I hope this isn’t your company.

Recently, my daughter passed on something she’d heard: "Most businesses are allergic to money. They put obstacles and frustrations in the way when people are, quite literally, trying to pay them."

I didn’t really believe her. After all, we’re all in business to make money no matter what else we’re in it for.

Then this happened:

I found myself in need of a software tool. One that did a specific thing with full automation and within a certain set of parameters. But nothing crazy.

There is a lot of software on the market that does what I needed. Sure, there’s differences between them - cost, complexity, compliance, and more. But there are still at least 20 competitors.

Easily.

But someone I trust completely - hey, Drew - had told me the name of the one he knew would do everything I needed and that the others paled in comparison.

I listened but put off starting a subscription. I didn’t need it for a couple of weeks, and I (mistakenly) thought I could just click a few buttons and gain access when needed.

Big mistake.

Huge.

This particular software had a decent website that included pricing and tier comparisons BUT the only way to subscribe to the software was to first book a call with someone.

I didn’t need a call. I was ready to buy. Card in hand. No questions.

But alas, only able to book a call to pay them. To their credit, they had same day meeting options but only into the evening.

That call—wedged into our dinner routine—wrapped up in under 15 minutes. I didn’t learn much new but thought surely now is when they send me the link.

Nope.

He’s sending me over a proposal in the morning. For software-as-a-service. A SaaS that’s just over $100 USD per month. I don’t need a proposal…

Let alone a proposal that arrived with two-step e-sign requirements.

After the proposal was signed, an email request arrived from the rep for four data points about my business. (That could have been asked on the call, or I don’t know, been in the subscription form…)

Next, we redo the double-verify e-sign because now the data points are added. I did minorly complain around this point to which the sales person replied that “the team just wants to make sure everything is up to standard”.

Once signed again, I get an email that I’ll soon have the invoice.

(I know… I’m as exhausted as you are… keep going…)

Invoice arrives. It also takes 2-3 verification steps for me to connect my bank so I can avoid their 3% card fee.

I paid the invoice. And I’m still waiting for access. I’m sure it’s coming.

But don’t they seem a little allergic to the money?

Here’s the real reason I’m sharing this story though. Being aware of the hoops you put prospects and clients through is important, but something strong was at work here.

Without a referral from a trusted source, I would have bailed before ever booking the first call. They would have never gotten the chance of a sale.

You wouldn’t have known. You’d see my 1-2 minute visit in analytics then an exit. No retargeting ad would have won me over.

I hope this isn’t your company, but where are you showing your prospects and leads your are allergic to money? Go and fix that. Right away.

This week’s tool of the week.

1. ChatGPT will now connect to repositories like Drive, Dropbox, Github, Sharepoint, and more. I haven’t tried this out yet but it seems to be a competitor to the way I’m using Gemini/NotebookLM for insights on a vast array of assets. Have you used it? How are the results?

If you are wondering how the entire process above could be fully automated end-to-end for your business, it’s possible. Schedule time with us to see a demo - no obligation.

Don’t be allergic to the money.

Until next week,

Rebecca and the Advisory 9 team

P.S. - if your business relies on SEO, check out the last two week’s editions after this one.

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