At the time I’m writing this, Deshaun Watson went from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns in a blockbuster trade.
As a Steelers fan, I do not like this move. Watson is one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. And I would’ve rather him go to any other team than Cleveland.
But I don’t have any control over it, so I don’t sweat it. (Lesson in there…)
Instead, I used it as a learning opportunity…
And methinks you’ll find this biz lesson I found wrapped into this story quite profound.
Here goes:
Last year, Watson demanded a trade from Houston. The team sucked, their offensive line sucked worse (which is a QB’s nightmare), and they just traded away one of the best WR’s in the league for pennies on the dollar.
This pissed Watson off and I don’t blame him.
But after this news broke, 22 women came out and said Watson committed sexual assault against them. Watson was recently charged “not guilty” for criminal charges, but he still faces 22 civil cases (at the time of writing this).
All throughout last year, this hung over Watson’s head like a dark cloud that follows you like a shadow. And since his criminal cases were still pending, no teams made a move for him.
But as soon as he was found “not guilty” for criminal charges, NFL teams lined up around the block to try to trade for him.
Here’s another quick lesson: You can “get away” with some pretty sick stuff if you’re talented enough. Watson is a good example because the NFL will likely suspend him for several games because of the sheer volume of the allegations. One or two girls lying about something might happen… 22 girls lying about the same exact charges is much less likely to happen. Despite this, Cleveland made Watson the highest paid player in league history, guaranteeing him $230 million.
Watson ain’t the only one either. Look at R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and other weirdo celebrities with disgusting pasts…
Moving on:
The Browns were one of the teams reaching out to Houston to trade for Watson.
And, one day before the blockbuster trade happened, reports came out saying the Browns were out of the race for Watson. Watson has what’s called a no-trade clause, meaning he has to agree to which team Houston traded him too, or they can’t trade him.
But you know what?
These reports didn’t discourage the Browns.
They kept trying to recruit Watson to them.
And, a day after those reports came out, news broke that Watson was headed to Cleveland.
In other words…
Cleveland followed up.
And kept following up.
Which is the key to biz in this day and age.
In sales, it’s said you have to follow up with someone around 8 times if you want to close a deal. (Well, at least according to this here study by Brevet. And there's this post by HubSpot too.)
In marketing, it’s an even higher number.
This is why sending consistent emails makes such a massive impact on your business. You add up your “touchpoints” with various people. And with each email, you make them take one baby step closer to your end goal — i.e., buying your stuff.
Back to the Browns and Watson:
The Browns organization is one of the worst in professional sports.
They’ve made the playoffs twice in my lifetime. And they’ve only won one playoff game.
They’ve had as many no-win seasons (1) as they’ve had playoff wins (1) in the past 20 years.
Yet despite this, they landed one of the best QBs in the league. And he actually picked the Browns over other teams — including his hometown team, the Atlanta Falcons.
If the Browns can do this, you can do it too. No matter what “skeletons” you have hiding in your closet.
But only if you follow up.
Follow up to an almost annoying level.
Yes, some people will cuss you out. It’s okay, they never would’ve bought from you anyway.
But you know what?
Some people might even thank you for your obnoxious level of following up.
Just doing this will give you an unfair advantage over your competitors.
Try it.
Then report back to me about how it went.
Need help doing this with your emails?
Please only reach out if you have a proven offer. I can’t help much if you don’t have a proven offer. But if you do, it’ll be like lighting a fireworks show under your sales.
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