I recently took a trip to Cabo, and ended up spending over $300 for a 90 minute hot stone massage at the spa. I had no intention of getting a massage, but here’s what happened: 

1. I was relaxing by the pool and one of the staff members came up to me offering a free 3 minute chair massage by the pool. I took the bait and said yes. 

2. At the end of the massage, the staff member asked me how it went. When I told him it was great he took out the spa menu and asked if I wanted to book an appointment. The prices were higher than what I wanted to pay ($190 for a 50 minute massage), so I said no. He then proceeded to offer me a 25 minute Cabana massage for $58, which was a great value in comparison to the full priced spa menu he had previously showed me. I said yes. 

3. The Cabana massage was fantastic, but the massage therapist quickly discovered that my back needed a lot more work than she could do in 25 minutes. At the end she recommended a full 90 minute hot stone massage for $240, which was a great value in comparison to the $190 massage for just 50 minutes. I agreed and booked it. 

So what does this have to do with selling? The spa just executed a perfect land and expand deal. 

Here are four key lessons from the experience:

1. Go outbound – if they were relying on me to walk in the door, they would never have taken my money. Instead, they sent spa staff to go out and meet prospects where they were (by the pool). In B2B sales, you have to go outbound, which can come in many forms: cold calling, conferences, or in my case, creating content that I distribute on multiple channels. Don’t rely on clients coming to you. 

2. Give value first for free. In the case of the spa, it was a 3 minute chair massage. In the case of tech sales, it might be inviting a client to a webinar, live event, making an intro for them, or simply helping them out without expecting anything in return. 

In the case of my own coaching business, I’m running a free sales training series called Transformation Tuesdays. After just one webinar, we had 30+ attendees book a call to learn more about our full coaching program. 

3. Have a low ticket offer to sell. In the case of the spa, it was a $58 chair massage. In the case of my own business, it’s online courses starting at $197. For most tech companies, it’s a point solution to address a small use case or paid POC, often referred to as a “land and expand” strategy

4. Move them to your high ticket solution. In the case of the spa, it was the 90 minute hot stone massage. In my case, it’s 1:1 coaching with me or Mike Fiascone + live retreats. In tech companies, it’s an Enterprise License Agreement (ELA), or “wall to wall” deal. People are much more likely to go “ALL IN” when they’ve already experienced the value you bring firsthand and trust you.  

This playbook was executed perfectly by the spa, and I made a video outlining my experience, which you can find here.