MBA2629 How to Use Before & After Transformations to Sell More of Anything
2 Feb 2026 · 5 min
Omar Zenhom teaches how before-and-after stories sell. Lead with the customer's pain, paint a specific picture of life after your product, then ask three questions when collecting testimonials: what was life like before, what struggled you faced, and what changed.
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You'Ve seen it a thousand times in fitness ads. The before and after photo before, they're tired and out of shape and frustrated. After, they're confident. They're in shape. They're energized. They're unstoppable. That simple story arc sells billions of dollars in fitness products every year. But here's the thing. You can use the same strategy to sell anything. Courses, coaching, software, services, it doesn't matter. You can do this, whatever your offer is. And today I'm going to show you exactly how to do it. Welcome Back to the $100 NBA Show. I'm your host Omar Zenholm, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week with Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help you start, grow and scale your business. People don't buy products, they buy transformation. Imagine for a moment that I can upload information to your brain, just like in the Matrix. Would you rather me do that or give you a course with 10,000 videos or a coaching program that has a session every week? You'd go with the upload to my brain please option, right? That's what we choose because it's quicker, it's easier, and really all you care about is transformation, is getting the skills you're looking for is getting the result. So you're not really selling the course or the videos or the training or the coaching. You're selling the after photo that the customer has in their mind. They're buying a better version of themselves, a better version of their business, a better version of their life. If you can show someone how their life will be better after using your product, they'll lean in. They are interested. This is emotional storytelling and not just selling features. Let's break it down. Before is what life is like without your product. After is what life is like with it Pretty simple, right? The more vivid and relatable that contrast is, the more powerful your marketing becomes. This isn't just copywriting. It's persuasion at its core, it's cutting to the chase, is showing the customer, hey, this is what you're missing out on right now. You're living with this pain. You're living with this fear. You're living with this situation that is uncomfortable, whatever it might be. It doesn't have to be this way. Other people were in this situation, and now they're in a new situation. They're in a better situation. Their life is better, Their business is better. This is what it looks like when the customer experiences this. It's hard for them to ignore. It's hard for them to say, I don't want that. So how do you use this in your offer? We'll start with the pain. A lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of business owners, forget about this. You got to start with where people people are experiencing pain. Before working with me, for example, my clients felt overwhelmed, scattered, stuck, frustrated. You want to really flex the pain. You only push on the pain. You want to aggravate the pain, speak the words your audience is already using and saying to themselves. You want to set the scene, the starting point, and really relate to the customer. Also by you describing the pain. They automatically see you as an authority because you understand them. When people can hear you describe what they're going through, they automatically, subconsciously believe you have a solution because you understand the pain so much.
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Number two Paint the picture of the after. For example, after six weeks, my clients got clarity. They got a plan and a business they actually love and a business that makes money. The specifics matter here. Don't say better. Say how you want to add detail so that the picture is as clear as possible. That after picture has to be in full HD. No, in 4K actually. Right. You want to make sure it's super clear. So for example, you want to add details like, you know, how is it better? Well, their life is better because they have more time with their family. They have revenue growth, they have confidence on camera, they have confidence when they sell, they're productive, they have less on their plate, they have inbox zero use examples that they can understand. A good way to come up with good details are the opposites of what they're experiencing, the opposites of the pain. Make it as real as possible so they can really see what life is like after working with you. Number three, use visuals. Even for non visual products. Even if your product isn't physical, use visuals and analogies. Here's an example. Before, it was like trying to build Ikea furniture with no instructions. And the after, like walking into the room and knowing exactly where everything goes. See, that's sticky. That's memorable. People are making a mental picture of what's happening here. And that sells because people see a vivid difference. One way is confusing and overwhelming, the other way is clear and easy. Next, use real testimonials the same way. Get your customers to share their before and after. So one of the things I do when I ask my customers or people that have attended a webinar or consumed any of my free trainings or templates, I ask them for a testimonial. But I don't just say, hey, give me a testimonial. I give them a format of questions that allows to make it easy for them to give me a testimonial, but also gives me that before and after picture. So what I ask them to do is answer three questions. The first question is what was their life before? After consuming my product, working with me, what was it like? What was your business like? The second question is what would they struggling with? Specifically what were their struggles? What were their pains? What are the things that they hated? And hate is a strong word. That's a good one, right? What are some, some of the things they hated about their business or life or their state of being? And number three, what changed? What was their life after using my product or service or working with me? Very simple three questions. Life before, what they struggled with, and what is their life after like? By answering just three questions, you get a very powerful testimonial. These stories are more powerful than any ad that you can ever write. This makes your testimonials transformational. It's not just good, it's amazing. So for example, a testimonial that I would get for the $100 MBA would be something like when I got started, I was very overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start with growing my business. I was really busy and I didn't know where to spend my limited time. I was really frustrated because I bought other programs that wasted my time and money. But when I started using the Hundred Doll program, I got clarity. I got step by step instructions. I immediately felt more confident. I was able to know exactly what to do next. And my business grew day by day. I could actually tie the results I've had in my business with the $100 MBA program. That is clean, that is clear, that is transformational, that's compelling. So now that I have this information, I have a clear before and after. I can use this information. I can use this copy on my sales pages. So for example, again with the $100 MBA, I can write something like when people program, they're usually overwhelmed. They've got the skills, they got ideas, maybe they even have a side hustle, but no roadmap. The before is like trying 10 different strategies at once, getting stuck, doubting everything. The after could be a clear business foundation, revenue, confidence and focus. See, this is not hype. That's the transformation we aim for. And that's how we sell it. With truth, with story, with a before and after. You're not just selling a product. You're selling a new reality. Help people see themselves in the before and believe in the after. Do that and selling becomes natural. It becomes honest, and most of all, effective. Thanks for tuning in to the $100 MBA show podcast. If you found this helpful, found this episode useful for you, share it with a friend, send it to them via text message or via WhatsApp or on social media. Whatever you want to do, go ahead and share it. You can just send them to our website, 100mba.net show where they can find our latest episodes. If you want to go deeper and build your business with me, you might want to subscribe to our three Things newsletter. It's absolutely free and every week I send you an email to help you work on three things. Number one, I send you something to think about to build a stronger mindset. Number two I send you something to do so you're building upon actions. Number three I give you something to learn so you're scaling up every week. Simple, practical, yet powerful. Just like the before and after. You can sign up by just going to 100- MBA-NET and signing up for any of our freebies, our guides or templates. You'll automatically get added to our weekly newsletter. Thanks again for being part of this podcast and being a listener. I am here to support you every single episode, so I'll see you in the next one. Take care.
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