Now, after last week’s comments (or should I say rant) on the economy, I’m back to where I was.
Actually, before I begin, I sometimes wonder if these posts are too long. I’ve seen heaps of blogs which are half the size, but I really don’t get any value out of them.
So if you find them longer than most of the emails and blogs you read, then I apologize. Its just that I’ve decided that this blog will always deliver a marketing lesson that you can take away and actually start using. Too many blogs or email updates don’t deliver enough information to use, and I want to make sure you go away with something you can implement straight away.
So let’s talk about another critical piece of the puzzle – your OFFER.
What you’re going to offer your prospect has got to be so good, they’d be stupid to say NO!
You see, once people get to the end of your advertisement, whether its your sales letter, website or space ad, your prospect may still not have made up their mind.
Its not until you tell them what’s on offer that they change from a MAYBE to a YES!
That’s why your offer has to be so incredible that they’d be crazy to say ‘No’.
Your offer has to pack such a powerful punch that they’ll think “WOW”. You have to create that kind of impression. And you do it by working on things like bonus items, price discounts and guarantees.
Now – generally speaking, don’t worry about offering too many things. As long as they’re good value then include them.
Just make sure you’re not offering any rubbish. You’ll disappoint your prospects and will most likely lose them. Even though they’re getting the item for free, they’ll feel as though you let them down. And that could end your relationship there and then.
But here’s something you need to do that lots of people always get wrong. When you include ANYTHING in your promotion as part of your offer, you need to SELL it. Sell it as hard as you would if the person was actually paying for it.
You see, a lot of people buy a product or service for the bonuses alone! I’m not kidding, its absolutely true. And don’t forget, its usually not until you make your offer that your customer finally decides to purchase.
Its actually a really common mistake and I see a lot of it from new clients who send me their current promotions to me to rewrite. All they do is give their bonuses a name and a price.
But if you don’t explain to your prospects what benefit they’ll get from each bonus, then they’ll just glaze over it, and you’ll miss a key opportunity to close a sale. Quite frankly, if you don’t SELL your bonuses hard, then you’re wasting your time even having them.
At the end of this entry I’ve included a description of a bonus item I wrote up some time ago so you get the idea.
Here’s a few things you can include to BEEF UP your offer. A lot of these are what’s known as ‘Cents In The Dollar’ items, because their value to your prospect is far higher than your cost to produce them. For example, it costs $1 to burn a CD, but the information on it might be worth $50 to your prospect.
• Written information – eBooks, printed publications, manuals or whitepapers.
• A free report on an aspect of your service.
• Audio CDs – ask somebody to interview you and record it. You can even include the transcripts. (If you want more information on this, please drop me a line)
• Membership sites – if you have a membership site or program, give them 3 months free access
• Guarantee – Make sure you offer a full, no hassle money back guarantee
• Discount – Discount the price down from what its worth to what you’re prepared to sell it for. BTW – its really good if you can throw in another price discount right at the end. Just a tip on this one, if you discount heavily, make sure you explain WHY you’re doing it, otherwise people wont believe you’re making as big a sacrifice as you claim.
• A free critique of their product, or a free evaluation of their situation. This could be handy in health and wellbeing, because you can evaluate somebody’s current level of fitness or injury, which would result in a management plan (involving you…of course!)
• A free audit – Basically a free quote, except you include a more detailed recommendation with the price. Everyone does free quotes. How many people do a free audit valued at $100? Imagine the potential for painters, gardeners, accountants, mortgage brokers etc.
• Time – What about offering your prospect some time with you for nothing? It wont cost you money if you’re not 100% busy, and could result in loads of long term committed clients. Its a great excuse for getting the prospect in front of you so they can see your skills in action.
Now, when you put together your offer, think about the lifetime value of your customer. A lot of people in business are happy to make a LOSS to get their new clients. That’s because they know they’ll come back again and again. So make sure you think about the lifetime value of your customer when you put together your offer.
Just don’t forget that a lot of the things you offer may have a higher perceived value to them, than what they cost you. So its easy to put together a killer offer, and not have to fork out very much money at all!
Now, if you don’t have any bonus items to include, then you can either write them yourself or you can get them CHEAP. Just google ‘reprint rights’ and you’ll find heaps of info on inexpensive books and other publications you can offer to your prospects. Basically, you pay a one-off fee for the right to sell or give away their publication.
Right at the end of your promotion, summarise everything you’ve offered so your prospect knows EXACTLY what they’re getting. If your prospect is confused, then it can kill your sale off.
I find a table works best. Put the items in the left hand column (with a brief description of each item to remind your prospect WHY its worth what you claim), the value of each item in the middle column and the actual price in the right hand column. In most spots the word “FREE” will appear.
Right at the end, total up the value, and show them the saving.
One more thing…
You should consider your entire promotion as your offer. Everything you say has to show your prospect how good the product or service you’re offering is. Keep this in mind if you include a list of benefits…
Next week is a really cool topic. Guarantees. I love them because they’re so powerful, but on the same hand, so easy to write. I’ll tell you exactly how its done, plus throw in a few ideas you might not have thought of to make them extra-strong!
All the best
Hugh Thyer
www.salescomefirst.com
PS – Here’s a sample of a bonus I included in a sales letter. See how much more powerful it is than just putting in the bonus name and the price.
BONUS ADD-ON #1:
Yellow Pages Success Secrets!
(Normal value: $49)
This manual teaches you how to attract more new customers with a riveting ad that captures attention immediately, arouses intense interest and gets the call every time. This is normally $29 but its yours with <product name removed>. Its written by Robert Boduch, one of the world’s leading marketing experts who has written yellow pages winner after winner for years.
The techniques you’ll learn here will improve your yellow pages response by 200%-300% or even more! And because your marketing strategy relies on getting good quality people to your seminars, a Yellow Pages ad can be a really powerful tool to use.
