Sales Letter To Attract Mastermind Members

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


Dear ____,

The DBS Mastermind Group 2007

As members of the existing Advanced Planning Group (APG) we are jointly writing to offer you a personal invitation to join the DBS Mastermind Group (MMG) for 2007.

We are making some important changes based on client feedback and I want to explain how the MMG will be evolving next year - and "what's in it for you."

The idea of an APG first developed in 2000, after The Dental Business School had been offered for 3 years and a number of clients were asking "what next?"

With my background in financial services, I knew that Mastermind Groups were successful, as a means for experienced practitioners to meet with a peer group and enjoy good conversations on how best to take their businesses forward.

I myself formed such a group way back in 1989 and 6 of us helped each other enormously for the 5 years that we met on a quarterly basis.

So in 2001 we created a new Dental APG and the demand was so great that we formed 2 separate groups, meeting in Manchester and Oxford.

Once a quarter we would meet on a Sunday evening for a working dinner - and then all day Monday in conference.

What worked best about these groups was the community and bond that formed between the members - life-long friendships were born and the attendees gained external feedback, ideas and opinions on their own plans for the future.

With hindsight, what worked less well was the decision to abandon "agendas" and allow each member to arrive at the meeting and simply ask "how can the group help me?" on any current and burning issues.

It's no surprise (with hindsight) that preparation was low or non-existent and so the conversations were often just about current "stuff".

By 2003 Chris's work commitments on both sides of the Atlantic were such that facilitating the APG was becoming a challenge - and so Chris invited Simon to become group facilitator and (say's Chris and the clients) Simon has done a great job for the last 2 years.

Feedback to me has been that the APG members have gained enormously from the group dynamic and from Simon's personal style of coaching - very narrow and deep!

We now come to 2007 and the result of a series of conversations between Simon and myself since August this year.

Our principal objective is to:

• Work alongside you to ensure the future success of your practice.
• Mentor/coach/train you and a small, elite group of like-minded colleagues, who are determined to stay at the leading edge of dental practice.
• Provide leadership, management advice and contemporary ideas and solutions to meet the demands of owning a successful practice in 2007

The DBS Mastermind Group 2007 - proposals:

• That the meetings continue on a quarterly basis - Sunday night dinner and a full day on Monday;
• That Simon and I join forces - so that there are 2 facilitators for the group;
• That we create 1 group of 20 practices (no more than that allowed);
• As usual, membership is restricted to those who are Barrowed-up and we feel can make a positive contribution - that's why this is a letter and not just an ezine broadcast;
• That we keep to one location for the year, that is easily accessible;
• That the meetings are in 4/5 star hotels close to easy-access airports and road/rail connections - we have chosen the Forest of Arden hotel close to Birmingham airport, the NEC and the railway station;
• That each Sunday night dinner is for all 20 clients and contains a formal presentation before dinner on individual progress plus a social element;
• That on the Monday we split into 2 groups of 10 practices, to be facilitated one by Chris, one by Simon - so the group sizes are small enough to allow everyone to benefit;
• That there are agendas for the meetings - focusing on advanced planning in each of the DBS 8 key strategies (presented by Chris and Simon) - as well as break-out sessions where individual members can bring current issues to the table;
• That each Monday meeting contains a group round-up and summary of the key insights gained;
• That each group member continues to send in Weekly Work Out Logs to Chris and Simon;
• That we have a dedicated call-in day especially for MMG members, which allow longer duration phone calls;
• That we have a dedicated monthly bridge call for MMG members;
• That we create an on-line chat group so that MMG members can stay in touch with each other as well as their 2 coaches.

So that's our vision - and we are personally excited about getting back involved in moving clients forward.

I truly believe that this is a unique opportunity to take your business to the next level.

And remember that, as an MMG member, you can still attend any or all of the core DBS workshops for just the delegate rate - and you can send any team members to the core DBS workshops for refresher days or to get "Barrowed up" if they are new team members.

Your investment

In January, we are raising our fee for the core DBS programme to £6,000 plus VAT. As you know, you have the additional costs of staff wages and lost billable time to factor into this as well.

We intend to price MMG membership at the same level - that will be £6,000 plus VAT. Your additional investment here will be travel to the location and your accommodation for the meetings. Your investment in the MMG will include dinner on the Sunday evening.

As with the core DBS, you can either pay up front or we will arrange finance for your fees.

Early-bird discount

Payments received (or finance approved) before 1st December 2006 will enjoy 2 significant benefits:

1. An early-bird discount of 5% - your fee will be £300 less and
2. No Vat payable on fees received before that date.

So an early decision would save you £1350 on the overall costs!

Act Now!

There are only 20 places available in the DBS Mastermind Group 2007- and we already know of 10 places that have been reserved and invoiced, in addition to this letter to the 6 existing APG members - so technically we have room for you and 4 other practices and a waiting list of 15 who have requested further details - before we contact them we are giving you "first refusal" on places 11 to 17 inclusive.

For further details, or to reserve your place, please call Bonnie Mockett on 01326 377078 or email here on bonnie@thedentalbusinessschool.com

Yours sincerely

Chris Barrow