Ep. 27 Piano Lessons, Overwhelm and Lost Business Opportunities

Piano Lessons, Overwhelm and Lost Business Opportunities

When a customer doesn’t buy from you, that “no” doesn’t always mean “no”. What does it mean? And how do you turn a “no “into a “yes”? Torie Mathis and her cohost Sean talk about strategies to gain a new customer even if they say “no” to the sale and steps you can take to stop missing new business opportunities.

We’ll cover:
Why a no in sales doesn’t mean no
How to follow up with a no
Email Marketing Strategies for Small Business
Marketing Strategies for Personal Trainers
Marketing Strategies for Music Teachers
Easy strategies to double your business
How to increase customer referrals
How to increase customer retention
Easy upsell strategies
And more…

Recommended Tools:
Kartra https://toriemathis.com/kartra
Constant Contact https://toriemathis.com/constantcontact
WP-Engine https://toriemathis.com/wpengine
Grammarly https://toriemathis.com/grammarly

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION –

(transcription is auto-generated)

SAF 27

[00:00:00] Torie: When somebody says no one time, like what’s the reason,

Hey, Hey, welcome to Smart AF on your host Torie Mathis. We’ve got a great show for you today. So let’s get started. So over the summer, Bella told me that she wanted to take piano, not buying it. I’m not going to take you to piano. Because I took her to piano lessons one time and halfway through, she decided she did not want to do piano lessons, clammed up, refuse to speak and was like, gave me the Blinky eye mom saved me. Look, oh man, this girl, like, I’m super excited that she wants to do piano lessons, but at the same time, like I’ve been down this road before.

So I made her wait for like six months and like, she kept asking, she kept asking and I’m like, you realize if you actually take piano lessons and this is something you want to do, that means that we have to buy some type of piano that we don’t have, like, there’s an investment with this. So I thought that I was doing the right thing by saying we’ll get you a test lesson.

We’ll see if you like it and we’ll go from there. So I finally. I told the lady, you know, she’s a little bit shy. Let let’s do a trial run and see how it goes. So we went to the music lesson and I thought things were going really well. The lady was really nice. She was really excited about piano. Thought it was going good.

I went and waited in the car. I came back in when the lesson was over and then there was the Bella Blakey. Mom saved me, get me out of here. And I’m like, okay. She’s like, well, do you want to sign up right now? And I was like, well, let me talk to Bella and stuff and I will email you and we’ll see what we can do.

She was like, great. I’m so nice to meet you. And I was like you to get in the car. She was like, no, no way. Not gonna do. I took her a while and she finally said she was overwhelmed and she just didn’t want to do it. And just wasn’t the right time. It was not what she expected. So I talked to her a little bit about expectations and like building things up and, and not being open to what is actually going to happen.

And so we decided we weren’t going to do piano. I told the piano teacher, not the actual teacher. I was actually just talking to the owner of the actual whole school. And she said, it happens all the time. Like kids get in there, they get super overwhelmed. They were like, we have a group program that, you know, maybe that’ll be less overwhelming for some of the kids like that.

When we open back up, you know, with COVID and everything we’ll be offering them again. And maybe that might be better for you. And I was like, okay, like, that’s cool. And then no. And I got to thinking that there were a lot of opportunities lost there that something could have happened maybe to down sell, or maybe to try to reach out again.

But I so far, like it’s been a while now and I still haven’t heard anything. And when I was actually looking for a teacher, there was another teacher that I found that actually had a really nice website. Like I really liked how she had all of her stuff set up. She was really open on the website, like all over the place, had a great call to action for a free lesson, free lesson, free lesson.

So I signed up for the free lesson and this one emailed me back and said, oh, I’m only doing online. And I was like, And I really thought it’d be better for Bella if she was in person and actually got to talk to somebody, especially with being a beginner, piano player, we don’t have a piano. That’s also like, he was like, we don’t have a piano to new one.

