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How To Get Immediate Response to Your Sales Pitch
Simply because your prospects are convinced that your product isthe best thing since slice bread, doesn't mean that they'll buyright away.
In fact, most people will want to think about it for a littlewhile. There is that little voice in all of us that resistsbeing sold. We think that if we caved in to that salesman thenwe aren't really strong. We feel almost like a sucker to fallfor his pitch.
This adage is a meaningful one: 'People love to buy but hate tobe sold'.
Even after we've bought that item that we must have, there isstill some mental dissonance (referred to as 'buyers remorse')that torments us. This is one of the major reasons for refundrequests.
So you have to provide as much urgency and incentives as possiblefor your prospect to make that purchase right away. Here areseven of the most effective strategies to push them over thedecisional edge.
1. Make a Limited Offer
This is probably one of the more popular strategies to get peopleto buy now. Don't let its popularity of use fool you though.Once you can show that your offer is limited in availability thenthe perceived value instantly quadruples. Limited quantityoffers work much better than limited time offers because youdon't know when the items will run out.
2. Offer Bonuses
This is another popular tool used to get buying decisions. Thebonuses should be related and complimentary to the main product.This increases the value of your primary product and makes theprice appear much less for the value the customer gets. Youshould try and avoid offering rebates or discounts if you can;offer a bonus instead.
3. Give a deadline
If you give a deadline by which the offer will close or the pricewill be raised, then this will build real urgency and increasedsales. You should make sure that the deadline is kept, or ifyou extend the offer you should give a reason why you did this.There are many websites that use a script that continuallychanges the deadline. But this method can really backfire as youcan lose credibility with your customers. When customers buyright away only to see the same price after the deadline is gone,they feel cheated and tricked.
4. Offer a 'surprise bonus'
We've already said that bonuses are great decision helpers.Well, the 'mystery gift' or the 'surprise bonus' also increasessales because of the suspense element injected by this unknown.There are many people who will buy just to find out what thesurprise gift it. This reminds me of the Cracker Jack boxes ofcandied popcorn I'll buy as a child just to get the surprise giftinside. It still works, even with adults.
5. Reward for fast responders and penalty for slow responders
As a teenager I'll attend summer youth camps that I'll have toregister for a few months in advance. All the forms came with adeadline after which you'll have to pay a higher price. Ialways tried to register early so that I'll get the lower price.This sure defeated the procrastination bug in me.
A slight variation to this is the sales of tickets for an eventthat will carry a higher price if you chose to pay at the door.This encourages ticket sales because those who bought the ticketare assured of a lower price.
6. Games of chance.
You've may have seen this strategy in selling magazinesubscriptions. You are pitched on subscribing for a chance towin a Caribbean vacation or a digital camera. The only way youcan win will be to get an entrance by making the purchase. It'sa gimmick that works very well for Publisher's Clearing House.There are many other companies that use this method as a leadgeneration tool as well.
7. Make it easy to respond.
This may be the least obvious strategy of all but it's oftenoverlooked. Do you want your prospect to call? Then offer aphone number in big bold type. Should they fill out a form thenmake the form simple to fill out. You can even pre-fill theoptions to make this a multiple choice type survey sheet. Do youwant them to click on a link and fill in their credit cardinformation? Then tell them so. Even though it may be obviousto you this doesn't mean that it will be obvious to yourprospects.
If you give your potential customers too many hoops to jumpthrough then they'll more than likely abandon the sale. Thereare many big company websites that take you through multiplesteps just to give them your money. These are the same companiesthat complain of abandoned shopping carts.
So provide easy and multiple ways of ordering-phone, fax, creditcard, money order, online merchant and whatever is practical foryou.
I've read many websites where the copywriters seem to almostapologize for asking for the order. There is zero incentive forme to order now. It's as if they are saying, "Now that you'veread this, you can go away and think about it. Then come backand make your order." Don't bring me to the top of thedecisional mountain and then allow me to slide right back downthe other side-a lost soul. бн I mean a lost sale.
After getting me excited about your product or service then sellme (I mean let me buy) and encourage me to feel really goodabout it.
Make me feel lucky that I got in on that great deal.
The best deal since the invention of slice bread!
About the Author Ray L. Edwards is a published author, copywriter andinternet marketing consultant. He has made tens of thousandsof dollars for his copywriting clients. Being an online market himself,he understands what it takes to sell online andwelcomes your inquiry about his master copywriting service.http://www.webcopy-writing.com
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