Many businesses make it too hard and frustrating for potential customers to buy from them. This article discusses how you can generate more business by making the buying process - and most importantly the decision-making process - a no-brainer. Making it easy for customers to say yes to buying from you, rather than no, has many benefits. Besides the obvious reason that it means you get the sale, it also means that they are likely to buy from you again and, potentially, give you a 5-star review. Happy customers are less likely to ask for a refund and they are also more likely to refer your business to other people. It’s worth noting that referrals from happy customers is the cheapest and most effective marketing campaign you can do over the long-term! An experience to never be repeated Recently, I made two purchases online which prompted me to write this blog post. The first was for products in a January sale. The ease of placing the order was actually fairly straightforward but then it all went wrong. One of the three items I ordered was automatically cancelled with no explanation. The promised delivery of 3-5 working days was broken, the courier sent an email saying it had been delivered, but their system said the package was lost and, when I emailed them to complain, I got no response. Long story short - I eventually received something (NOT what I originally wanted as the lost items were the last in stock), followed a few weeks later by a delivery of the original items! Sure, things go wrong for all businesses and we all have challenges when it comes to customer deliverables, but the experience was frustrating from start to finish, and I most likely won’t buy from them again. Could buying be any easier than this? Compare this to a purchase I made online this week. As a book author I like to read, and my ageing Kindle has been taking forever to turn on and to load books. Maybe it was time to buy a new one? I headed over to the Amazon website and started to do a bit of research. Immediately, there was a special offer on the replacement product. They had my attention, so I decided to check it out… The product page was a near-perfect example of how to make buying super easy. As well as great images, wording and over 70,000 reviews averaging at 4.4 stars to lure me in, the page had some very clever call to action prompts to get me from “Maybe I’ll buy” to “Can I really afford to miss out?”. Here’s some of the call to action prompts that were visible: A simple finance offer to make it more affordable: The product was discounted to £39 GBP to buy, but you could buy it for £8 a month over 4 months. The human mind tries to justify why you should buy or not buy something and, at £8 a month, that’s a great reason to buy a new tablet. Free next day delivery AND Free returns I have talked in the past about using FREE as a lead generation, and to prompt customers to take action - and Amazon is using the power of FREE in various ways here. Firstly, delivery isn’t just next day… it’s free. Secondly, buying a product or service always has what I like to call “an inherent risk”. You are parting with money and you might not get value for money. You need to trust the seller. Offering free returns reverses that risk. It says to the buyer “If you aren’t happy, we will pay for the return. It’s on us”. You have nothing to lose. A totally awesome trade-in offer This is where the overall offer got more compelling. If I trade in my old Kindle, I could receive a voucher which I could use to spend on anything, including the new device. Added to this, the trade-in included 20% off a new device. The net result? After adding my preferred carry case, the total price was below £25 for a new device (with carry case). Accounting for the fact that the carry case is £18, I was getting the device effectively for £7! Automatic configuration The product page also included a check box which, if ticked, would mean that the device would be arrive configured to my account, to make set up even easier. And guess what… the button was already checked to make life even more easier. This might sound like a small thing but, as we all know, small things add up. And talking of small things adding up, here’s a summary of the call to action prompts that were all adding up: The offer presented to me (at 5pm in the afternoon) is to have a new device shipped to my door within 24 hours (and for free) - and that has free returns. The device will be configured for my account and, once I clicked on Buy Now, the purchase took less than 30 seconds to go through checkout. And it would come with a snazzy case for a total price of £25. Could the decision to buy be made much easier? Yes, that’s great but…
At this stage, you might be thinking that there’s an ulterior motive for Amazon, and that’s why the price is low - or that they can only offer this because they are a huge corporation that has the ability to do this. The point of this article isn’t to promote any business (or to tell you about my exciting new device). It’s about what you can learn from this experience and understanding what you can apply to your business to generate more business. There’s lots that you can do Making the decision making process easy doesn’t just apply to eCommerce businesses. If you offer contract services such as consulting, accounting or home improvement then there are many ways that you can make it super easy to buy from you. For a retail store, hotel or gym, it’s the same. Examples of ways to make the decision process easier include a reverse-risk guarantee (if you aren’t satisfied, you get your money back) and bundled extras that increase the perceived value of what you offer considerably (think Shopping channels and the extras you get when buying that vacuum or blender). When providing coaching services to my clients, I offer a full 3-month money-back guarantee to ensure there is nothing to lose for the client. I also provide free access to my high ticket online courses which adds value to my proposition. How will you make it easier for the potential client to decide they should buy from you? Need help converting more potential customers? I offer a one-off Deep Dive session that allows business owners to explore ways that they can generate more sales. If this is of interest, book a session with me now. You might also be interested in my 30-day Marketing Challenge course which includes materials on how to make the decision to buy from