🐚 How I used a marketing funnel to get things from my parents

When I was in middle school, I wanted a lot of things – as many middle school kids do. The things I wanted were usually quite expensive since they were often for my hobbies of music, art, technology, or computer stuff.

They were also complicated to explain their price to my parents, who were to pay for them. Little did I know at the time, that it was my first time learning to sell. I was selling these things I wanted to my parents, who were buying them.

My sales process —

I realized pretty quickly that a single pitch is unlikely to be successful. The first time I asked for something, the answer was usually no.

Ask —

“Mom, Dad, I want a new laptop. I’ve been using our family computer for so long, and it’s really old. It doesn’t have enough power for the things I want to do, and the space runs out very quickly.”

They weren’t convinced. “Why? Your computer is perfectly fine.”

It would be the start of a long negotiation, but the first step is to simply ask. State your demand. Put it out there, let your desires be known. You want a new laptop.

Contrary to popular belief, “No” is the start of the negotiation, not the end of it. — Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

Fair enough. Let’s not get demotivated. This is just the start.

Your target is unlikely to convert in the first stage of the funnel, but it’s an important stage nonetheless.

We are at the top of the funnel.

Beg —

This is the information stage. This is where I tell my parents over the dinner table “You know mom, today I had such a huge problem with the computer. I was trying to get into music production, but the processor isn’t supported for the software I need to use”.

Another day, “Sure dad, I can make that design for you — oh no, wait. The computer is taking so long to start… and I don’t know if I have enough space for this. If I had [that new laptop on the market], it would work so much faster.”

“I’ve been doing so well at school lately! Look, I got 25/25 in this math test!”

Essentially, this was the step in which I make my case. I share information about my problem (multiple reasons why the current computer isn’t working well for me), I share information about the solution (details about which new computer I want, how much it costs), and I share reasons why I deserve to get it (I want to get into these new hobbies, I want to create more, how the new computer will help me grow and learn).

It’s possible that your target converts in this stage of the funnel, but it’s not guaranteed. However, at least they’re more warmed up now.

We are in the middle of the funnel.

Ask again —

Once the target is warmed up, we ask again.

“Mom, Dad, my birthday is coming up in a month. Can I have a new laptop? The one I told you about last time. I promise I’ll take care of it well and not spend too much gaming on it!”

It’s in this stage when you ask again. Provide the final “reassuring nudges” — in my case, assuring my parents that there won’t be (m)any negative consequences of a new laptop purchase.

More often than not, it would work. Target converted.

When I told my sister of my process, it blew her mind. Sorry, di 😉

My pride and joy, a Dell Studio 15 laptop, gifted to me by my parents.

Recently, I was doing some research on creating Instagram ad funnels, and I found that brands use this same strategy to sell to customers.

You start off at the top of the funnel, where you just show your product with no intention to sell right away. You then take the engaged users, and then give them more information in the ads in the middle of the funnel. Finally, you run ads with “reassurances” — free shipping, easy returns — to the ones at the bottom of the funnel to convert them.

Ask, beg, ask again.

Thanks —

Thanks a lot, mom and dad, for falling for my sales pitch every single time.

Thanks a lot to you, the reader, for reading so far. What do you think? What tactics did you use to get what you wanted? Let me know. Hit “reply” 😊

— M