The Wallet Transfer System

So what’s the Wallet Transfer System? The wallet transfer system is where quite literally you transfer money out of your wallet into somebody else’s wallet and most of the time that’s to gain approval — at the unconscious level — of the other person. So let’s look at how that happens in a number of different ways.

The Tribe Move

If you go to personal development events, one of the best wallet transfer system moves I’ve seen is what I call the ‘tribe move’. Now, the tribe move is where you get invited, if you’re interested in this great thing that they’re going to sell you, onto the stage. Now at that point, you haven’t actually bought anything so you still feel quite safe, but the point of making you come on stage, go to the back of the room or whatever else it is they’re asking you to do, is that now you’re in a separate tribe. You’ve effectively, at the psychological level, rejected the tribe of people that stayed in their seats and now you’re in this tribe of other people that are going to buy something.

The trouble is, if you change your mind when you’re in the second group after you’ve just rejected the first group, it’s very hard to then walk back alone to your seat, where you’re now rejecting the second group to get back into the first group. So you and a lot of people would feel very self-conscious and uncomfortable doing that.

Of course, once you’ve got into that second group then you’re going to the payment tables so it then becomes very hard to turn back and say no. That’s the tribe move, so just be aware of the tribe move when you’re in these sorts of events.

Value Stack

Another wallet transfer system move is the so-called value stack. I’m not sure if this one’s actually illegal — certainly a mainstream retailer couldn’t do this kind of thing. The value stack is where they tell you about all these great bonuses that you’re going to get and the incredible value of them, i.e the price tag of them. But no one actually asks ‘have you ever sold that thing at that price, to anybody else before and has it been advertised out in the open market at that level and did anybody actually buy it? Chances are the answer will be no, but it’s put up there to convince you that the cheap thing that they’re asking you to buy is in fact worth 10 or 20 times more than they’re saying it is. They do it because that convinces you this is in fact a great deal and therefore you can buy it with confidence.

Just be aware of what’s coming to you. Now, if you value the things that you’re being offered and you really want those things, be my guest, go and invest in that support for yourself or for your business. But do it consciously rather than unconsciously, don’t be duped into something that you later regret. Be aware of what’s happening and make the most of what you buy.

No Headline Speaker

Some organisations are branded with the name of their founder and quite often you expect that this person will be the headline speaker at the event. Actually, you have to look very carefully at the small print because it probably will be there, that says, actually, this is being run by the team of this person — who may or may not show up or who may or may not have so many minutes on stage. So, again be careful. Don’t be pulled in by the name of the brand and then realise, when you’re in the room with a hundred other people:

Actually, where’s the guy that I wanted to hear?

Oh he’s only here tomorrow but he’s only here for 30 minutes, you know, he’s just really busy.

Yeah great, but I paid my money to see him.

The Pitchfest

A lot of events have numerous price points and if you’re researching on social media you’ll notice a lot of people seem to be promoting the same thing. So what the speakers do—who’ve all got big followings—they sometimes get together and collaborate and they all speak at the same event. The point of this event is to create what is called in the trade, a pitchfest.

So you come along for your £50 or $50, thinking you’re going to see all these fantastic people and you’re going to learn an amazing amount, but actually, what you’ve been put in the room to do is to be sold to and that’s why it’s called the pitchfest. Every single speaker will be trying to sell you something. Now, if you want to spend a day being sold to and you want to do that because you might want to learn those techniques, then be my guest. But if you’re actually looking for real substance, I’d say that one of those events is not really it.

One of the main clues of the pitchfest is the different price points. You know that the price will be very, very low to start with and it will increase and increase and increase. The idea is they just want to fill the room. That’s why they don’t mind the low price they sell it for. Filling the room is the key thing because once they’ve got the audience they can start selling to you. So just be careful that when you’re thinking about signing up to something ask yourself, is this a pitchfest, or actually, am I going to get real value?  Be sure you’re informed when you’re making your decision.

Scarcity Time & Numbers

The other common trick is the one of scarcity and numbers. We all fear missing out and so you’ll find that you’ve got to make your choice now, the clock’s running, it’s only going to be live for the next so many minutes or so many seconds or by lunchtime. That’s when the guillotine falls etc.

Then you find all these side conversations going on after the deadline where yeah okay we could probably can blah blah we can let you in etc, etc. It’s all nonsense. The point of the deadline is to get you over your inertia and get you to buy. Again, don’t feel the need to buy because you’re under pressure. Buy because it’s what you want to invest in.

Maybe that’s after the deadline when you’ve had a chance to consider, you’ve had a chance to reflect and then think, you know what, yes that is what I want.

There will be some genuine programmes where that deadline’s real because there’ll be a certain number of people they want and they don’t want to handle more but that’s quite rare. Most of the time you’ll see these conversations going on long after the deadline where they’re just fitting people in. I’ve talked to people who can tell me about that kind of experience, so don’t buy that one.

What Not How

Quite a lot of events also do what’s called what not how, and that’s quite a tricky one to determine ahead of time. What that means is they’ll talk you all around the subject and that piques your interest, it makes you sort of psychologically hungry. But the problem with that is that they never actually tell you how to do the thing. To get to the how, you’ve got to buy the second thing, which is of course, much more expensive than the first thing. So again just be careful that you’re actually going to get what you’re expecting. However, If you know the game and you’re happy to play the game then be my guest. You’ll have to sit through what to get to the how and you know you’re going to have to invest money to get the how. If that’s the how that you want, fantastic.

One of the great ways to break through this—I’ve done this myself with a couple of people—is to invest in a challenge. Typically the challenges are free. It’s an investment of your time, but it allows you to get a flavour of these people. One of the ones I did recently was quite funny because I  remember them talking about how much integrity they had and it wasn’t going to be salesy. Yet, what happened from the very first moment? The sales pitches came in thick and fast and I knew other people on the challenge who said they were getting private messages urging them to come and buy and to join the gang.

So again take some of that stuff with a pinch of salt, thin out what the real value is and then make an informed decision about whether these people really do have something to offer. Just because they’re awful at sales, doesn’t mean they actually don’t know what they’re talking about — technically, for the subject that they want to advise you on. Equally, if all they’re doing is selling then maybe the substance of the actual thing is not that great.

What horror fests have you been through? For more information on how I can help you find true value in your investment, get in touch with me.

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