you “irresistible”. Thanks foir reading, and all the best success with your sales and marketing. How often have you set goals and seen them through until the end? Most people struggle to set goals and even when they do, their biggest issue is staying focused. So why is it so difficult to set goals and achieve them? In this blog post, I will provide some top tips for setting business goals. We won’t discuss the definition of business goals, but you can find out more about the support I provide by visiting my goal setting page using the link below. Tips for setting business goalsAlthough business goals are a little bit different to setting personal goals, the two of them should be closely linked and actually have a lot in common. A personal goal might be focused on getting fit or achieving something on a personal level compared to hitting a sales target as a business goal, but the approach you take for both types of goals is critical to success. I will explain how personal and business goals are more aligned later. Here are some tips for setting business goals: Use a structured goal-setting processWriting down goals into a document that is structured will increase the chances of being clear on what you want to achieve, and by when. On the other hand, scribbling down your plans on a piece of paper that can easily be lost is a great way to forget what you want to achieve and to lose focus! For the best results, use a goal setting template that breaks down goals into activities and that you can refer back to regularly. Find the WHYYou are more likely to be motivated - and stay motivated - on your goals if you have a strong reason and desire to achieve them. If you are a busy business owner, working long hours and aren’t sure if you are doing the right thing then find your “why”. It may be that you want to retire at a set age with a high level of financial freedom or you have a bucket list including places you want to travel to around the world over the next 10 years. Having a strong personal reason to work on your business goals will motivate you to work on them. Be specific with your business goals and objectives:You have possibly heard of SMART goals and they possibly get overused, but that’s for good reason. Using the SMART abbreviation is a great technique if you aren’t sure how to set business goals that get results. Business goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-related will get better results. Imagine setting a goal to grow your business without adding a specific figure or without saying when it will be done by. How do you know if or when you have achieved it? Similarly, setting a goal that’s NOT achievable can be demotivating and will increase the chances of failing. For more information on SMART goals, I recommend reading this article on SMART goals by Mindtools: SMART Goals - Time Management Training From MindTools.com Break down your goals into smaller actionsSmaller tasks are easier to do and are more motivating. Being able to quickly tick off your goals and feel like you are making progress is possibly one of the best top tips for setting goals you can have. Setting goals can be overwhelming, but accomplishing one small task is a lot more motivating and, if you complete 10 simple tasks really easily, you will quickly find you have achieved your goal! It doesn’t matter if you are setting personal or business goals, this top tip will help you. Use a trigger habit to get you startedYou have set your goals and defined your actions, but you just can’t motivate yourself to get started, right? As a famous quote goes, the best way to get started is, and this might seem strange, to get started. Once you are in full flow, working on your actions then you will be on a roll but the challenge for many people is getting out of the starting block. According to James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, a trigger habit is something that gets you started. If you have a blog post, book or website page to write but don’t know where to start then just put pen to paper and write one sentence. It doesn’t matter how good or how bad it is. You can always edit what you have written. I have had this issue many times when writing my books on Amazon or when writing a blog post. I would spend (or should I say waste?) time trying to come up with the perfect opening paragraph when in reality it didn’t matter. Most people take value from the content that comes later on. Nobody reads a great blog post and thinks “that first sentence wasn’t worthy of being in a Jane Austen novel”! If you have an action to make sales calls, post regularly on social media or do email prospecting, just send out one email, make one call or post one thing. Then do it again… Shorten the goal-setting periodSetting goals over 12 months is too long. We set goals in January (or the last day of December) and by February we have lost motivation and possibly forgotten what we want to achieve. Does that sound familiar? This scenario applies more to personal goals but the way our mind works and how we behave isn’t radically different when it comes to setting business targets. if you want to know how to set business goals that you can stay focused on, then check out my online course on how to set goals that get results. I use a proven formula that requires setting goals over a 10-week period. This helps massively to stay focused and knowing that you have less time to achieve results means there is more urgency. Deadlines get things done - and the closer the deadline, the more laser-focused we are! Get help with setting business goalsIf you aren’t sure how to set business goals or you need help focusing on business goals then get someone to help you. This could be a colleague or friend who keeps you accountable or better still, it could be a business coach who has experience in setting goals.
If you would like help with setting goals then let’s talk! Use the button below to set up a call and we can discuss how to set business goals that you want to and can achieve! Many thanks for reading this blog post on how to set business goals. I hope you have found them useful. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch. |
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February 2022
AuthorAuthor Darren Hignett has a wealth of experience and knowedge on achieving results with 10 different books on Amazon as well as experience running a coaching and digital marketing business. |