,000 or more?
A few months ago I was fortunate enough to meet Kim Willis, a fantastic marketer and entrepreneur who focuses on selling big ticket products.
This is an area I personally have very little experience in, so I asked Kim for the privilege of interviewing him to find out more about his business, and the strategies he uses to succeed.
Without any further ado, here is the interview!
The Interview
Could you introduce yourself and your business to us? What’s your story?
My latest business is called Persuasion Pursuit which is about giving coaches, trainers, consultants etc the sales tools and skills necessary to attract clients. Most skilled people are not sales oriented. In fact it’s probably true to say that the mere thought of doing sales work gives them the heebie jeebies! So my focus is to help these highly skilled folk attract high paying clients to them WITHOUT selling, hustling or pitching anyone.
How has your business strategy changed over the years?
I started online in 2006 selling products as an affiliate marketer for a big ticket company. I did very well and was able to quit the rat race in less than 60 days. Although I continued with my affiliate marketing activities, a few years ago I started to create my own content by writing articles for my new blog. Then, 2 years ago I wrote my first ebook. From there I started to develop my own marketing courses as well as a couple of membership based training platforms.
What made you decide to sell big ticket products?
I started selling big ticket products in the offline world 20 years ago. It was a live course for small business owners. The package I developed included the course plus some consultations with me and other value added inclusions (eg copywriting support to re-write their Yellow Pages ad, their quoting formats etc). I think I sold that package sold for around $5,000.
The reason I do it is because it can add a lot of extra income in a short space of time. Many bloggers, consultants, experts and coaches etc can develop a big ticket package and offer it to their ‘A’ class customers. Done properly some will buy it – so a big boost to cash flow within a month or two is very possible.
What does your typical sales process look like?
It’s pretty simple:
- Generate a lead
- Nurture the lead with email follow up
- Include an offer for a Free Consultation
- Schedule appointments with people who show interest
- Do the consultation (by phone)
- Make the sale
A variation on this is to sell low ticket product to the new lead first. Then, make the offer of a free consultation after they become (small ticket) buyers.
How does the sales process differ from selling low to mid-ticket products?
Small ticket sales are made automatically by your system – it’s 100% online – whereas to get people to spend a lot more money (ie at least $1,000), it is more productive to talk to them on the phone. This is not to say you CAN’T make a big ticket sale without any phone contact, it’s just that the conversion rates will be much higher when you add this one extra step. This assumes of course that you are reasonably effective on the phone.
What sorts of people are best suited for selling high-ticket products? What skills are necessary?
Good communication skills. That’s about it. It’s a myth that you need sales skills. I teach people to embrace the idea that all they need to do is to be genuine, authentic, and helpful. Take the pressure off yourself and just focus on giving great value in the interview.
An example…….
Let’s say you’re a blogger. You’re doing ok –you’re building your list and selling affiliate products etc, but you’re still not making enough money to (finally) quit your job. So what you could do is create a consulting package to help others solve a problem that you know they have. Include some extra features such as email support for 90 days, then price it up so it’s worth your while to sell it. Then simply market it to your list. And you do that by leading with a free consult offer first.
What piece of advice would you give for somebody looking to enter this space?
Hang in there and keep your spirits up! It’s very easy to lose motivation, particularly in the early stages of our home business. Many people get discouraged and lose the internal battle, and just quit. One of the reasons why I’ve done well is that I had a mentor/coach in the early stages of my online career. Without her help I probably would have quit (due to self doubt) and become just another statistic.
Conclusion
I’d like to thank Kim for taking the time to share his knowledge with us. I think you can all agree that what he provided was incredibly valuable and insightful.
If you have any questions for Kim, leave a comment below and I’m sure he’ll be here ready to help you out.
And of course, be sure to head on over to Persuasion Pursuit for more!
I’ve been to a number of seminars by a big ticket company. All the people who are successful in selling big ticket products say that they didn’t find it much harder to sell a big ticket product than to sell a small ticket product. It’s harder, but not proportionally harder compared to the difference in price. That’s why you can’t go wrong selling big ticket products.
Carlo(Quote)
Hey Carlo!
