The Game w/ Alex Hormozi – Ep. 996

"How to Sell High Ticket Offers to the Right Customers"

Release Date: January 27, 2026
Host: Alex Hormozi

Episode Overview

This episode features Alex Hormozi unpacking the fundamental reasons why many entrepreneurs and businesses struggle to make the money they desire—specifically, because they’re not selling to the right (wealthy) customers, nor structuring their offers and pricing for the top of the market. Drawing on his vast experience scaling businesses and direct sales success, Alex delivers a data-driven, often counterintuitive take on high-ticket selling, pricing psychology, and the mechanics of business growth by targeting the affluent.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Money Is With the Wealthy

• Wealth Distribution Reality:

  • Alex breaks down US wealth distribution with a vivid metaphor:

    “Out of $100, the bottom 50% have $2.50, next 40% has $28, top 9% has $38, and the top 1% alone has $32.” (02:15)

  • The top 1% have more than the bottom 90% combined.
  • Main point: Most try to compete for the minimal dollars at the bottom, while the real money is with the top earners.

• Selling to the Right Segment:

  • Stop underpricing and overserving customers who can't pay more.

  • “If you want to make money, go where the money is.” (09:48)

2. The Math Behind High Ticket Pricing and the Pareto Principle

• Pareto (80/20) Principle in Action:

  • “20% of your customers create 80% of your revenue.”
  • Even more concentrated: 4% create 64% of profits; top 1% create 51% of profits. (14:21)

• Operational Leverage:

  • Serving a high-paying single customer doesn’t cost proportionally more but delivers far higher profits.
  • Critical Condition: This only works if your model allows people to pay more.

3. Tiered Pricing & The Case for Dramatic Upsells

• Alex’s “5-10x Rule” for Upsells:

  “For every new tier, 5 to 10x your price and expect 20% of people to take it.” (24:15)

  • Small percentage uptake at high price points can double or triple business profit.

• Real Business Example:

  • His company’s tiers: $100 hobby plan, $5k, $35k, then $135k advisory services.

  • “I didn't start with every tier. You want to add tiers one at a time, starting as high up as possible.” (39:22)

4. Top-Down Strategy & Brand Anchoring

• The Tesla Analogy:

  • Tesla started with an expensive, limited Roadster before moving down-market; sets premium brand perception and operational scale.
  • Trying to start cheap and move up rarely works.

• Why Start With High Ticket?

  “Serving one customer for $100,000 is easier than serving a thousand at $100.” (42:00)

  • High-end buyers are LESS demanding relative to the cost than low-budget buyers.

5. The Psyche and Tactics of Selling High Ticket Offers

• Stop Selling from Your Own Wallet:

  “Forever imagine that everyone is rich.” (55:38)

  • Many entrepreneurs can't believe in high prices because everyone they know is “broke.”
  • Being too cheap can actually lower conversion.

• How to Present High Prices without Choking:

  • Write the number and slide it over or use a calculator.
  • Pre-frame:

    “Before you say the price, say, ‘It’s super expensive.’” (01:19:45)

• Anchoring and Close Rates:

  • High close rates (60-80%) indicate you’re underpriced.

  • “If you’re closing 80%, you probably have a 3x or 4x sitting there in price.” (01:21:59)

6. Sell Exclusively to the Best Customers

• Lead Qualification:

  “Where do you draw your line? Go where the money is. Your pricing and marketing signal who it’s for.” (01:29:09)

  • Focus marketing, sales, and service ops only on customers who can pay highest value.

• Lead Value Example (Book Launch):

  • Paid $5 per lead optimizing for volume (worth $20/lead).
    Paid $17/lead optimizing for buyers (worth $189/lead).

    “The poor business owner wants $5 leads. The rich one pays $17 for leads worth 9.5x more.” (01:32:50)

• Productization for Affluent Clients:

  • Don’t sell as a commodity—make your offering unique, higher priced, faster, easier, guaranteed.

