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. Comments are closed.
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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. |