Stop Trying To Sell “Easy”

I’ve had a few people raise with me today the idea about selling stuff to their customers on the idea that “it will be easy”.  You’re trying to convince them that somehow if they buy this thing you’re offering them, their lives will get magically better and their progress towards their desired outcome will be “easy”.

I want to make a distinction here…

There is “easy” and there is “easier”.

If I am running up a steep mountainside with jagged rocks, wearing running shoes will make it “easier” because my feet won’t get mangled, but it won’t make it “easy”.

See the difference?

Most people who sell “easy” try and intentionally confuse the two ideas.

In my experience, this never ends well for the buyer or the seller.

In the short term, the seller gets some money and the buyer gets a dopamine hit from buying some kind of shortcut – they are basking in the warm high of a nice dose of Hopium.

Over the long-term?  Nah.

Anything worth doing is hard, takes a concerted effort and success and fulfilment usually come after a long period of doing the right things repeatedly.

If you want instant success, buy lottery tickets.

One thing that I do is right up front, I tell people that things are going to be hard and it will take a lot of effort on their part.  There are no misconceptions from me.  Put the hard work in on a consistent basis and you’ll give yourself the best chance for success.

And that’s an important point… It’s not about guaranteeing success.

When you put the work in and do the right things, you’re just buying yourself a ticket to the dance.  You’re giving yourself an opportunity for fortune to find you.

There’s the old saying, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

Truer words were never spoken.

I have seen people spend twelve months on a project, do everything the right way and still, nothing of consequence happens for them.

That’s life.  You have to dig in and be prepared to try again.

Or not.  The universe doesn’t care if you quit.

One thing I do know is that when you prime your customer base for the fact that what lies ahead of them is a path that will challenge them and require hard work, you always end up with way better customers.

I can probably count on one hand the number of people who have complained that I didn’t give them the secret to magical push button success, that I wasn’t delivering on “easy”.

As a result, my customers and clients are WAAAAY better clients.  They invest in themselves and the work required to get to their desired outcomes.  We get to have conversations about how they can “do more” to get to where they want to be rather than looking for hacks, shortcuts and cheap answers.

And here’s the thing…

That makes running my business much more fulfilling for me and far more likely that these customers will be successful.

When I was selling Authority Matrix, I was pretty clear, “You’re going to spend six months working hard before you can expect to see any results at all.”

Did that probably cost me sales?  Undoubtedly.

But it also set me up to have customers that are going to be successful because they know what lies ahead of them and they are willing to put the effort in.

My job is to make things “easier” for them.  I’m here to show them what to look for and how to avoid the potholes that myself and other people have hit.  My job is to pace on experience and be a sounding board.

I’m not giving them the secret to anything… Unless of course, you consider hard work, dedication and high-quality execution as a “secret” of success.

So a couple takeaways…

If someone is trying to sell you magic beans, you can be fairly certain you’re going to end up disappointed and poorer for the experience.

And if you’re trying to sell “easy” to people, you’re going to end up with disappointed and crappy customers over the long term.

That’s not a recipe for sustainable success.