7. Structuring Offers & Business Lessons

• Everything Should be Faster, Easier, Guaranteed:

  • Upscale clientele want:

    “They want it to be fast, they want it to be easy, they want it to be guaranteed.” (01:35:27)

• Learn From Personal Breaking of Mental Barriers:

  • Story of his first “big ticket” sale:

    “I said $6,000, expecting a ‘no’. He just said, ‘Done.’ For me, it was a 12x jump. That was the moment my life really changed.” (01:13:02)

8. Practical Steps to Implementing High Ticket Sales

• Algorithmic Approach for Beginners:

  “If you can’t wrap your head around it, start for free, then go to 20% of your target price… and keep raising by 20% per five customers until you’re closing 1 out of 3.” (01:44:50)

• Supply/Demand and Price Signaling:

  • Raise prices until supply = demand; higher prices signal quality and attract desired clients.

• Rich Buyers Shop High to Low:

  • “They literally look at the most expensive stuff first because that’s probably the stuff that’s for them.” (01:47:40)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Pricing Psychology:

  “The only thing worse than selling a $1,000 thing to a $100 buyer is selling a $100 thing to a $1,000 buyer. In the first, you lose $100. In the second, you lose $900.” (30:17)

• On Wealth and Belief:

  “If you sell to rich people long enough, they will make you one of them.” (01:00:58)

• On Risk of Undervaluing:

  “Some of you are so cheap because you’re selling out of your own wallet. Why would you listen to people who don’t have money, on how to get money?” (57:33)

• On Scalability and Volume-Based Businesses:

  “The only way to serve the poor masses is to have tons of money and do it via volume and automation. If you can’t, go the other way—sell to the best customers at the highest price.” (48:20)

Important Segments & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:03 | Opening & Wealth Distribution Breakdown | | 09:48 | “If you want to make money, go where the money is.” | | 14:21 | Pareto Principle – Profit Concentration Analysis | | 24:15 | Rule for Upsells: 5-10x Tiers | | 39:22 | Building Tiers, Start at the Top | | 42:00 | Serving High End vs. Low Budget Customers | | 55:38 | Stop Selling from Your Own Wallet | | 57:33 | Undervaluing and Why Your Friends’ Opinions Don’t Matter | | 01:00:58 | Why Selling to Rich People Changes You | | 01:13:02 | Story: Breaking his own High Ticket Mental Barrier | | 01:19:45 | Tactic: “It’s super expensive” Pricing Pre-frame | | 01:21:59 | Measuring Close Rates to Set Price Correctly | | 01:29:09 | Who To Target and Drawing the Line | | 01:32:50 | Book Launch Example: Per-Lead Profit vs. Cost | | 01:35:27 | Affluent Customers: Fast, Easy, Guaranteed | | 01:44:50 | Incremental Price Increase Strategy | | 01:47:40 | How Wealthy Buyers Actually Shop |

Summary Takeaways

• Stop chasing the lowest-paying customers—focus on structuring your business and offers for those with real spending power.
• Dramatically tier your pricing—5-10x increases per upsell tier, even if only 1 in 10 buy.
• Don’t let your own beliefs or social circle’s limits cap your prices—wealthier segments need, want, and will pay more.
• Use close rates and demand as signals to properly price and scale your business.
• Brand, market, and serve from the top down; the best customers are less demanding and far more profitable.
• Constantly revisit and raise your pricing as your reputation and service deliverables improve.
• Remember: A handful of high-paying clients can be more valuable (and manageable) than thousands of low-paying ones, and pricing signals your value and skill to the market.

Signature Quote:

“Sell to the rich. They pay better. It’s better to sell fewer expensive customers than many broke customers. And if you sell to rich people for long enough, they will make you one of them.” (01:50:00)

For business owners and entrepreneurs looking to scale, this episode is a blueprint for rethinking pricing, targeting, and the psychology it takes to play at the high end—direct from someone who’s done it at the biggest scale.