Once you have the conversation underway, you can bring them further into the process by making them part of the community. How you make this happen is your choice. You just need to stay on brand and have consistent messaging. Bringing them into the community might be inviting them to an exclusive group, or it might be inviting them to a special event that will benefit them. The key to this is continuing to demonstrate your expertise and, in a very non-aggressive way getting them closer and closer to the point of conversion. What all of these areas have in common is they are valued components in what I am referring to as the value ladder, with each step toward the ultimate aim containing its own sales funnel.
Look at the example above of one of our early value ladders. You can see that the entire process is about understanding what the prospect is looking for, either what problem they are navigating away from or what ultimate aim they are moving toward, away from pain or toward pleasure. Then note again that on each step of the value ladder, there is a corresponding sales funnel. You will also note that these steps lend themselves very well to establishing a community. For example, those that may join at the Book Offer stage will all share the desire to read and learn from the book; Therefore, attached to this process might be a Facebook group where readers can meet and exchange ideas and views (community). The marketing engine of the business can then use this community to extend interest, educate more and drive traffic into other areas of the Value Ladder, treating more value for all.
If you look at the other levels, you can see how they, too, can be used to create a feeling of community and, at the same time, create more value for the participants while enhancing your brand value and reputation and creating new sales opportunities.
This is not about sales this is about creating sales that are valued at the same time creating relationships based on value and a connection. Many of you will start to notice that this process focuses on the people and their needs over the product or service and your need to sell.