Yeah, I was a bit surprised that the sales process seemed so similar based on what Kim said, although he did make a great point – the smaller ticket items are usually sold automatically through some sort of system. With the bigger ticket products it sounds like you do have to spend more time talking to people one-on-one, which I know some people will find off-putting.
Hopefully after reading this article more people will be open to the idea.
Good to see you again Carlo!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi Carlo
I don’t think its any harder selling big ticket product providing you are working with the right target market.
Most people cant afford to invest in big ticket products or services so it’s essential you have some sort of a screening process to filter out those people who don’t qualify.
Thanks for your comment!
Kim
Kim Willis(Quote)
Hi James,
I enjoyed this interview with Kim. I didn’t know the “whole story” about you Kim until now. This is why I just love interviews – to get to know others more deeply.
I like the way you put the sales process so simply: Generate a lead, nurture the lead with email follow up
Then one can include an offer for a Free Consultation. (That seems to clinch the deal right there sometimes) and then schedule appointments with interested people and do the consultation by phone.
And make the sale!
I follow the same pattern myself and find that if someone may not even jump at the offer of a free consultation, in time via email eventually a sale is made.
It all comes down to being consistent and having patience.
Thanks for a great article!
-Donna
Donna Merrill(Quote)
Hi Donna! Good to see you here again.
It’s amazing how much easier it is to make the sale when you take the time to talk with somebody one-on-one and figure out their exact situation and needs. Unfortunately I know many people find this off-putting and are afraid to do it. I thoroughly enjoy making my students cold call until they get over this fear. 🙂
One thing’s for certain – if I ever end up giving up on entrepreneurship for any reason, I’d jump straight into a sales career. It’s a thrill.
Thanks for stopping by Donna!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi Donna,
Great to see you here – and everywhere!
I do like the free consultation offer. It allows both parties to see if your big ticket service or product will be a good fit. There needs to be proven mutual benefit otherwise there can be all sorts of negative ramifications down the track.
Another point is that simply because someone has the money to pay for big ticket doesn’t mean they should do it, or that you should take them on as clients. Something funny can happen when some people pay a lot of money for something. Some of them have unrealistic expectations about the thing they’ve just bought, so it is vital that we dampen down expectations if appropriate.
Thanks for your helpful comment Donna
Kim
Kim Willis(Quote)
Hey James,
It is always good to know about people.
The story of Kim is amazing. I was not aware about these kinds of work. I am sure Kim is going to kill it.
I like the idea of free consultation. There are many people who need experts advice. Kim can help them.
Thanks for letting us know about him.
Have a nice day.
~Ravi
Ravi Chahar(Quote)
Hey Ravi!
From what I hear, Kim is already killing it and is only going up from here. It was a pleasure to have him here on Help Start My Site and if you haven’t already, I highly recommend jumping over to one of his websites and seeing more of what he has to offer. You won’t be disappointed!
Hope to talk to you again soon Ravi!
James McAllister(Quote)
Thanks for your kind words Ravi.
The free consult offer is a nice soft way for prospects to find out if the big ticket offer is going to work for them. Its important when conducting the consult to assume the role of consultant and problem solver rather than just pitch people about your product or service.
thanks again
Kim
Kim Willis(Quote)
Hi James,
Thanks a ton for hosting Kim here and asking him those super relevant questions.
You see, to really make it big online, there must be a healthy mix of high end products blended nicely with middle/low end products to keep the flow going…there is no way a site can survive on only the peanuts that come to it via eBook sales or the high end products that may sell scantly.
Personally, I’m still completely new in the business of selling high end products but will definitely appreciate tapping into that market soon…this interview Kim granted you has opened my eyes to some realities I never thought of before.
Kim and James: thank you.
Do make the day great!
Always,
Akaahan Terungwa
Akaahan Terungwa(Quote)
Hi Akaahan!
Thank you so much for your valuable comment, and I agree that for most people there needs to be a healthy mix.
I’m a big fan of upselling because it is so much easier to get a previous buyer to buy again than to get a new buyer. I do sell only one really expensive product (actually a service, coaching) but I usually do not try to sell it until people have purchased one of my other cheaper products.
