As we talked about in the last post, selling can feel pretty scary at times.
One of the biggest fears – especially when you launch a new product or program – is that nobody will buy (or not enough people to justify all the work, time, energy and money you put into it).
This is a very real fear – because it can happen.
But there are some key things you can do ahead of time to vastly improve the chances you’ll make sales – and hopefully lots of them.
Let’s look at 10 reasons why your offer isn’t selling ::
1. Not the right offer —
One of the big mistakes many entrepreneurs make when creating products or programs is to create in a vacuum without asking for feedback from their potential buyers. Often, they create what “they” would want – not what their prospects want. And so, they end up with an offer that just doesn’t hit the mark. Maybe it’s three steps ahead of where their prospects actually are – or three steps behind. Or maybe, it’s just not a pressing pain point right now.
Idea to Offer Tip :: Don’t guess – ASK. Find a group of your ideal customers and ask them what challenges they’re facing and what they most need and want. And THEN create.
2. Benefits aren’t clearly communicated —
When it comes to selling, focus on benefits over features. Benefits are what they get out of it – what difference it will make in their lives. Features are important too – but are secondary to the benefits. Most people focus first on features (You’ll get 10 videos, 15 pdfs, 5 audios etc.) and less on the actual transformation that’s being promised. People don’t really care that much about how you’ll do it – they care about what change you’re going to affect in their lives.
3. The branding is boring and unremarkable —
Any great offer tells a story – a story of the WHY. As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it.” Your branding – everything from the story all the way through to the design are important. Your branding helps position your offer and clearly communicates why they should choose it over the competition’s.
Idea to Offer Tip: Before you launch your product or program, make sure to spend time packaging and positioning it in a way that will be intriguing and compelling to your ideal buyers. Make sure you have an answer to the question, “Why should I buy from you?”
4. Lack of Scarcity —
If there are plenty to go around, the drive to buy decreases. When there are only a few of something – whether it’s the number of spots or extra bonuses – having something in short supply triggers people to make a decision. Don’t make this stuff up – use genuine scarcity principles. If your class can only hold 25 people – you need to communicate that!
Idea to Offer Tip: Look at your offer and identify the element of scarcity. Now, make sure you’re communicating that. It’s not about being sleazy – it’s just about letting people know that they have to act fast.
5. Lack of Urgency —
Same principle as the one above. Here, we’re just looking at why they should buy NOW vs. six months from now. This is why launching is so effective – the idea is that it’s only available for a short period of time. Whether it’s linked to when your program actually starts (time urgency) or a disappearing bonuses (3-payment plan only available for the first week) – infusing an element of urgency into your offer encourages people to actually take action. Listen, people will inherently put off what they can do tomorrow (not so great for your sales) – adding a ethical, reasonable, valid layer of urgency helps them get off the fence.
Idea to Offer Tip: Find a genuine element of urgency to your offer, and be sure to clearly communicate this (and remind them).
6. Lack of Awareness —
Sometimes the reason your offer isn’t selling is just because nobody knows about it. This comes down to taking a very proactive approach to letting as many people in your target market know you have something awesome for sale that they may like to buy. It’s up to you to not let your offer be the world’s best kept secret.
Idea to Offer Tip: Find as many avenues as you can to promote your offer. Hold free teleclasses or webinars. Enlist affiliate partners to promote to their audience. Pop onto forums. Secure guest blog posts during your launch. Pitch a story to the media. Whatever it takes.
7. It’s hard to buy —
Marketing rule 101: A confused mind says “no”! Make your registration/sign up process as seamless and easy as you can. Test it – then test it again. Is it straightforward? Could someone without excellent computer skills easily navigate it? Is there a clear call-to-action? Is your payment processor confusing? All of these things matter – a lot. You can have someone go all the way to clicking your BUY NOW button – but if it’s confusing on the other side, they’ll click away.
Idea to Offer Tip: Make your systems as easy as you can. Ask a friend to test your process – you’re too close to it. Make your call-to-action crystal clear – and then let them know exactly what’s going to happen after they buy.
8. Your copy misses the mark —
When people hit your sales or shop page – the first thing you’re going to need to do is hook them with a great headline. And then, entice them with an interesting premise. You’ve got to have great copy to keep them reading all the way down to the Buy Now button. If your copy is boring, stuffy, dry or confusing – you’ll lose your prospects fast.
Idea to Offer Tip: Copywriting is a learned skill and a critical one for business. Start first with your headlines – if they don’t read those, they won’t read the rest. Consider outsourcing your copy if you really hate writing. Read CopyBlogger.
9. The audience isn’t ready —
It’s important to warm your audience up before you hit them with a big offer. If it’s something small, you can usually just let them know in one to two communications. But if you’ve got something big – you’ll want to warm them up to your topic (and then your offer) over time. Rather than show up at the networking event asking for sale – you’re building that relationship and planting the seed. This looks like some pre-launch content that’s dripped over a few weeks around the topic of your offer – giving people some great value AND priming them for your offer.
Idea to Offer Tip: Don’t ask for marriage before the first date. Build a relationship, provide value and slowly introduce your offer over time.
10. Lack of follow through —
The statistics change – but one thing is certain. The bulk of your buyers will buy at the end of your launch cycle. This means that if you launch it, and only send one follow-up, you’re missing out on a bunch of additional sales you probably would get if you’d followed up a few more times. People are busy. They forget. You need to remind them again, and then again, and then again.
Idea to Offer: Reframe the fear of the follow-up by remembering that many people won’t even see your first or second communications. It takes multiple times for most people to trigger and buy. Don’t be shy about letting them know – they can choose whether or not to buy, but many will forget all about it if you only send one email.
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There are other reasons people don’t buy – but in my experience, these are the top 10. If you can actively work on these, you’ll convert a lot more prospects into sales.
And if you want a step-by-step process that will give you everything you need to know about creating, launching and prospering from a new offer (product or program), sign up for my free training series here.
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Photo Credit: Winged Photography