But this lady I emailed, I said, we’re actually really looking for in-person lesson. So that’s probably not going to work. She didn’t even email me. And so I was thinking about like both of these people that I reached out to, I obviously have a need. I obviously wanted to do something. And I thought both of them kind of missed the mark there for trying to still like work with me to see what other things that we can do.

For example, like when somebody says no one time, like what’s the reason, like she didn’t even say, I know a lot of parents don’t aren’t sure about virtual lessons, but a lot of the kids really like it. Why don’t you have her just try one for free, just to see, like, there wasn’t even that to like, try to see if maybe I wanted to try it.

It was just like no response. And I can’t imagine that she’s like super overwhelmed with lessons with what’s going on right now. I would think that like, people want to bring on more people into their school. Yeah. I would have 

[00:04:47] Sean: assumed she would have tried a little bit harder to try to get a. 

[00:04:53] Torie: Customer and the one that we did go to, she didn’t offer maybe another teacher or to say, do you want to try it? You know, I don’t know. Like there could have been, there could have been something else reached out a little bit. I dunno. What do you think? 

[00:05:06] Sean: Well, she was overwhelmed. She could have what’s another, even a half 98, not like the full lesson, like maybe half, maybe 10 minutes. Just go back in. No, maybe just go over a little something, you know, even 10 minutes, you know, and just easier in a little bit, instead of like, here’s all this stuff we’re going to go over and anyone in their right mind is probably going to get overwhelmed when you’ve really never even been around a piano.

Right. So. If the kid responds to that free lesson. Great. You know, you’re, you’re golden, but if not, like, why not just say, oh, well I understand they could be overwhelmed. Why don’t you bring them back in? We’ll just, you know, spend a couple minutes. 

[00:05:55] Torie: Yeah. So maybe for kids, kids do get overwhelmed and maybe this is normal.

It just seemed like there were a lot of missed opportunities there for some type of down sell or to try something else. Cause I don’t always think. When somebody says that they’re not ready, that you should maybe try a little bit. I think this could happen also with. Maybe like if you were giving free training lessons for like a gym or something like that, that’s something similar.

It could be like that, that obviously there’s a, there’s a need there because people wouldn’t have come there. If there wasn’t a need. So people are actually coming to you for a free trial of some sort, maybe when they’re saying no, it isn’t that they don’t want it at all. Maybe they just don’t want it exactly how it was presented.

[00:06:41] Sean: Worst case scenario. 

[00:06:43] Torie: Yeah. I think that, you know, having something else, always whatever it is to offer in case they don’t want the full thing that you offer, maybe there’s something else that they want. I dunno, like if. If you’re offering somebody like a whole entire pie, like buy my pie, buy my pie. And they’re like, well, let’s, that’s a lot of PI, you know, it’s like not offering them just a slice of pie.

Like it just, it wouldn’t make sense not to have something less to offer them. So I think that could be done. And for a lot of businesses, I think even for ours, you know, for offering a website, like maybe you don’t want a $10,000 website and maybe if I’m all excited about a website and a website, and I tell you all these bells and whistles and fancy things.

You’re like that, like, you need to have something else to go to or buying a car. Like you can’t go show them the most expensive car. And they’re like, well, this is more car than I need. Okay, bye. Could you imagine if car dealerships did that? Like they have to have like some type of process going in there that says, okay, not everybody is going to do this.

So then what, what do we do when somebody says, ah, my, my kids overwhelmed that I’m not hungry for a whole pot. I can’t afford, you know, this a hundred thousand dollar car, then what do 

[00:07:59] Sean: you do? Those gymnastics? You know, that’s a two hour class, but 

[00:08:04] Torie: yes, that is a good example. So Bella goes to gymnastics and that is something that she does.

She was good enough that she got to go to the advanced level. She went through, you know, the, the beginner class, but the advanced level class was two hours. And she said after like a little while, she was like, don’t sign me up next time. I don’t want to do. And I was like, oh, I thought you liked it. And she really wouldn’t say why she didn’t want to do it.

It took me a long time. And she finally said like, it’s too long for her. Like, she does not want to be there for two hours after school. And, and that it was just too much for her. And I’m like, well, let’s just talk to the teacher and let’s see what she says. And she was like, oh, that’s fine. Just go to one hour.

