You: A Category of One – In Just 7 Minutes with Mike Koenigs

Resources/Links:

• Wanting to Learn More on How You Can Help Grow Your Business and Turn Prospects into Big-Ticket Clients? Learn more about the “Ambassador Multiplier Framework” and help monetize value in your business: PaidForLife.com/Ambassador

Summary

Have you felt like you have outgrown your business and just feel the need to spice your business up a notch?

Do you want to learn how to find the hidden value in your business that could monetize your business’ value?

Are you ready to know the proven and tested ways on how you multiply your clients and profits and help grow your business?

Mike Koenigs is a dad and a husband of 20 years. He is a SuperConnector and relationship creator. He’s a 30-year serial entrepreneur and is the founder of 5 businesses built from scratch, two public exits (IPG/Interpublic Group), and has authored 13 bestselling books.

In this episode, Mike talks about what you should actually be doing when feeling stuck on a business plateau and how to overcome that feeling of business outgrowth. He also shared how progress can be made in your business if only you focused and identified the “who” problem rather than the “how” problem.

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:39 – Mike’s ideal client: “The perfect client is business to business, B2B business owners. They have to be founders, partners. And ideally, generally, they’re $3 million to $50 million business owners of 45 and above, typically successful, a higher net worth.”
• 02:25 – Problem Mike helps solve: “Usually, they are people who are frustrated business owners. They’ve reached a point where they know they’ve outgrown who they are, what they do, why they do it, who they do it for. And they also are struggling with the competition.”
• 03:02 – Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Mike: “Very frequently what I find is there is a point of transition in their lives, meaning they’ve hit that dark night of the soul where they might not feel valued, and their sense of purpose has changed because they’ve hit a brass ring.”
• 04:01 – Common mistakes that people make before they find Mike’s solution: “I call it “stepping in cow pies”. And if you grew up on a farm, and if you step in cow pies, that means you’re walking around in a cow pasture. And that means they start thinking that I have to haul my way through this and do it myself.”
• 05:22 – Mike’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): “I call this “the ambassador method”. But imagine this, if you think about who you want to be a hero to, that’s your ideal, perfect customer. And those people most likely belong to affinity groups.”
• 06:18 – Mike’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out Mike’s Ambassador Multiplier Framework: PaidForLife.com/Ambassador
• 07:07 – Q: What is the most effective way to convert prospects into big-ticket clients and customers? A: Here’s the key. I ask you a series of questions, and it really begins with, “If you and I were to meet three years from today, what would have happened personally and professionally for you to feel satisfied or happy with your progress?”

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“Think about you being a relationship away, not a complex funnel in a systematic way.” -Mike Koenigs Share on X

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you, as always, from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined by the inestimable Mike Koenigs. Mike, good day. Sir, a very warm welcome. Good to see you again after all these years! Where are you hanging out?

Mike Koenigs 00:28
Beautiful San Diego and soon I will be living part-time in Baja, Mexico

Tom Poland 00:33
Wow!

Mike Koenigs 00:33
On the Baja side of Mexico, my wife and I are going to be building a home and studio down there.

Tom Poland 00:39
Fan-dang-tastic! Well, a very warm welcome, and good to connect with you again. It’s been a few years, as I said. For those of you who don’t know Mike, you must have been living in a cave because he’s kind of uber-famous on the internet. I was one of his clients many, many years ago with Traffic Geyser. And that, I guess, started the interaction. We met again a few years ago at a conference in San Diego. He’s a dad and a husband of 20 years. I know family’s very important to you, Mike. He’s also a SuperConnector. The people who you don’t know are, you know, probably not worth knowing. He is also a relationship creator. And he’s a 30-year serial entrepreneur, founder of five businesses built from scratch, two public exits, which is quite a feat in and of itself. And he’s written, man, a couple of books– 13, actually, bestsellers. So we are in the presence of greatness! Mike, our title today- you’re gonna share with us, “You: A Category of One”. You’re going to share with us how folks can be a category one in just seven minutes. Our time starts now, sir. Question number one is who is your ideal client?

Mike Koenigs 01:39
Right, the perfect client is business to business, B2B business owners. They have to be founders, partners. And ideally, generally, they’re $3 million to $50 million business owners of 45 and above, typically successful, a higher net worth. The bottom line is they have to have a history of execution, coachability. And I love folks who are Kolbe quickstarts. If you’re not familiar with the Kolbe test, they’re eight through 10. Basically, they’re fast decision-makers. They’re not long Factor Finders. If you don’t know something and feel it and know what you want, you’re probably not my type of person.

Tom Poland 02:16
Right. Perfect! Thanks. So this way things actually get done and implemented and they get results. Tell us about the problem you solve. Question two, six minutes left.

Mike Koenigs 02:25
Okay, usually, they are people who are frustrated business owners. They’ve reached a point where they know they’ve outgrown who they are, what they do, why they do it, who they do it for. And they also are struggling with the competition. They know they can monetize better, and oftentimes, know they’re underselling to their market.

