Tip 1: Establish the value. Why does the customer need your product? You must know the answer to that question and be able to succinctly communicate it to your customer. It doesn’t matter how good your product is if you don’t communicate the basic need your product will meet, be it fashion, function, comfort, fun, or all four.
Establishing that need often starts with creating an engaging story around the product or brand. The story can be told with words, images, or both. This is an emotional hook that is necessary for the customer to continue listening to your pitch.
Tip 2: Make it irresistible. Now that customers need the product you’re selling, do they want it more than they want the money in their pocket? You must convince them that your product is worth more to them than their hard-earned dollar. If you listen, the market will tell you what price customers are willing to pay. Margins are important when considering a pricing strategy, but customers don’t care about your margin. They care about trading their dollar to you for your item or service. Find the sweet spot on price and fire away.
Tip 3: Set a limitation. At this point, customers agree that they need your product or service, and the price is right to satisfy their want for it. But what’s the hurry? Without a sense of urgency, customers cool down and may decide they can live without your product after all.
To overcome this hurdle, you must set a limitation in quantity or time. For example, “Only one hundred remain in stock!” or “Sale expires in twenty-four hours!” Limitations are especially effective with an e-mail campaign, where you can send prospects reminder e-mails warning of even greater scarcity: “Sale ends in three hours!” For this tip, e-mail advertising is much more effective than print advertising, which is why it is my preferred marketing medium.
Tip 4: Make an unbelievable offer. To channel The Godfather, you’ve got to make your customers an offer they can’t refuse. You’ve seen the television commercials selling some amazing gadget to make your life better. You’re already sold on it. It’s a terrific product, and the price is good. They’ve established that you must call now because either the price is going up soon, or they’re going to run out of these great gadgets. But what do they all do to push you over the edge and call immediately? The announcer adds, “But wait! We’re going to give you a second gadget absolutely free.”
That’s the little extra bump that I call the unbelievable offer. Make it seem too good to be true. Sure, you have smaller margins by throwing in an extra unit or by absorbing the cost of shipping. But you’ll make more money overall due to a much higher volume sold! Plus, you’re reaching more customers with your products and adding more people to your e-mail list. They’re sharing the offer with friends because it’s such an amazing deal. Think of it this way: you’ve just enabled ambassadors to promote your brand and your products or services. Is it risky? Sure. Welcome to the world of the entrepreneur. You can’t make it big if you aren’t willing to risk it big.