Why People Don't Take Action

Taking advice from a movie may seem laughable.

So when I say the maxim "Something given has no value" line from Starship Troopers is an important one to follow, you might giggle.

What you might not be aware of is the movie was based on a book.

And that book was written by a top science fiction author named Robert Heinlein.

Heinlein was not a great creator of characters, but he was a darn good essayist. Meaning that his novels tend to be essays disguised as science fiction stories.

In his book Starship Troopers, he was exploring morality, the "line in the sand" concept about when we go to war, and more.

The movie is action-packed and fun...and much smarter than most American audience members realized--the director is a smart guy...whereas the book is slower-paced and cerebral.

Most of the lines spoken by Michael Ironside's character (the schoolteacher and later leader of the Roughnecks until his death) are lifted straight from the text. So they are strong exclamations of Heinlein's thought process in his essay.

When Rasczak says, "Something given has no value," he is leading the class in a discussion of society, morality and politics.

We as marketers and consumers can apply this to commitment, action, and purchasing decisions.

Over the years I have noticed--and I'm not the only one--that when people don't make any investment for something, they don't value it.

If it's a lottery winning, or what they buy from those winnings, they tend to lose it all within a few years.

If it's business advice, they tend to ignore it.

If it's a product, they tend to not take action with it.

When a price is low, this can lead to a similar outcome.

I say, "If it hurts to get In, it's going to hurt to get Out." Meaning if the investment--time or money--is zero or minimal, dropping the activity is all too easy.

Also, when a newbie sees free advice from several different marketers, they don't know who has the best advice. All of it appears equal. And since they didn't make any investment to get this advice, they don't value it. Sure, they may nod and even write a post saying, "Great advice!"...but they'll never take a step forward with it.

Something given has no value.

Your prospect has to make some investment--that is valuable to THEM--to have the commitment to follow through.

I occasionally have a client who pays me four figures a month, and still struggles to do the tasks they need to do to succeed. The investment was not high enough for them.

If it's easy to get In, it's easy to get Out.

Get a commitment from your prospect if you want them to take action on your offer, your product, or your advice.

Otherwise, they'll continue thinking it has no value because it was given to them.