Tom Poland 02:47
Perfect! Thank you, sir. So that leads us nicely into question three. Five and a half minutes left. Some of the symptoms that these high achievers are going to be experiencing? When they look around their life or their business, what are they going to be noticing that would give them a bit of a heads up that they need to talk with you?

Mike Koenigs 03:02
Yeah. Very frequently what I find is there is a point of transition in their lives, meaning they’ve hit that dark night of the soul where they might not feel valued, and their sense of purpose has changed because they’ve hit a brass ring. And they’re like, they’ve outgrown almost everything in their lives. And they’re like, “What am I doing here? I want more impact. I want more purpose. I want more elegance. I want simplicity. I want to maybe have deeper and more meaningful relationships than a wide and shallow one?”

Tom Poland 03:31
Wow! I can think of a few people. Not looking at anyone, in particular, myself in the mirror! Yeah. So, tell us about- question four, and we’ve got five minutes left. These are ambitious people. They’re growth orientated. They are, you know, in life, they seek fulfillment. They seek expansion. They want to fulfill their potential. They want to expand it again. So they’re going to be trying a lot of stuff before they find your solution. So what are some of the common mistakes that you see these folks have made before they start working with you?

Mike Koenigs 04:01
I call it “stepping in cow pies”. And if you grew up on a farm, and if you step in cow pies, that means you’re walking around in a cow pasture. And that means they start thinking that I have to haul my way through this and do it myself. And the people who are most successful have a history of being coached. They’re shortcut-oriented. They value good advice. And instead of wasting a bunch of time trying to figure it out themselves, they realize that you have a “who” problem, not a “how” problem. And so folks who are like- as I say, “If you drive 50 miles to save a gallon, a nickel on a gallon of gasoline, you’re doing the wrong thing, you know?” And so you’ve got to be in a position where you’re like, “This is a huge problem. I want to transform my life and spend the rest of my life doing what I’m meant to do and have impact and purpose,” and like I say, “Elegance and freedom, life on my terms, not complexity.”

Tom Poland 04:58
Right. I love that you’ve got a “who” problem, not a “how” problem. And your ideal clients recognize that. It’s not about chasing the next shiny thing, it’s about finding the person.

Mike Koenigs 05:07
Right on!

Tom Poland 05:08
Let’s go to question five, and we’ve got three minutes left. What I’m after here is, kind of like a top tip. A valuable free action folks can take. It’s not going to solve the whole problem, but it might start them a step down the road in the right direction.

Mike Koenigs 05:22
Okay, I call this “the ambassador method”. But imagine this, if you think about who you want to be a hero to, that’s your ideal, perfect customer. And those people most likely belong to affinity groups. And understanding who your ideal person is, what groups they belong to, who influences the owners and founders of the groups, but on the outside circle is an ambassador. So what I would like to say is, instead of thinking about what kind of funnel can I create, what kind of gig on, what kind of automation, you might be one story and one fantastic relationship away from having all the clients, all the customers you can ever manage for the rest of your professional career.

Tom Poland 06:02
Wow!

Mike Koenigs 06:03
Think about you being a relationship away, not a complex funnel in a systematic way.

Tom Poland 06:08
Right. Amen to that! Thank you, sir. Question six, two minutes left, we’re after a valuable free resource. Where can people go to find out more about this “ambassador” sort of thing? I think that’s the best-

Mike Koenigs 06:18
Yes, that’s what I prepared today and thinking about this interview. So it’s at PaidForLife.com/Ambassador. That’s A-M-B-A-S-S-A-D-O-R. Go there, and there is a system that I outline in less than 20 minutes, how to think about the ambassador process, how to tell that story, and how to upgrade your operating system, your mental operating system, to think about elevating your personal category. You want to be a category of one and be unique and this is the mechanism and a way to get there.

Tom Poland 06:53
Www.PaidFor, F-O-R, PaidForLife.com/Ambassador. Thanks for that, Mike. Question seven, and we’ve got 75 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t?

Mike Koenigs 07:07
Alright, this is, “What is the most effective way to convert prospects into big-ticket clients and customers?”

Tom Poland 07:17
I would love to hear the answer to that. And we’ve got 60 seconds, so take your time!

Mike Koenigs 07:21
Okay, great! So here’s the key. I ask you a series of questions, and it really begins with, “If you and I were to meet three years from today, what would have happened personally and professionally for you to feel satisfied or happy with your progress?” That is also known as “the Dan Sullivan question”. But when you listen to the answer, and you find out what’s preventing you from getting there, what opportunities are you leaving on the table? And what are your superpowers? Where are your unique abilities? What the secret is to enrollment is to present a story, a movie, starring your prospect in that movie with you, your products and services as the guide to getting there.

Tom Poland 08:01
Right.

Mike Koenigs 08:01
And the whole idea is personalizing that experience so it feels like they’re going on the journey with you as their Yoda or their Gandalf.

Tom Poland 08:09
Perfect!

Mike Koenigs 08:10
And that’s the secret.

Tom Poland o8:11
Mike Koenigs, thank you so much for your insights, your experience, and your time.

Mike Koenigs 08:15
It’s my pleasure, my friend.

Tom Poland 07:37
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.