📅 📅 How to turn every appointment into two using the "double demo"

While it may seem counterintuitive to tell people to, “get the f*ck off of my email list” you probably should (and you probably should not use the f word when you do).

Gmail is now prompting users who haven’t opened anything from you in 30 days to unsubscribe anyways so you might as well lean into it.

The reality is that your open rate and click-through rate are better indicators of your emails effectiveness than your unsubscribe rate. The issue though is that when people never open and never opt-out it can really hurt you when trying to reach those who do look forward to reading your emails.

There are two ways to address this head on.

First, you need to beg people in your autoresponder when they initially subscribe to ensure they get your emails by moving them to their priority inbox. Here is exactly what Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ann Handley includes at the end of hers:

P.S. Gmail users: You might find that this newsletter gets routed to your promotions tab. (Rude.) You can re-route it by dragging the newsletter over to your Primary tab. After you do, Gmail will ask you if you want to make the change permanent. At which point you pump your fist in the air and shout, “HECK YEAH GOOGLE GODS.”

Apple mail users: Tap on the email address at the top of this email and “Add to VIPs.” This ensures delivery.

Second, you need to be willing to let people go by letting them know that they have one last chance to keep getting your emails.

Here is the exact opt-out message Jay Baer sends with the subject line “are we annoying you?”. Here is another strong “So this is goodbye” email template and call to action that also has some personality.

You have probably put a lot of thought into how to grow your email list. Put some thought into how to shrink it too.

🛠 [H]OW-TO

Turn every appointment into two 📅 📅

Ideally, you go to an appointment or have a great call with a lead and they decide to choose you on the spot. Realistically, especially depending on what you sell, they often wait and want to think about it because they aren’t ready to make a decision.

That’s why my ears perked up when I heard one of our sales guys at Curaytor (Nate) say he had a decision making call on his calendar. He explained that when he books a demo he simultaneously books another one.

I’m calling this a “double demo”. A solid new addition to the “double dial” and double tap” techniques I teach in my book.

The first meeting on Nate’s calendar is a traditional demo but then 24 hours later there is another appointment with the same person that is literally called a decision making call. Nate said this approach makes people more comfortable knowing that on the first call there is no decision to be made. They feel less pressure and so does he.

Then the intensity cranks up the next day for the second call because all of the parties are crystal clear that it’s time to move forward, or not. The other upside of this idea is you don’t end up chasing leads and wondering if they have decided yet.

Conveniently, Nate gets a lot of messages after the first call and before the second one letting him know that they are good to go and ready to sign up and that there is no need for the second call. Boom.

There are plenty of other use cases for adding more than one thing to someone’s calendar. If you have a great referral source you want to keep in touch with 2-3 times per year, set up all three check-ins at once. If you have a series of past client events throughout the year, make it easy for people to add all of them at once.

AddEvent is a slick tool that makes all of this easy to do. Here’s an example where you could have your employees RSVP to a bunch of training sessions with one click.

🔬 [R]ESEARCH

You need to perfect personalization 🥰

One of the most important marketing trends that most companies have not gotten right, yet, is personalization. Per McKinsey, companies who deploy personalization “achieve outcomes by tailoring offerings and outreach to the right individual at the right moment with the right experiences.”

The reason I am so bullish on personalization is because it works and it is what people want. Considering that, “companies that excel at personalization generate 40 percent more revenue from those activities than average players”, you might want to make personalization a priority.

Here is what the research found about the expectation and upside of personalization:

71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions

76% percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen

72% said they expect the businesses they buy from to recognize them as individuals and know their interests

76% are more likely to purchase due to personalization

78% are more likely to use a company again due to personalization

78% are more likely to recommend or refer due to personalization

Your mass emails, website copy, social media campaigns, sales calls, and text messages can all be personalized.

You should get started on this ASAP .

My links are way cooler than yours 🔗

When I signed up for Short.io I had no idea that I would use and love it as much as I do.

Similar to bit.ly, Short.io allows you to “Shorten, personalize, and share fully branded URLs.”

As I launched TheConversionCode.com I realized that when you add /workshop or /author to the end it’s an annoyingly long URL. I also wanted to go beyond using bit.ly with a custom ending because I’d seen companies like Amazon (amz.to), ESPN (es.pn), and Pepsi (pep.si) have their own custom domains and I wanted one too.

So, I bought Conv.Codes which was the shortest one I could find that was on brand with my book.

At first, I just used it when I shared links on social media so that they would look cooler and so that I could see how many people were clicking them in real time. If I was sending people to Amazon to buy my book the URL was conv.codes/amazon or if I wanted someone to join my SMS list it was conv.codes/text.

But then I started using them in a way that has become irreplaceable and I felt compelled to share it with you because it has made my life easier every single day.

I use them for important URLs that are impossible for me to remember but that I need often. For example, I send people my Calendly link to set up a call all the time but can never remember the URL, so now I use conv.codes/chris. I have a press kit in Google Drive that is now conv.codes/press. I created a Chrome extension, with a wild URL that literally ends with dllnhcoegohnimgomphmfkoaonkiakgm, that now I use conv.codes/chrome for.

I could go on but I implore you to check out Short.io for yourself where you can buy a custom domain, get it all set up, and then create branded links in seconds.