Your Graduation Story
I nearly didn’t do the course as the timing wasn’t great for me. But I was really keen to do the course and didn’t want to wait another year. I didn’t know what my product was going to be - so did a survey. This was very helpful - I got 108 responses and decided to do an online course: Exhausted To Energised.
Throughout the course, I found the FB group really helpful. I loved the fact that students were in different time zones. I could post something I needed help with before going to bed and would wake up in the morning and someone would have replied. I’m not a big user of FB and don’t generally engage much. Partly because I don’t like the negative responses I often see. This group was so positive, helpful and sharing and I found myself engaging a lot more than I normally would.
A really striking moment for me was when I made my first (and only) sale. It was during a Start With An Experience session. The customer was just right for the course and I followed the Sales For Superheroes script. The sale was so easy! It felt amazing! Unfortunately I had a lot of no-shows for my Start With An Experience session. The upside of this was that it completely removed my nerves - I just wanted a potential customer to talk to as I sat at my computer feeling like Billy-no-mates! The Sales For Superheroes script was brilliant as it identified very early on in the call people who just weren’t suitable as low energy wasn’t significantly impacting their life and they weren’t very motivated to change the situation. I wouldn’t have described myself as a natural salesperson, but I really enjoyed chatting to potential customers. I felt I offered them value in the call and that it was a natural follow on to let them know about my course. Sales without sleaze or awkwardness!
I put an enormous amount of effort into the course and worked all over the holiday to get everything ready for my launch. I also kept going through a nasty virus. (I’m almost never ill, but I caught a virus that took me 6 weeks to properly kick). So it was disappointing that I only made 1 sale (for £297). However, I’m still pleased I did the course as I learned a lot. Sometimes it was the small things that really stick. Like finding out that 75% of people are externally motivated. As someone who is internally motivated, it was incredible to see, from the FB group, how people really engaged with and were motivated by the XP points.
Overall, my experience of the course was extremely positive, but there were a couple of downward death spiral moments:
1) When I signed up, almost immediately tried to sell me EPM Elite. This left me with a sinking feeling that what I’d bought wasn’t good enough.
2) Out of the blue I received an email (on 9 Nov) from a coach (not my coach): ”Hey there - how's EPM going? You crushing it?? Or do you need some more support…”
I replied with some brief info on where I was at and with some questions I could do with some help with and said “Any ideas or pointers really appreciated!” The response I got: “Dawn, This is phenomenal work! Really, this data is incredibly valuable. Well done. Have you considered EPM Elite? I think you’re a great candidate for the program. Ryan”
I replied saying that EPM Elite wasn’t an option for me this year, but was he able to give me any pointers on the questions I’d asked.” I didn’t get a response. Not only did I feel brushed off as I wasn’t given a single pointer, but I felt (for a second time) that you were trying to upsell to me, when I wasn’t even sure how EPM was going yet.
It would have been fine if I’d not been contacted at all. But given that I was contacted, I felt it was discourteous at the least to brush my questions off then not even respond to my second email.
3) I bought the course the night before registration closed, missing the bonuses (which was ok, I knew that would happen. Although I personally don’t like bonuses being withdrawn as it feels like a hard sell which I find off-putting). On one of the calls or videos Marissa said she couldn’t offer bonuses after the deadline as they are from 3rd parties. However, after the EPM cart closed, registration opened up again. My understanding is that the bonuses were available to people who signed up in that window (after I’d signed up!) I’m sure that there were good reasons for this, but it left me with a feeling that there was something not quite ethical about it. (Having got to see more of Marissa throughout the course, I believe she wouldn’t do something unethical, but this was the feeling I was left with at the time)
4) I totally get the point of the Experience Points and Jump Contests, but they led to frustration. I found the cheering amusing rather than motivating and my points never added up to what they were supposed to be for the contest, even though I had done the required steps. I also filled in the form to say I’d won the second Jump Contest, but never heard anything back. However, it was helpful to see how you handled the confusion over points and made me more confident about making mistakes with my customers.
I am only taking the time to write down the things that didn't go so well for me as my overall experience was good and I believe that you care about your customers experience and want to improve it.
What is your biggest takeaway from EPM?
That I enjoyed chatting to potential customers and offering my course to them. That sales can follow naturally from offering someone value and helping them see how you can help them transform their life