Have you ever seen the Progressive insurance commercial on television that features a spokeswoman and customer in an insurance “store”, browsing through shelves of insurance (i.e. boxes that say Motorcycle Insurance, Homeowners Insurance, RV Insurance, etc.)?

I love this visual depiction of services, and you know what, our prospects are in the same boat as the shopper in the Progressive commercial. They might not know why they should choose our services or be able to compare us to the next guy.

So let’s get a little creative and create a package of  services.

What you need to do to make it happen

1. Think proprietarily. Do some research. See what other people in your field are offering and come up with a name for the package that is unique to you and that can’t be found anywhere else.
2. Mind map it. Outline the features, for example a fitness coach might offer a 90 day package that includes a before and after fitness assessment (body fat and other baseline measures), three one-on-one coaching sessions, a 30 day supply of multivitamins, a water bottle, and a subscription to a healthy eating recipe website or magazine.
3. Think benefits. Brainstorm a list of benefits to your prospect. What will he/she gain by purchasing your package? Remember features tell, benefits sell. For example some benefits of the fitness package might be more energy, a smaller dress size, no more tight clothes, look younger, feel younger, sleep better at night, play with your kids or grand kids without getting tired, lower stress, lower cholesterol, able to run a 10K or walk in the 5k next spring.
4. Set your pricing. You might ask some of your clients/friends/prospects what they would be willing to pay for a package such as this to get an idea of the ballpark range. The pricing of your package should be tied directly to the benefits. You can use your time multiplied by an hourly rate plus the cost of any products you include in the package to set your price don’t fall into the commodity pricing trap. Your package is not a commodity. It is rare. It is proprietary. It can’t be found elsewhere. I recommend setting your price accordingly.
5. Tell people about it.

If you’re ready to go with this idea but you need some accountability, let’s do it together. Join us on October 5th for the Package It! coaching group, read more here.

Space is limited, don’t dally

You know how you are so used to someone that you see them without really seeing them? Well, the other day it was like I “saw” my husband for the first time and wow — he has lost 15 pounds and he is looking fab-lee-ous!

One thing I admire so much about him, once he makes up his mind to do something, he sticks with it. So he made up his mind to workout for 30 mins a day every other day and he has been faithful to this for at least two months.

And see what happened?  Sheesh. He makes it looks so easy.

I’m a little jealous (in a good way), so now I have started my own 30 mins a day routine. I feel better already but don’t hold your breath on the 15 pounds thing.

So this got me thinking about what other big changes a person could actually accomplish in just 30 minutes a day, for example, what if you devoted 30 mins a day to beefing up referrals? Or writing your book? Or blogging? Or creating a new product? Or writing thank-you notes? Or learning css?

We could all handle 30 mins a day, couldn’t we?

Jerry Seinfeld uses a variation of this with a big wall calendar and a red magic marker, read about his productivity secret here.

There are a gazillion tools to help keep track of our 30 min blocks, for example you could certainly use something like GTDAgenda, or Vitalist, or a paper system from Myndology.

But ultimately, what will make the most difference? Doing it. It’s only 30 mins!

Who’s in?