Carolina Express Basketball Team

Carolina Express Basketball Association 

HELPING YOUNG ATHLETES DEVELOP THEIR BASKETBALL SKILLS, STRATEGY AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE GAME

Background:

Carolina Express Basketball is a locally formed, non‐profit organization promoting competitive boys basketball. Our team is comprised of 7th grade / 13 yr old boys from this community. Our goal is to create good ball players and even better young men. In addition, our coaches and parents provide a tutoring/mentoring program for our players. It is our belief that good grades, good attitudes and good sportsmanship make better athletes.

Our Carolina Express team has begun this year with an outstanding record 6 tournament titles, recently winning the YBOA of NC State Tournament! We’ve qualified for Nationals in all 3 divisions – YBOA, USSSA, and AAU.

Purpose of this Letter:

Since Carolina Express Basketball is a non‐profit organization, we are in a constant mode of raising funds for our program (to cover tournament fees, uniform fees, equipment fees, etc). Donations from the public and private sectors of this community are one of the methods in which we actively engage to support our program.

We are now raising funds for our trip to play in the AAU Nationals July 8th – July 11th in Hampton, VA. This is a wonderful opportunity for our boys, several of which play with us on full scholarship. We hope you will consider a donation of any size in support of this local youth basketball program. We need help paying for the lodging, gas, food, etc for our team of 11 boys + coaches + parent/chaperones. by June 30. Gift cards for food and gas, or donations of food items or equipment will also greatly help us.

Your donations are tax deductible. A Carolina Express bank account will secure and control all collected funds. All monies collected will go toward travel expenses (lodging, food, gas) for our team, coaches and chaperones. We sincerely hope you can help us secure the funding for this trip.

Please make checks payable to “Carolina Express”. Our Tax ID # is 56‐1712531. Donations can be sent to: Carolina Express

We’re asking for your help:

Our Goal Is $8,000

c/o Ramsey Dellinger 

12 Falls Avenue 

Granite Falls, NC 28630 

828.449.9732

As always, the support of our family; friends, as well as our community, is greatly appreciated. On behalf of the entire Carolina Express Basketball Organization, we sincerely THANK YOU for your time. We look forward to your community support. 

Sincerely,

The Team of Carolina Express ‐Dellinger – Hickory/Granite Falls

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Carolina Express - Dellinger Coach Ramsey Dellinger ramseydellinger@gmail.com

12 Falls Avenue Granite Falls, NC 28630 Phone: 828.449.9732

The Chicken or The Egg?????

Ahh, the old "Chicken and Egg" sales conundrum. An entrepreneur cries about not having capital to build their product, and thus having no idea whether a customer would buy that product to begin with.



"How do I close a sale on my product when I don't have a product to sell yet?"


The typical logic goes that once an investor ponies up the dough to build the product, the entrepreneur will then go out and make the sale. While it would be nice if we could all build the perfect product and have the customer fall at our feet to buy it, that's just not the case.


Entrepreneurs need to sell first, and build product later.Selling a product before it's produced isn't about selling swampland or vaporware. I'm not suggesting that you lie to customers and tell them to pay for something that you can't deliver upon - that's just dishonest.


Instead I'm talking about presenting your product concept in a way the demonstrates all of its benefits without actually having the final product in place. You buy products like this all the time whether you realize it or not.


When a home builder shows you the architect's rendering of your house, it's not built yet, but you understand the concept enough to take out an enormous personal loan to buy it. When a Web developer quotes you on a big web development project that he's going to build for you, you don't have the Web site built, but you agree to pay for it anyway.


The difference between having a product to sell and just selling swampland is your ability to deliver on your promises.


Therefore your first step in selling your product is having some basic demonstration of the product or at the very least the product concept. This doesn't have to be the all and final "go to market" version. In fact, if you've never shown it to a customer before, the likelihood that it will be everything they ever wanted without seeing it is probably pretty low.

It's OK to show a product to a customer that isn't full refined, as long as you have the ability to educate the customer on its overall potential.


Use your demo not just to get a customer interested, but to get a customer's feedback and learn how to make them more interested. When I talk to entrepreneurs about their new ideas, I always ask them how customers have reacted. When they tell me they have never presented to a customer or tried to "pre sell" the product, I get really nervous. You desperately need customer feedback, both good and bad, before you fully develop any product.


Don't think of the sale as only "when a customer writes a check." Granted it's the most important part of the sale, but getting a customer to say "Yes, I'd buy it" even before cash has been exchanged, is still very important.


I'm a big fan of sell first, build later. I think entrepreneurs need to fully understand not only the customer and the product, but the full effect of the sales cycle before they can truly know whether there is a market for their wares. The traction you get from customers saying "yes" is what creates the incentive for investors to write you a check and to build your own confidence to press on.

Now go sell something!



Can the “Damaging Admission” Sales Technique Work for You?

When you are selling a product via a sales page or any other form of one-way communication, you do not have the ability to hear and answer to the objections of your potential customer.  If you read a sales page or listen to a podcast or video where you are told that a product is PERFECT, what do you do?  That's right, you start to doubt.  You may spend some time trying to find flaws, drawbacks and limitations.  If you don't find them, you are still unlikely to buy once that doubt has settled in.  Nobody's perfect.

One way to use the natural skepticism of your customers to your advantage is something called the “Damaging Admission.”  To use this sales technique effectively, you have to first choose a problem that is real.  Those stereo salesmen that jokingly admit to mental illness are using a completely different technique and the “My prices are so low because I'm Crazy!” shtick won't work for most products and services.  Choose a problem that can be addressed and maybe even turned around as an advantage.  One example can be if your price point is higher than the competition.  If you openly admit that your prices are high and then address the rationale for your higher price, you invite your customer to compare on other factors and make an informed decision.  If you are selling a product that is downmarket, your damaging admission can be chock full of words that put a positive spin on the situation and you would, of course, also stress the economic benefits. Using a damaging admission as a reason for a discount can also increase sales.  

The main benefit of any effective damaging admission is TRUST.