Camille, online French tutor

I teach French online. I offer single lessons and packages of five or ten. I always pushed the ten-pack because it's more money upfront. But people bought the single lesson, and then I never heard from them again.

The chapter on the trial-to-paid bridge made me rethink everything. I realized I was selling a ten-pack before the student had experienced any progress. Now I offer a cheap trial lesson, then a three-lesson "starter pack," and only after that do I mention the ten-pack. And when I do, I tie it to something they achieved — "You've already mastered the past tense; with ten lessons we could get you conversationally fluent before summer." It feels less like a sales pitch and more like planning together.

I also renamed my packages. Instead of "5 Lessons" and "10 Lessons," they're "Conversation Builder" and "Fluency Path." It sounds a bit silly, but people choose the middle one more often now.

I don't have a product team or a website with algorithms. I just have Zoom and an email list. But the principles in this book — especially the ones about timing and framing — apply to any business where a person decides to say yes.