figure and Rick took out a notepad and started jotting down what he was saying.
“Now before we break, let’s hear from an Ambassador who is implementing some of the strategies of the Seven Levels. Ladies and gentleman: Janice Weinberger!”
A tiny lady—she had to be less than five feet tall— stood up and appeared on the screens. She must be sixty! Rick tried to imagine what this woman could possibly have to say to such a large crowd. He thought about checking his texts.
Janice spoke, “I just want to say that I am living proof that you’re never too old of a dog to learn new tricks. I have been a real estate agent for thirty years.” Rick’s ears perked up. “I absolutely love helping first-time buyers get into homes and start building wealth. After years of blasting neighborhoods with six weeks of postcards and getting maybe one or two calls, most of them angry calls. . .” Rick laughed along with the audience. I remember those calls.
“. . . I decided to give my coach’s methods a try. I focused on one apartment complex where I knew that rents were going up and there were affordable homes nearby. I wrote each of those renters a handwritten note letting them know that when they decided to look for a home, I wanted to be their gal. I let them know I was having a home buyer seminar and invited them to come.” The crowd murmured, waiting to hear what happened.
“I’m here to tell you that out of 350 people— yes, I wrote 350 handwritten notes—I had 77 respond—77! And ten of them let me know that they were sorry they couldn’t attend but wanted to learn more! Six months later, I am still working with some of those people that called.” The audience clapped and a few stood up. Rick wanted to stand up too. What a great idea! “The lessons of the Seven Levels work. No matter what your age, you can become a member of The Generosity Generation. Thank you, Jay,” Janice finished.
Thunderous applause followed as Jay announced the break.
Rick looked at his notes and took a deep breath as the crowd began to get up and mingle. As he glanced up from his seat, he saw Michelle standing near him. He smiled and stood up. “Wow, this is really something. . .” he offered, not really sure what to say.
“I know,” Michelle replied, clearly pleased with his response. “And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t wait for you to see the Communication Pyramid and The Upward Spiral of L.I.F.E . . . Before I forget I want to introduce you to a couple of people. You remember Alan of course.” Alan looked up from his BlackBerry and offered his hand again.
Rick said, “Sure, from EVT.” His voice involuntarily deepened as he spoke.
“Yeah,” Alan answered. Then he turned to Michelle abruptly. “Listen, I’d better get going. I just got a message that the firm needs a brief filed by Monday morning. You know I have tickets to the game tomorrow, so . . .”
“Oh that’s okay,” Michelle said kindly. Rick thought he detected disappointment in her voice. She gave Alan a hug goodbye and introduced Rick to Jeff Schmidt, a chiropractor; and Christy Sutton, a network marketer. After a little conversation, Rick found out that everybody had met with Michelle last Tuesday at EVT Restaurant. Huh, she’s really getting it done.
Rick remembered what she had said about being perceived as a mover and shaker. He looked down again at his pages of notes and thought about the homework Jay had assigned them. Normally, Rick would have ignored a presenter’s “action items,” but this time he felt strangely motivated to look at his database.
The lights began to dim again, alerting everyone that the break was about to end. Rick strode back to his seat quickly. This is actually helpful. Could there be a different way of doing business? I bet Don doesn’t know half this stuff. . . Rick felt a pang of humiliation in the pit of his stomach as he tried in vain to put that conversation with Don out of his mind. “Rick, to be honest with you, I don’t think you’ll be in the business a year from now.” He was relieved to see the crowd settle down and Jay Michaels jog to the stage to loud cheers and applause.
“Okay, guys,” Jay resumed, “Now it’s time for the Communication Pyramid you’ve heard so much about. I need everyone here to stand up. Some of you know what’s coming but I know you’ll indulge me anyway.” Rick stood up along with the crowd.
“Great. There is only one rule for this game: you have to be completely honest. Now I want you to imagine that you have no plans for next Friday. You open your morning paper tomorrow and you see a full page ad with a picture of Donald Trump saying, ‘I want you to attend my upcoming event in your city.’ If you are 100% certain you will attend that event, based on seeing that ad, I want you to sit down now.” Rick kept standing. He looked around. Everyone else was still standing too. Where is he going with this?
“Really?” Jay laughed. “C’mon, guys, this is the most famous man in real estate and he ran a full page ad to get you to come to his event. Now what if you got a jumbo postcard in the mail with the same picture and the same message? Any affect on those Friday plans? Sit down if that’s going to get you there.” Rick remained standing. He thought he saw someone sit down out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t be sure.
“And what if you got an e-mail inviting you to the event?” Jay continued. “Would that make you absolutely certain to go?” Rick saw a guy near the back sit down and a woman sit down near the center aisle. “Sure, you might. After all, he might not make it out this far too often. He might sign your book. . . it could be fun!” The crowd chuckled.
“Now let’s say you got a hand-addressed note from a return address you don’t recognize,” Jay said. “You open the envelope, flip open the card, and there is a handwritten note from Donald Trump. He asks you to attend his event that is coming soon to your city. You lick your thumb and wipe the ink, confirming that it was original. If you knew beyond a reasonable doubt that the note had come from Donald Trump, would you go?” Rick saw that more than half the room was now sitting down.
Jay continued with a smile, “Now you’re at work and your receptionist says you have a call. You hear that familiar voice say, ‘This is Donald Trump. I only have a minute here, but I wanted to invite you to an event I’m having in your city. Can I count on you to attend?’ Now if that happens, and you know you’re not part of a prank, how many people in this room would be at that event? Rick sat down along with many others. A phone call from Donald Trump? Sure, I’m there. . .
“And for you holdouts,” Jay laughed, “What if you came out of your office to find Mr. Trump himself in your waiting area. He shakes your hand, tells you about the event and asks you to come. Will that get you there?” The crowd murmured loudly as every last person sat down.
Jay hesitated to let the point sink in. The crowd was murmuring.
“Okay, that got all of you,” Jay said as the crowd quieted down. “So now you see why no one responds to the billboards, or the bus benches or the huge ads. You wouldn’t respond to that, and neither will they. Yet you just heard how many people responded to my friend Janice over there, when she took the time to write each of the people in that apartment complex. Because you see, to the people in that apartment complex, Janice is their Donald Trump! She doesn’t have a TV show, but she is the gal getting it done in their community! She showed she cared enough to write personally and offer to help. How many of you found out about THIS event by a handwritten note, phone call, or in-person invitation?”
Every hand went up in the room. Rick was floored. It was so true! All those cold calls, all those newspaper and magazine ads: they never worked. They never generated any decent leads. I’ve been wasting so much time and money. . .
“Well,