Still it’s clear that there’s a lot of potential to jump straight to high-ticket items, as Kim has shown us here. You’ll have to keep me updated how it works out for you, I know I could learn a lot from your experiences as well.
Always nice to see you here Akaahan!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi Akaahan
Great to see you here on Jame’s blog.
Yes you are right you need a mix of offers with different price points. Not everyone can afford to spend big money on a big ticket product or service, but it’s nice to know that if they have the financial capacity you will have something valuable to offer them.
By taking making big ticket sales I’ve been catapulted from being just another struggling, broke online marketer into someone who has been able to quit the rat race and travel the world for fun.
Thanks again
Kim
Kim Willis(Quote)
Thanks so much James for featuring me on your blog!
I hope your interview gave people an indication that additional income can be generated by adding at least one big ticket offer into their sales funnel.
Thanks again James – you rock!
Kim
Kim Willis(Quote)
Thank YOU Kim for taking the time to help us all out!
I know personally I will be focusing on selling higher ticket products heading into 2016 and seeing if this can help me make a bit more per subscriber. I know there are others who plan to do the same thanks to this interview here.
Always great to talk to you Kim and thanks again!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hey James,
It’s been a while but I’m glad I stopped by your blog today. This was a great interview with Kim Willis and didn’t know he was involved in selling high ticketed products.
From what Kim described, it seems like the sales process to sell high ticketed products is quite similar to selling low ticketed products. As a matter of fact, he pointed out that he would sell the low ticket products first before selling the higher priced ones.
I thought about selling higher ticketed products but didn’t know the best approach to do it. Now I know from a 20 year veteran.
Thanks for sharing this interview James! You both have a great day!
Sherman Smith(Quote)
Hey Sherman, long time no see!
I think Kim gave a fantastic response. He has plenty of experience in this area where I have relatively little, so I knew he’d be a perfect fit for an interview here.
If you do give higher ticket products a try, keep me updated with how it goes. I only have one high ticket package available right now, but it is going to be more of a focus of mine heading into 2016 as I look for ways to make more out of each subscriber.
It’s really nice to talk to you again Sherman and I hope to see you again soon!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hey Sherman
Great to ‘see’ you again!
Yes you are right. You need to have a few low cost entry level products if for no other reason than to sort the actual buyers from mere subscribers (many of whom are freebie seekers). Once I have someone on my buyer list (even if they only paid 7 bucks for the product) I can then market to them in a more mature and advanced way.
A lot of bloggers are leaving a lot of money on the table which is a shame
thanks again Sherman
Kim
Kim Willis(Quote)
Hi James,
Only about a week ago I first bumped into Kim Willis’s blog and was extremely impressed by the content.
I’ve also heard it said it’s easier to sell a high ticket item to someone used to spending money / investing in their business, than to part wannabe entrepreneurs from splashing out on a $9 course!
It’s a great idea to add a “telephone consultation” and I wonder if people feel somewhat obligated to buy after the consultation?
Although it is probably e not cost-effective to do telephone conversations at the very low end of the market, you never know if a buyer with a small budget may like what they bought and come back for more – ideally having profited from their initial purchase (a loss-leader).
I shall be looking to read more of Kim’s articles, as increasing my profit per sale is very appealing.
Joy
Joy Healey(Quote)
Hey Joy! Hope you’ve been well.
Kim and I met through my Facebook page as we both were featured in one of Ryan’s books on influential bloggers to follow. I did end up visiting his websites shortly afterwards and I too was extremely impressed by the content. It’s clear he actually practices what he uses and teaches from experience, which is always nice.
I’ve conducted a few telephone consultations and while it’s not something I do regularly (at least not yet) I have found it’s far easier to sell a product on the phone than over an email. On the phone, you get to figure out exactly what you need to know about the buyer – what their problems are, why they are hesitant etc. and explain how your product can offer a solution.
Like Kim said if you have a good screening process, you’ll know who will and won’t be worth your time. I agree that people who are used to reinvesting in their business are likely more likely to buy. I actually spend a bit of time early on in my autoresponder sequence explaining the benefits and importance of reinvesting in themselves and their business for this reason.
Definitely head over to Kim’s side and check out what else he’s got to offer. You won’t be disappointed!
James McAllister(Quote)