A few weeks ago I joined a mailing list for a very successful marketing duo
Or at least according to their own claims there are successful – and I have no reason to disbelieve them. I think they make a lot of money. So in that respect they are what they say they are.
Anyway they were offering a very good and inexpensive deal on an Autoresponder course on DVD.
Actually it was free and all I needed to do was pay the shipping.
I even clicked through to the order form a few times …
BUT NEVER ORDERED.
Over the time this promotional offer was running I got quite a few emails from them and each one made me less inclined to buy. You’ll see why later.
The promotion is now over and I didn’t buy. Even though I have a need that matches what they offer exactly
(I needed some help and direction with setting up my own autoresponder course)
Then a week or so back I got an email with a link to a post by Perry Marshall.
He too had an autoresponder course.
Only this wasn’t free – it was just under US$100 and really seemed to be not much more than a simple PDF doc with some extras thrown in.
Guess what – I bought it.
And it’s very very good. It was exactly what I needed without the fluff.
This made me ask myself though
Why did I buy the more expensive one over the the “free” offering?
What stops people from buying
So why did I buy the more expensive one over the free one?
The free one promised more than the one I bought – apparently
I was in the frame of mind to buy as well.
So I was a “hot prospect”
There’s a great book – now out of print unfortunately – by Les Dane. It’s called Big League Sales. In it Les describes how sales resistance is the armour – the brick overcoat – a prospect wears.
They want to buy and the job of the salesperson is to discover how to get through the armour first and then to spur them into action.
It’s worth getting off Amazon or Ebay if you see it.
Les knows why I didn’t buy….
Because I didn’t trust them enough.
Why I didnt buy the free offer.
It added to my sales resistance rather than removed it.
1. Firstly there was presentation of the first (free) offer. It was one of those long, sales letter sites. Complete with the video, testimonials, bullet points and all the other bits the formula for a sales letter says you must have.
You can see hundreds of them on the web today. Not a good start. Already I am subconsiously associating them with every over-hyped product I have ever seen. Regardless of how good their product is
2. And to add to this it was written with the obligatory very over-the-top hype sales pitch. Yes got me the first time I read it. I almost bought on impulse.
Almost
Left me cold the second time through though
3. Then the follow up emails encouraging me to take up the offer were more of the same. Hype about how this is the answer to very single problem in my business right now and I should be sitting on a beach sipping champagne .. yada yada yada
I unsubscribed and never bought a thing from them. Probably never will.
Maybe they are the real deal and I am sure they will make thousand of dollars.
And maybe I am being cynical but I have found those who employ that type of hype and sales letter and who promise the world NEVER DELIVER.
I’ve tried enough to be fairly sure of this.
You could be excused in thinking it was their “same here” sales copy that killed it for me.
Yes… but no.
There’s more to it than that
Why I did buy
Now Perry’s offer however was different.
He had a sales letter too. But it was part of his blog. Written in a very informative style. Appealing to a different buyer – not after an impulse buy as much as an informed decision.
Just reading the sales letter by itself and doing nothing gave me valuable data I could use.
And I didnt but straight away on impulse. I left it for 24 hours came back and re-read the sales page
And bought
Why?
Well sales technique aside there is one thing Perry has that the others didnt. And they failed to establish …
TRUST
People buy from the people they trust
Whilst I don’t always agree with what Perry says I do trust him. Enough to invest a hundred dollars anyway.
And that trust was enough to overcome my sales resistance and pay for a course even when I was offered (and declined) a similar one for free.
Trust is the commodity that allows one to transform an interest into to an action (sale)
Do your visitor’s trust you
I asked myself the very same question when I realised this. Do my visitors trust me?
The answer is – sometimes.
They trust me to the degree that I am real to them
See they can’t see or touch a product on the internet.
And I offer a service – web design – so that even more esoteric.
So really, why should they trust me?
Currently I demonstrate trust as a web designer by showing people what I have done for others – my portfolio.
Not enough.
I will re-enforce this by adding in testimonials
But really what makes one real and trustworthy is communication. And valuable communication – not a bunch of hyped-up sales letters.
So my plan is my new autoreponder course (thanks to Perry’s guidance) which will build that communication, make me real to people and whan their interest matches what I offer I will have established enough trust for them to want to do business with me.
Would you trust yourself?
So have a look at you own website.
Pretend you’re someone else
Would you trust it enough to do what it says ie to buy or inquire or whatever the call to action is? (you do have a call to action, right?)
If the answer is (like me) “sometimes” then you’re looking at a surefire way to improve your site right there. Get started!
Here’s some ideas off the top of my head.
- Start a blog and offer help without a catch or buyline
- Start an autoresponder course offering useful data
- Show people how you have helped others through case studies or testimonials
- Allow reviews of your products
- Have as many pictures as required. User guides and more.
If you need some help contact me- I might just have an email course that will help you.
Ronald Sayegh
Business Web Design
For website design you can afford.