Travel back in time to find high ticket clients

I posted this on the 26th of June:

I’m targeting a new person who replied to this in today’s post. Last time it was Paul. Now it’s…

Harrison Dimon, king of CX and domain monetisation services. Bow before him.

This is what Harrison said:

So how do you find these mythical out of reach high ticket customers that are not aware of your existence?

How do you find customers when they need you the most?

But most importantly, how do you grab their attention so they know you exist and WANT to be users of your service / product WHEN they need you the most?

Much to ponder.

Last time we spoke about tapping into your network.

But what if you don’t have any contacts? Don’t despair… there’s a way.

Look for signals. Target the moment of peak leverage. Acquire.

Let’s use Harrison’s soon to be launched venture, Stakeweb, as a live case study on exactly how to do this.

First, what the hell is Stakeweb?

Think: Domain renovations, rentals & flipping vs just flipping.

• Imagine you own several defunct properties across the states. They’re collecting dust -some big, some small. Some have high re-sell value - some don’t. Think of summer-leafy townhouses, average abodes, and squalid flats with a broken, yellow air con unit.

• Instead of haphazardly trying to DIY each of these properties one by one - or shelling out shit loads of cash to 3rd parties - you employ ONE specialist company that renovates everything from décor to paint to appliances to mouldy bricks to guttering. Everything.

• Then they rent it out to high quality, considerate tenants who keep your places in tip top shape.

• The benefit of this is less complexity, less cost, and a happier portfolio (and more cash for you).

• This is what Stakeweb does for those people who have many, many domains collecting dust - those ones that spark a long-forgotten neuron in your brain once the annual renewal goes through. Ouch.

What is a High ticket client?

The Definition

We can infer that high ticket clients want a premium service or experience.

BUT, a High Ticket Client is ‘Context Dependent’

Think of Goldman Sachs.

Now think of Apple.

• They’re 2 vastly different mega corporations - with 2 different ‘high ticket’ client audiences.

• Goldman may target extremely wealthy private individuals with lots of assets

• Apple may target partnerships with mobile phone manufacturers or commercial companies looking to have enhanced comms

Bottom line: a high ticket client for one business may differ from another’s.

Stakeweb’s high ticket clients could be ‘Domain Whales’ i.e. people who invest and speak about domain selling / buying ALOT - and have lots of domains and spending capital.

How to spot a High Ticket Client? Look for signals.

1) Public Signals

• Domain whales / investors that have 100s if not 1000s of domains = has lots up for sale on well known sites, or has tweeted / spoken about selling or struggle to sell on socials

2) Money Signals

• Coming up to their yearly renewal = lots of cash about to fly away :(

3) Moany Signals

• Have tried to monetise before, or simply do not know the service exists, and if they have tried it - it’s crap. They moan about it. In public. Moan in public. #MIP

Now, find your moment of ‘Peak Leverage’

• Harrison’s biggest challenge is finding customers in their most intense moment of need:

  • When they could benefit the most from his expertise

  • When their spending power is at its highest

  • When their perception of Harrison’s value is at its peak

But how?? 

When, where & how to find them?  

Target social media content they produce. But how/what/who/whatthefu-..

I gotchu.

First, look at when they speak about domains? Also look at domain investing generally - is it seasonal? Peaks & troughs?

My findings

• Domain investing and discussions can be tweeted / spoken about on socials at any time. There may be a specific point in the year when renewals are coming up, or there is increased domain listing / buying on online marketplaces due to a sudden hype (think Bitcoin)

• Despite fluctuations, domain investing happens 24/7, 365. However, there are market peaks - the AI boom from just over 2 years ago, COVID, new & unexpected fads. All of these can cause an influx of buying/selling for certain types of domain names (e.g. ‘.ai’, ‘xyz’ etc). See below:

Where do you find the domain whales?

• Generic domain specific forums and marketplaces where activity (posts, discussions, threads) are targeted to domain whales fav activity - domain investing.

• Reddit domain specific forums

• Discord domain specific forums

• Facebook domain specific forums

• LinkedIn domain specific forums

How do you find the domain whales? 2 ways:

#1: Actively..

• Manual search for domain investors

• Reply to public posts

• DM them

#2: Indirectly..

• You decide to build domain (haha) authority about domains on social media and let the algorithm push your content to interested domain investors

• You join live Spaces or events that are directly or indirectly linked to domains and talking about domains specifically - providing value without mention of your product. Or asking hosts questions about start-ups (if not directly linked) - this gets the audience to look at your profile and increase chances of a whale getting curious. Can actual whales get curious?

What would a curious whale sound like? Would it be more of an inquisitive whale calling? Would other whales find them annoying?

Much to consider.

