I’m delighted to have my good friend and fellow entrepreneur Ann Soderblom of Soderblom Design guest posting in Brave New Sales this week.
In her recent newsletter, Ann wrote about getting to know your customer target group and more specifically what they really like and want. If you have done all of that research it is time to put it into practice.
Offers That Wow!
It is time to create an offer that will make 100% sense to your customer. So how can we do that? Well, by using the data you already collected and by considering something as fundamental as human nature.
Interested? Let’s get started!
The structure of your (written) offer could have the following parts:
1. Introduction
2. Identified problem
3. Solution
4. Call for action
5. Testimonials
When writing the offer consider the following points:
1. Does it say “we” and “us” all the time or “you” and “yours”, only focus on the one person who is reading the offer: you.
2. Use the exact same terminology as you heard in your interviews and research with prospects. The language you use is not necessarily the same as of your customers.
3. Formulate the problem you know that they are experiencing (and that your business will help to solve), and add a little extra salt. Maybe even touching on some underlaying frustrations that you know this problem is really about.
4. Is your product or service something that solves an urgent and important problem? Make it urgent by talking to the underlaying desiree. E.g. more money, freedom, happiness etc. Always clearly state the benefits of your offer.
5. When offering your products and/or services, be very specific about what it really includes. E.g. 10 hours of make up consultation, 1 make up box from L’oreal etc. People normally value things more that are specific and can be measured.
6. It may sound like a worn-out concept but Free is wonderful. Make a package and include something for free, make sure to specifically note the value of what your customer is getting. E.g. 1 Free make up box from L’oreal (Value 100 USD).
7. Read through your offer and ask yourself if it talks to the prospect in a respectful and maybe even in a flattering way?
8. Quantify it. If you can show a specific number of how your product or service helps your prospect, add it! E.g. Increase your conversion rate of paying customers up to 70%. Do this carefully and only based on your real track record. You could even add how you got to this number. “Our last 10 customers in 2011 increased the conversion rate of paying customers with 70% from January to March.”
9. Make the offer time limited. E.g. offer available until May 10, 2012.
10. Address all the concerns and remove all obstacles. If you have done your homework of actually talking to people (taking them for coffee) you should have a pretty good idea of common concerns and doubts people have. Use the exact same wording as your prospects in their interviews and answer them. E.g. “A personal trainer might feel like a very posh and costly thing to have but compare that to the medical costs of being ill later in your life due to poor health.”
11. Everybody wants to feel important. Can you send your offer to an exclusive group? a VIP membership group?
12. Call to action. Make it extremely easy to say yes! Don’t do this: “Send us an email with the answers to the following questions xxx, then register for xxx on the xx page. We will then get back to you with xxx, and” blah blah… Don’t ask more than one question at this point. Do like this: Interested? register here: (email form). You can also create a simple email link with a pre-written subject line and message.
13. There is something magical about a “Ps.” – section right after the end of your offer. For some reason we tend to like a little extra info, right after the end. This could be a good place to have your Free product or service. E.g. answer already today and we’ll send you a Free t-shirt.
14. Testimonials. The prospect has just read your offer and it makes a lot of sense, it sounds great actually BUT..”how will I know that this is really going to work for me?”
By asking your customers to give you testimonials you show the following things: 1. That your company really exists 2. That some people have actually experienced this 3. That you actually have a successful business and much more. Testimonials means trust, your prospects also need to know that this is not fake: write the name of the person, maybe even with an image, professional title and city where he or she lives. If you want to really create a mind blowing testimonial, combine this with point no. 8.
Remember to use as many of these techniques in your offer as possible. Always in a smart way, your prospects are not stupid and nothing is so un-attractive as a too direct hard-sell. Make the points from this list subtle but still there, in a classy and thought-through way.
Jack’s note: If you want to see Ann’s services, check out: Soderblom Design
Thanks Ann!