There’s a story that legendary marketer Dan Kennedy tells to illustrate the point of “playing to win - or playing not to lose”.
(Warning: I am reciting this story from memory, so if there are a few details that aren’t 100% accurate, forgive me. But the lesson holds true nonetheless)
At the Peter Lowe SUCCESS events during the early to late 1990’s, Dan would consistently be the top selling platform speaker at every single one of the events, all over the country.
(If you haven’t heard of the Peter Lowe SUCCESS events, maybe you’re familiar with the Learning Annex events that are currently held at huge stadiums and arenas all over the country.
Imagine, hundreds and thousands of people paying good money to take seminars from a variety of different gurus on a variety of different subjects, all selling their systems in a box.
The Peter Lowe events were the same kind of deal, only it happened back then. A huge marketing lesson if you think about it…)
So Dan would consistently outperform every single one of the speakers, who often included former presidents, movie stars, sports figures, and business people.
This doesn’t seem like such a big deal at first glance, except the fact that he would ALWAYS be placed as the VERY LAST speaker of the day, when people’s heads were spinning, their wallets were considerably lighter, and according to Dan, about a quarter to half of the audience would be stampeding out of the seminar room as he BEGAN his presentation.
And most of these events were not held in nice, cushy stadiums, with air conditioning and padded seats. Most of the time people were sitting on hard, wooden bleachers, with poor light and sound, and no heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer.
In short, it was a game he was destined to lose.
And yet he still managed to outsell and outperform every single one of the previous presenters, including the keynote speakers.
One time a well known businessman actually went up to Dan and asked him how he was able to sell so well. The man had been placed at a very favorable time slot, had given a rousing presentation, received a standing ovation, and ended up selling only a paltry number of his systems.
Dan, on the other hand, spoke to only about half of the original audience, and cleaned house.
In reply, Dan simply replied, “I play to win. I don’t play ‘not to lose’”.
“What do you mean?” the man asked incredulously. “I play to win! I’m ready! I prepare!”
Dan then rattled off the long list of the things he had done to stack the deck in his favor:
* Made friends with the Audio/Visual people and told them that he would tip them depending on how well he did on stage, which meant he had to have clear microphone quality, and good lighting
* Boldly approached the speaker before him, letting him know (in no uncertain terms) that he was to get off stage at the exact time he was supposed to, because Dan’s opening line was of the utmost importance (the one he gave to the backs of the stampeding audience, which he used like a tractor beam to get them back to their seats)
* Alerted the event staff right before he was to go up so that they knew to be prepared for the stampede of orders in the back - not out getting a cup of coffee
* Constantly tweaked and improved his sales message each and every time he went onstage, testing different variables and lines
* Followed a proven and successful sales formula which included an irresistible offer and a clear call to action (we’ll talk more about this in detail, in later posts)
* Watched the two presenters before him to make sure there were no similar jokes, stories, or anecdotes. Otherwise he’d change them
* And on, and on, and on…
By the time Dan was finished telling him everything he did to stack the deck in his favor, the man was staring at him in shock.
Dan was DETERMINED to succeed.
So let me ask you a question: What are you doing right now to prepare for your success?
What are you doing to succeed in a field where the majority are destined to fail?
Are you doing everything you can?
In short, are you playing to win? Or just playing not to lose?
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