kamakiri
01-05-2009, 12:40 PM
As most regulars here know, I am a fan of ETR. Today's was a great eye opener. The post went on to cover other stuff, but I will quote the beginning here and say again read that daily email. It rocks.
Begin ETR Quote:
When I was first getting into the business of selling educational programs, a famous zero-down real estate guru asked me, "Do you know the thing people who take my courses want most?"
I had a sneaking suspicion I was about to get it wrong, but I gamely answered: "To be successful real estate investors?"
He laughed. "You've got a lot to learn, my friend."
I took the bait. "So what do your customers want?"
"They want to avoid taking action."
I told him I wasn't sure I understood. He was kind enough to clarify. "Most of the people who take my courses and who will be buying your programs want to feel like they are on the road to success. But they don't want that road to end. They like the journey. They fear the destination."
"And why would that be?" I asked.
"To tell you the truth," he said. "I don't know. But I can tell you this. After our real estate students have gotten the knowledge they need to succeed, few of them get out there and get to work. Most of them just buy more programs. If they don't buy them from us, they will buy them from someone else. So we sell them extra programs."
"That's sort of depressing," I said.
"If you give one of my customers - someone who has completed his real estate education and is fully prepared to start investing profitably - a choice between actually getting to work and buying another course to learn more, he will buy the course."
"Are they afraid of failing?"
"Could be that," he said. "Could be they're afraid of success. As I said, I don't know."
Since then I've thought a lot about this failure-to-get-started problem. I've read dozens of books and talked to many of my colleagues and posed the question to hundreds of my customers. The theories as to why people don't take action are many and varied. The three that make most sense to me are:
Lack of Confidence: People who haven't yet been successful in life don't believe they can be, even if they are fully prepared to succeed.
Fear of Pain: Some people see taking action as work and work as a form of pain. These are usually people who have never experienced the pleasure of working on something they value.
Laziness: Besides the fear of work, human beings are programmed to be lazy. Being lazy means trying to get what you want with the least amount of effort. Some people don't take action because they want to find an easier way.
If these are the main reasons why so many people don't take action when they are ready, what is the solution?
Begin ETR Quote:
When I was first getting into the business of selling educational programs, a famous zero-down real estate guru asked me, "Do you know the thing people who take my courses want most?"
I had a sneaking suspicion I was about to get it wrong, but I gamely answered: "To be successful real estate investors?"
He laughed. "You've got a lot to learn, my friend."
I took the bait. "So what do your customers want?"
"They want to avoid taking action."
I told him I wasn't sure I understood. He was kind enough to clarify. "Most of the people who take my courses and who will be buying your programs want to feel like they are on the road to success. But they don't want that road to end. They like the journey. They fear the destination."
"And why would that be?" I asked.
"To tell you the truth," he said. "I don't know. But I can tell you this. After our real estate students have gotten the knowledge they need to succeed, few of them get out there and get to work. Most of them just buy more programs. If they don't buy them from us, they will buy them from someone else. So we sell them extra programs."
"That's sort of depressing," I said.
"If you give one of my customers - someone who has completed his real estate education and is fully prepared to start investing profitably - a choice between actually getting to work and buying another course to learn more, he will buy the course."
"Are they afraid of failing?"
"Could be that," he said. "Could be they're afraid of success. As I said, I don't know."
Since then I've thought a lot about this failure-to-get-started problem. I've read dozens of books and talked to many of my colleagues and posed the question to hundreds of my customers. The theories as to why people don't take action are many and varied. The three that make most sense to me are:
Lack of Confidence: People who haven't yet been successful in life don't believe they can be, even if they are fully prepared to succeed.
Fear of Pain: Some people see taking action as work and work as a form of pain. These are usually people who have never experienced the pleasure of working on something they value.
Laziness: Besides the fear of work, human beings are programmed to be lazy. Being lazy means trying to get what you want with the least amount of effort. Some people don't take action because they want to find an easier way.
If these are the main reasons why so many people don't take action when they are ready, what is the solution?