Years ago a colleague shared a powerful story with me about hitting financial targets. An up-and-coming motivational speaker went to a speaking boot camp. During one of the sessions, the instructor explained how to make back-of-the-room sales. **He said, “When you follow this method, eighty percent of the audience will buy your product at the end of an event.”** With pages of notes and tons of enthusiasm, our up-and-comer set forth on the speaking circuit. Initially, she closed only 25 percent of her audiences. Reaching for that 80 percent, she tweaked and improved her strategy and pitch, constantly reviewing her notes. Over time her close rate rose to 50, then 60 percent. After another year, she was consistently selling 75 percent of the room after her speech. She had achieved outstanding results, but not to the level her instructor had promised. One morning she sat down to breakfast with a few colleagues, and her old instructor happened to be there. She couldn’t wait to speak with him and get direction about what could help her get that last, elusive 5 percent. What was the secret to finally breaking 80 percent? **When she told her story to her instructor, his jaw dropped. “Eighty percent? You thought I said eighty percent? I said eighteen.”** --- **Tags** — [[quotes]], [[goal-setting]], [[teaching-anecdotes]] **Source** — [[202303291359 - B - Profit First]]