7L: The Seven Levels of Communication. Michael J. Maher

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, I know we didn’t run a single ad. I think you guys are starting to get it!” Jay laughed. Jay continued moving through some slides, further explaining the Seven Levels of Communication and the Communication Pyramid and Rick took notes as fast as his pen would allow him.³

      “Now before we let you go tonight, you’re going to be offered the opportunity to invest in yourself by signing up for coaching. I think almost all of you can see that this is more than anyone can absorb and implement in one night.” You got that right. “So there are two more people I want you to hear from. Like Janice, they came to a conference just like this. And like Janice, they signed up for coaching. The first is a mortgage professional that was ready to throw in the towel just under a year ago. Everyone, welcome Michelle Phillips.”

      To Rick’s shock, Michelle rose from their row and walked up on stage and stood next to Jay. Jeez, did she get taller? Seeing the woman he had just chatted with so casually addressing a crowd of this size felt almost surreal.

      “Thanks, Jay!” Michelle said. She looks so confident! “I have been coached for about seven months now and it’s been an incredible experience.”

      “Michelle, tell us how things are going and about some of the strategies that you’ve implemented under your coach’s leadership,” Jay said.

      “Well, Jay, in a market that was down 40% in number of sales and 20% in sales price, we’ve INCREASED our business by 78% in transactions and our volume by 49%. Most of that came in the last six months of the year. I’ve increased my income by over $100,000 in the last six months.” Rick joined the crowd in applauding. “One of the most important factors in your homeownership experience is your relationship with your neighbors. Even in today’s fast-paced world, we need to take the time to get to know the people around us,” Michelle continued. “So now we throw a housewarming party for every one of our buyer-clients as a way to meet those neighbors.”

      “How does that work?” Jay asked with genuine interest.

      “Well, we throw them a party thirty to forty-five days after closing. That timeframe seemed to work best. We cater the food, put out branded signs and take a picture with our clients in front of the house with a sold sign. My coach also suggested that we give out door prizes so that each guest fills out a door prize entry form. That’s how we get information for follow-up and ask for referrals. We get three or four referrals on the door prize entry forms at every party.”

      “Wow, that’s a great idea,” Jay said, and the crowd applauded in agreement. That is a great idea. Rick’s mind was filling with possibilities. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? “What does it generally cost you?” Jay asked.

      “Between 200 and 300 dollars for food, but I’m lucky enough to have several partners in my business who help me with the cost for the party. I used to be really shy. . .” Yeah, right, Rick thought. “And I was still coming out of that shell when we did our first few parties. My coach suggested I put myself in the role of a server. As soon as I did that at the parties, not only did I feel more comfortable, but I got more referrals!”

      “Did you have any challenges with this model at first?” Jay asked.

      “Oh, sure,” Michelle laughed. “We used to wait until closing to ask the clients if they wanted to do a housewarming party. That didn’t go over so well when they were stressed out about moving. So after some trial and error we got smarter and began explaining the housewarming party at the initial consultation instead of waiting until closing. We just made it a part of the process. You get pre-approved, make an offer, get a contract, sign papers at closing, then host a housewarming party.”

      “And your coach has helped you refine your model?” Jay inquired.

      “Oh yes,” Michelle confirmed. “Coach is never satisfied. Our system was pretty good four months ago. Then my coach showed me how to use some of the concepts from the Communication Pyramid to take the parties to the next level. First, he suggested that I call all invitees to confirm that they would be attending. We were sending nice invitations out and I felt that was enough. I figured it was up to the buyer-client to get them there. But my coach kept emphasizing that we wanted to immerse ourselves in our buyer-clients’ circle of friends. To maximize my time, I needed to get as many as possible to that party. So I began calling to confirm and attendance soared. Instead of getting 50% or less, we are now getting more than 75%. And with more people, the energy is also higher. The clients seem to enjoy themselves more. These parties are a lot of fun!⁴”

      “So it sounds like this is a big reason you’ve seen such growth in your business while others are seeing declines,” Jay offered.

      “Absolutely. Coaching helped me understand how to implement what I was learning about the Seven Levels. The ideas are simple and inexpensive but very powerful. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without these principles and my coach’s help in putting them into practice.”