The Tugboat Analogy

The tiny tugboats can maneuver large ships in and out of port, but to do so, they have to attach huge, heavy steel cables to those ships. This is almost impossible to do in one step; in fact, to get those massive cables onto big ships, they start with a series of ropes. First, a relatively small rope is thrown from the tug to the large ship. It’s attached to a larger rope, which the people on the ship use to pull a larger rope, and it increases in size until a large rope is attached to a massive steel cable which they can then tighten and tie.

It all starts with a small step, but eventually the tugboat, practically a toy compared to an oil tanker or a cargo ship, takes full control of a huge vessel. I think this is a great marketing metaphor. No matter how great your efforts, you can’t start by throwing a huge cable overboard, that is, offering people your $6,000 seminar right out of the box. You might get some takers, but you won’t get any benefit.

Oh, but if you start with a small step and then follow it up with bigger and bigger steps as your prospects respond, you’ll build a relationship where they’ll come to trust you and be willing to invest more of their time and money. with you. Most people try to do too much too fast. Instead, make it easy on people. Allow them to take a series of small steps that naturally lead to those larger steps. Think deeply about this, starting with the end in mind and then working backwards. What is the ultimate goal or objective you are trying to achieve?

Suppose you have set out to make a $3,000 sale to a potential new customer as quickly as possible. Your entire marketing strategy depends on your ability to do so. But you know it’s going to take a series of smaller steps to get there, so you need to try a very simple startup process. One way to do this is to send postcards and direct mail packages offering a free report and free consulting service for, say, $99.

If it’s tied to something that people in your market can get really excited about, it can lead to the $99 sale, and that eventually leads to the $3,000 sale. Everything is closely interconnected and you have to be very careful with how the small strings are attached to the larger strings that connect to the steel cables. You know you can’t just ask a new prospect for three grand; that will rarely work.

You have to plan it out carefully with pencil and paper, or using mind mapping software. Brainstorm as much as possible before implementing a tugboat strategy, but consider using the method. After looking at everything I’ve learned over the years, it’s clear to me that this approach works best for marketing.

Start with small steps, test the results, and let them take you to bigger and bigger steps that can ultimately flood you with money. It all starts with getting the prospect to raise their hand with a cheap or free offer. It introduces you to them and, more importantly, them to you. This has worked effectively for decades, and there is no doubt that it will continue to work just as effectively in the future.

Attract people to your business with an exciting offer that costs them very little, giving them so much that they’re like, “Wow! If for $10, $99, or $199 I can get East much value of this company, I’m sold! Can you imagine what they will give me if I do spend the $2,995?” Of course, you have to provide tremendous value when you start charging people that much. Continue to provide value, value, and plus value as the price rises. This is how you do business if you want to be truly successful.

Now, you can probably sell $20 products all day long without developing trust or otherwise building a relationship. But if you are selling premium priced products or services, then do You have to build that relationship. You need to make it easy for people to take small steps that lead to the big step of buying your most expensive package. You can’t immediately make them that expensive offer. You have to wait until there is some trust built in there. People are more likely to accept your high-value offers if they already have a relationship with you.

The next time you’re on one of the shorelines, try to catch a tugboat in action. They move slowly, but in the end they get the big ship where it needs to go. In exactly the same way, you can move customers from untrusted to trusted, from small to large sales.