It’s 1972, at Allendale Elementary in Pasadena, California, and an 8-year-old Alex is participating in his Cub Scouts fundraiser. The goal was to sell as many boxes of chocolate chip cookies as possible because the scout with the top sales got to go to Disneyland with a friend. Alex’s friend Billy, a neighbor from down the street, was also in his troop and so they came together to create their first joint venture opportunity. If Billy sold the most boxes of cookies, he’d take Alex to Disneyland and vice versa.

Billy proceeded to try door-to-door sales. He approached over 50 houses and only managed to sell five boxes of cookies. It was then that Alex realized the trip to Disneyland was up to him. He took a moment and thought about the best place to find people in the mindset to buy cookies, and realized selling door-to-door wasn’t going to cut it. Instead, he had his mom take him to a grocery store and positioned himself in front of the entrance. 

He also crafted several different offers. He’d start by asking for a $50 donation, for which he expected to receive a no. From there he offered a 5 box bundle, then 3, then just 1. At the age of 8, he was already practicing his sales and marketing techniques. Listen in to learn how his tactics fared over Billy’s and whether or not they made it to Disneyland!

Creating an origin story is the beginning of creating a relationship with your ideal client or customer. Listen to learn how to obliterate objections through these key insights:

  • Why origin stories are the storytelling seeds to get more sales.
  • Why composing a compelling origin story requires 6 simple steps.
  • Why your followers forget your name, but not your origin story.

Crafting a compelling origin story is tantamount to creating the perfect offer. Your origin story gets you as close as possible to your ideal client and as such is foundational to your business. Listen to learn all about crafting the right origin story for your product or service. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t have just one. If you have multiple offers, you should probably have multiple origin stories.

In This Episode: 
[04:26] – Learn the three key insights for why origin stories are so important to selling.
[05:59] – Hear Alex share a story about his Cub scout troop and their fundraising competition.
[08:52] – Alex and his next-door neighbor Billy make their first JV deal. 
[09:54] – Billy hops on his bike and goes door to door, with very little success in selling cookies.
[11:24] – Learn what 8-year-old Alex decided to do instead and why.
[15:01] – Alex shares the moral of his story.
[17:45] – Hear a very vulnerable story that describes the wrong market at the wrong time.
[19:47] – Learn more about crafting the right message for your market through down selling.
[21:27] – Did Alex win the fundraising contest? How is his process realized in today’s world?
[24:43] – What is the formula for creating an origin story? (When, Where, Who, What, How, and Why)
[26:40] – Why your followers will remember your origin story but forget your name.
[27:16] – The Alexism is, “Great entrepreneurs teach their customers, suppliers, and team members HOW to think, not WHAT to think.”
[27:52] – Hear the quick recap for the three key insights of this episode: 

  • Why origin stories are the storytelling seeds to get more sales.
  • Why composing a compelling origin story requires 6 simple steps. (When, Where, Who, What, How, and Why)
  • Why your followers forget your name, but not your origin story.

[29:12] – If you’ve already given Alex a review, write down your biggest takeaway from this episode on an index card. If you haven’t, though, please use that Aha! moment as your review for the show at this link!
[30:41] – In honor of this episode, Alex gives listeners a final gift. You can get a completely free copy of his book Alexisms by going to this link! You will also get free access to his $497 VBT e-Course!

Links and Resources: 
Alex Mandossian
Alex Mandossian Fan on Facebook
Alex’s Friday Live events
MarketingOnline.com
Marketing Online 4-Part Video Training Series
Alex Mandossian on YouTube
Alexisms by Alex Mandossian
All Selling Aside on iTunes
Alex Mandossian’s free live Friday show
Dr. Robert Cialdini
Start With Why by Simon Sinek