I want to have a really real conversation with you about what to do when somebody wants to cancel their membership. They’re a partway through a program with you, but what do you do?

It’s kind of the truth of the thought, isn’t it?

There’s a hole in their contract, be the tough guy, and there’s the ‘Don’t be a douche’. You don’t want to hold somebody to something that they don’t want to be part of and I just want to share with you how we approach that. I figured it will be really helpful for a bunch of us.

“I’m going to cancel.”

I want to share with you a message that I received a few months ago from a really good guy who was in our program, had a whole bunch of stuff going on family-wise, and business partnership-wise. Struggling and reached out and said he’s going to cancel.

He was in an agreement, and partway through like, a few months into an arrangement that he’d agreed to. And if you’ll look at the side-by-side of ‘Here’s everything we’re going to do for you and here are the three things you need to do for us. One of them is to participate fully and the second is pay on time.’ And he wasn’t doing any of those few things.

So, the first message says, “Hey mate, sounds like you’re stuck. Run to me, bro, not from me. You can quit at any time, but the payments for the rest of the year is still due. You came because you’ve got a vision of what you want, feels like you’re stuck, and you’re not sure how to get there. Also, maybe not sure how this works or how to use us. Yes?”

That’s a ‘get into the fix’, but the first thing I want to be super clear about is, ‘Thanks for reaching out’.

Cry for help

When somebody says ‘I want to put on a hold’, or ‘I want to cancel’, what they’re really saying is, “Help.”

I think it was Marianne Williamson, a course of miracles. You never thought you’d hear that from me.

It once said that all communication these dudes are a loving response or a cry for help. In this case, it’s a cry for help.

You don’t need to know the situation right now. Just reach out.

So I said, “I hear you, mate. Sorry to hear about the pressure you’re feeling. When we met, I said you had X-factor. You do.”

That’s not a line. He does.

“You’re going to crush this, man. It sounds like you need more personal support right now. I totally get it. $2,000 a month or thereabouts. It’s huge when you’re under pressure. It’s just public knowledge. That’s the truth…”

“No matter how much your coaching is, when somebody’s crushing and it’s nothing to them. And when they’re doing it tough, it’s really hard. And so, let’s not diminish it, but let’s be really clear that in the context of if they were doing 20 million dollars, it’s nothing…”

“Let’s do this. Let’s talk on Monday and brainstorm. One, how to make money fast and the 2K is tiny again. And two, a plan for the next 90 days so you know exactly what to do and what to ignore. I’ll show you how to best leverage me and us so you’re supported and have direction. Let’s see if there’s a way for you to get more of me, too. Sound okay?”

Acknowledge and Address

So, firstly, acknowledge. “Thanks so much for reaching out to me.”

Number 2, “Your participation in the program is completely up to you. But your commitment to hold your end of the bargain — paying your fees is not.”

This person’s in a 12-month agreement. They’re outside the 30-day love it or leave it period. They’ve had the chance to check us out, and now we’re in. We are hitched for the year.

“So, let’s get that out of the way. Now, let’s talk about what’s really going on. You’re hurting right now and you’re struggling right now, and you’re stuck…”

“Let’s talk about that because that, we can do something about quickly. $3,000 a month or 5 grand a month and whatever your thing is, $2,500 a month or whatever— is nothing when you’re crushing, and it’s everything when you’re under pressure; family pressure, health pressure, baby pressure, business partner. All of this stuff. I totally get it…”

“Let’s do this. Let’s talk and brainstorm how to make money quickly so that the thing becomes tiny again. Let’s add $20,000 so 2 and a half you pay is niente. A plan for what to do in the next 90 days so you know exactly what to do, how to move forward, and what to ignore so you’re not stressed and overwhelmed. Number 3, how to best leverage me, how to best leverage us so you’re supported and you got direction. And then how to get the most out of us you can. Okay?”

Anyway, I share this with you because I’m sure you get the same messages around and I just want to share a little bit of how we deal with that.

We acknowledged and we say, “Thanks so much for reaching out to me. Run to me and not from me.” That’s what we want.

The Black Belt Rule

Remember, green lights, yellow lights, red lights, that’s what we want. The rule in Black Belt is, there are no red lights.

If you ever get a little bit yellow, you reach out, you send an e-mail and you put “Yellow” in the subject line and we jump in, and figure out how to help. And then we take the cancellation off the table because somebody’s in an agreement with you.

We do it nicely. It’s totally okay to not participate fully, but your commitment to the payments remains. Let’s talk about what’s really going on here; hurting and you’re stuck right now. So, let’s fix that.

Listen, I hope this has been helpful. What I’d love you to do is just comment below what has been most helpful about this for you and what part of this was useful? What can you take from it? And how might you apply similar principles and process? Leave us a comment below. I’d love to hear what you thought.

Time for me to go. I’ll talk to you soon.

Taki Moore, out.

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