If someone offered you a dollar in exchange for 50 cents, how much would you give? If you are like most, you would probably give everything that you had (I know I would). Ben Feldman sold life insurance for pennies on the dollar. In fact, he used to carry a $1,000 bill with him, which he would tell prospects he would sell to them for 3 pennies.
It’s a great strategy for selling and is an excellent analogy for marketing. Too many companies look at marketing and advertising as an expense – not as an investment. When budget time comes around, the first thing people look to cut is marketing, especially if sales are flat or declining.
A good friend of mine, who is a senior marketing executive at a major carrier, once told me that “every agent you have will leave you. It might be 6 months, 5 years or even 10, but one day they will move on to greener pastures or just die on you.” That’s a scary statement, but unfortunately it’s true.