Find them at the moment of PEAK need

• Set up alerts that auto notify you of topics relating to domain investing

• Search for key words that are relevant to people moaning or complaining about a lack of domain monetisation solutions (that aren’t just parking - vomit), renewals, or domain investing in general

• Even better - set up auto alerts that flag these key words on Twitter/X, or use Gummysearch for Reddit

The key here is finding them in this peak window of opportunity. Due to the nature of having a new business - you will have missed millions of windows already. Blame the natural, unrelenting flow of time for that. Wow. This got dark real quick haha

Sorry.

Even though we may have missed a peak window - that’s expected. Researching into the cyclical nature of your high ticket audience needs is key. In other words, find out what their high impact needs are that YOU can solve, and WHEN it is at its most visceral.

• If you run a House Goods eComm store - your high ticket client needs may be seasonal.

• If you’re in the travel business - they’ll be seasonal again.

• Crypto - market peaks.

Stakeweb domain monetisation services? Well, if you’re a general catch all domain monetisation product - it may be worth finding the most in demand domain name types and checking this vs relevant market trends and forecasts. Let’s assume a domain monetisation service targets Low & No Code domain names:

Example stats (I made them up)

• Low / No Code is surging by 2352352% in 37 countries by 2030

• There are 9572385732957 unused domains registered with the words ‘low / no code’ in them

• There are 10 low / no code domains that are currently held by investors.

Now we’re getting somewhere. Let’s explore further.

If we’re trying to predict and position ourselves to be at the forefront of our customers mind when the need strikes - we need to proactively find and talk to domain investors in the tech space. Ones that are specifically interested in Low / No Code development. What needs may these peeps have?

They need to…

• Acquire of large amounts of domains with ‘low / no code’ in them

• Partner with dev / design agencies looking to pivot into low / no code

• Partner with Low / No Code agencies

• Connect with domain investor networks / forums

• To achieve the above, they may browse Reddit, Discord, Facebook and General domain forums specifically talking about Low / No Code

• They may tweet / post about their desire to get in front of the ominous Low / No Code demand by acquiring a shit tonne of relevant domains'

• And they may even moan about the lack of a proper solution for domain monetisation / making use out of 1000s of domain generally

We now know what they’ll talk about, where they’ll talk about it, and how to find them. Now to get their attention.

We basically need them to think:

How?

Appeal to their needs just before they choose to ignore their problem or go with a competitor..

A suggested route to take..

After you’ve set up social media alerts and produced content to fine tune the algorithm direct you to domain specific content, start scouring handles and bios. Look for mentions of ‘domain investor’ or the number of domains they have - any mention of these key words or >100+ domains could indicate they are ‘high ticket’

Short term tactical approach:

• Do a public demo of the domain monetisation service in action and tweet / DM them

• Talk about how to monetise or improve SEO for unused domains - leading with value and mention of your service after a few exchanges

• Simply follow and DM asking for feedback (low effort ask, less pressure) - offer free trial or free forever access

Strategic approach:

After getting traction with initial domain investors via the above, start:

• Offering a referral bonus % (given viral nature of domains, this could catch on like wildfire)

• A podcast talking about domain-ing in general to build inbound traffic

• Secure partnerships with domain whales or big indie hacker accounts to enhance trust & authority + virality

• A newsletter on all things domains, from acquisition to selling - and everything in-between (monetisation, wink wink). You could even interview a domain whale.

The key is to provide an amazing user experience for the first few high ticket customers (domain whales in this context) in order to build elite word-of-mouth referrals.

Here’s how to improve SaaS word of mouth potential via elite customer experience:

• Manually on board / white glove service: for first high ticket customers you’ve worked so hard for

• Customer Service: ASAP responses to queries or bug reports

• Product updates: emails that outline feedback received to date, and what you’ve done with it i.e. ‘You said, we heard, we actioned’

• Referral program: $ incentive obvs, although high ticket clients may be less bothered about the cash and want to spread the word due to the quality of your product and CX

So in conclusion ladies & gentlemen, first:

• List your network referrals

• Tap into to any that fit your target audience, or who know your target audience

But if you don’t have any relevant contacts:

• Identify your ideal high-ticket clients in the context of your service offering

• Look for signals you can track that indicate when they’re at their PEAK moment of need (but may not know it)

• Approach them tactfully

• Give them a great onboarding and customer experience

• Build stickiness and shareability into your services, share social proof or good reviews from high ticket clients in high impact forums

• And finally…

.. breathe.

Just take a large, voluminous, deep breath and sigh of relief at the treasure trove of insights you’ve just consumed.

Now apply it.

This was article 2 out of 8, and also chapter III of my series on high ticket clients. Stay tuned for more which will be a deep dive on…

🥁 

IMPOSTER SYNDROME!!!!!!!!!! 😲 😲 

Until then.. bye!