And she was like, And then she was happy. Like if she wouldn’t have said, like, we could have just. 

[00:08:49] Sean: The teachers reached out to us multiple times to just, you know, checking in with how everything’s going and seeing them those happy and see if she’d sign up again. And like, she’s, she’s done really well at, you know, trying to make sure that those comfortable going in there and then totally workable.

I mean, she could have been like, Nope, just glasses two hours. And then 

[00:09:13] Torie: yeah. And then she would have lost the client and we would have probably like, no, like, don’t go there. They’re kind of, you know, but now, like anybody, I would tell anybody to go to the gymnastics place because it’s a comfortable place.

Even if the kids are overwhelmed, because if Bella is overwhelmed, I’m sure there’s other kids that are overwhelmed as well. I think that’s, that’s something that I don’t know if a lot of people think about for their services type business, especially that if what you have, people are saying no to, it might not be that they don’t want completely, just not in the way you have it packaged.

So repackaging something or being flexible on your package might be something that’s important. Right? 

[00:09:51] Sean: I got this thousand dollar product you’re trying to sell. Nobody wants. Maybe they want the $200 version of it, make it work, take some stuff away, make it still have value and see if that works, but don’t go. No, my product’s a thousand dollars and they’re going to 

[00:10:10] Torie: pay for it. Them 

[00:10:12] Sean: does that to anybody here, not even helping anybody at that point, much less yourself. 

[00:10:18] Torie: Yeah. I think there’s a lot of. Overwhelm, especially when the business owner or the person that’s putting on the class or whatever. They’re so excited about something that, that excitement doesn’t always translate the same, especially when you’re presenting it to somebody that’s really new at something, or they’re a beginner, 

[00:10:38] Sean: What happens.

So a lot of times too, is people get set on that dollar, right? You’re you’re like, Nope, I want. I want that a hundred dollars for that, that class and taking anything less. It’s like a slap in the face when really you can offer something less. You’re, you know, keeping in contact with them. They’re still a customer.

Even the lower, the odds of them then progressing. And becoming that customer of yours, that then pays that asking price that you want is very likely, but instead of having nothing until that happens, you’re, you’re, you’re molding them. And, and you know, now maybe instead of that a hundred dollar product, if they’ve been paying $25 for a lower course product, but then paying for months, you know, now all of a sudden you could think of something that would be even more grand and they’re quick to buy the $200 product, you know, ’cause they’re comfortable, you know, they, they, they, they then want more from you and that’s, what’s.

[00:11:37] Torie: That entry-level product gives you a chance to build that know like, and trust, and then they’re ready for more, you know, and if it’s kids, then they’re not overwhelmed with you because they’ve gotten used to you. I think a good example would be. So I, you know, I’ve mentioned before I have a class that I do at the gym.

But I also do a personal training with the exact same guy. So once a week I go to a personal trainer and then the other days a week, I actually go to one of his classes. Well, if he didn’t give the classes, but only said, I offer one-on-one training to everybody. He would lose all of those people that were in that class.

And I think that class really opens the door for people that aren’t sure about personal training or. So being able to offer some type of group program. And I think these days, a lot of people are offering like online type things or a digital type product that is a good beginner too, but they have that opportunity with less commitment, less overwhelm.

Maybe just a little less price to get you started is always a good option too. Not turn people away because you don’t want to turn people away, especially when they’ve come to you. Like, I want this, I want this, you know, and I, I keep going thinking back to the car dealership, like if people went to the car dealership and they always just offer the most expensive cars and they were like, okay, then by like, it would never work.

[00:12:55] Sean: It seems to, I think it’s you know, depending on what it is, it could just be a personality conflict, you know, if they didn’t like. You know, one of your salesmen for whatever they did, they like the product. It’s just the salesperson, just like kind of rubbed them wrong, the wrong, you know, get somebody else in there to can contact them again and say, you know, can I help? It doesn’t hurt anything and might as well see if that, if maybe that was it, maybe they just didn’t mesh with that person. Okay. 

[00:13:27] Torie: It’s definitely a good point. And that could be with Bella too. Like maybe the teacher for whatever reason, like she didn’t like her, but maybe there’s another and they have multiple teachers there.

Maybe there would have been another teacher that she really would have liked, but that opportunity wasn’t given and now she is still like, Nope. Nope. 

[00:13:45] Sean: Like the gym, if you didn’t have a personal trainer, but that you went and tried all these different classes that were all taught by different, it would give you an opportunity to get to know those trainers and then determine, Hey, this is somebody I can work out with or not, not on a one-on-one.

Like, 

[00:14:00] Torie: I don’t, I definitely got lucky because for however reason, like I was paired with, you know, when I went in with somebody that I, I do really like him, I think our personalities naturally well, but that is definitely like, there’s some that I see. And it, it, I probably wouldn’t have even joined classes well. 

[00:14:18] Sean: With the word, like some of them are more drill Sergeant. Some of them are coach. Some of them are, you know, a whole lot more mellow, you know, it’s just, it depends on what you’re looking for. And I think that’s perfectly okay. 

[00:14:35] Torie: So I think there’s ways that businesses can add that kind of flexibility in their business with their products. I think anybody really could, like, I always say, like, it just takes a little bit of forethought and a little bit of planning and a dog to knock into the camera.

It takes a little bit of forethought and planning for some of these things. So I think a good thing to do would be for like every single one of your products. Like if somebody says no, What are the reasons that they would say no. And then how can you have some type of down sell or other offer alongside of it?

Like you said about like the different trainers if it’s a personality thing they’re going to be working, one-on-one like, what do you do when they do say no so that you have that to fall back on? Because I don’t think a no is always a no, I think it might just be things need an adjustment. 

[00:15:25] Sean: We’ll capture that email address before they give you a no. And then have it all already automated too, to touch them and give them multiple opportunities. It’s not even like you have to do all this stuff manually. Just built it up. Yeah, we’re ready to go. 

[00:15:40] Torie: You know, and saying that like even the piano teacher, like, it would be really interesting to see if I do get anything from them. And honestly, because I haven’t so far, I don’t think I would, but wouldn’t it be nice if they said, Hey, since Bella was interested in piano and she’s not ready yet, here’s like an app that she could practice. We could suggest, you know, these couple songs or just some things that I was like, oh, Yeah, maybe Bella will want that later.

And then, so if they keep having those little touches and keep just giving maybe a little advice about piano or different things that she could do, learning music, just different things to like, keep that going so that I still know them. I, I don’t know the name of the dog groomer and you know what, I don’t know the name of the piano place either.

Why? Because they didn’t email me a couple times. Like it’s, they’re out of my mind now. So if they would have emailed me, they would have been top of mind that when Bella comes around in another six months or somebody asks about a piano list, like I could offer that information. But if you don’t tell me if you don’t keep contacting me, I’m not going to remember.

[00:16:43] Sean: I would have had the camera set up on a piano. And have it, you know, showing like some super simple song or something, something that if, if she was to watch that on her tablet and we did have a piano or a keyboard or something, she could mimic it. Right. And if they had a couple of those that went out sequentially, not only are they keeping in touch with us, that is then enabling her on her own time to see if this is something she likes that, you know, it would help.

But their YouTube views are going up. Like it’s benefiting them. Yeah. 

[00:17:17] Torie: Maybe they could do that with like some of the different teachers. And so then you could go have your kid go watch and then pick what teacher they think they would want to do the lesson, because I’m sure that’s something big 

[00:17:26] Sean: with kids and let the teachers personalities show. Right. 

[00:17:30] Torie: But if you don’t give them an opportunity, then, I mean, that’s just never going to happen. Again, things like this just takes a little bit of forethought and a little bit of planning so that you can kind of figure out this kind of thing. And that is how you are. About your marketing smarter. Yeah. So if you want more smart resources and tools, you can go to Toriemathis.com, all kinds of great stuff there for you.

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