Authors: Chris Guillebeau
The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future (18 page)
• How do I know this really works?
• I don’t know if this is a good investment (and/or I’m not sure I have the money to spare).
• I’m not sure I can trust you with my money.
• What do other people think about this offer?
• I wonder if I can find this information/get this product or service without paying.
• I worry about sharing my information online (or another privacy concern).
The core concern for each of these objections relates to
trust
and
authority
. You must create consumer confidence in order to overcome the objections. As you craft the offer, think about the objections … and then flip them around in your favor. You want to send messages like these:
• This really works because …
• This is a great investment because …
• You can trust us with your money because … (alternatively, You don’t have to trust us with your money, because we work with an established, trusted third party …)
• Other people think this is great, and here’s what they say …
• You have to pay to get this product or service (alternatively, The free versions aren’t as good, it takes a lot of work to get it on your own, etc.)
• Your information and privacy are 100 percent secure because …
See how it works? The point is not to be defensive (you want to avoid that) but rather to be proactive in responding to concerns. One model you can use when describing your offer is outlined below in what we’ll call a “rough awesome format.” It works like this:
Point 1: This thing is so awesome! [primary benefit]
Point 2: Seriously, it’s really awesome. [secondary benefit]
Point 3: By the way, you don’t need to worry about anything. [response to concerns]
Point 4: See, it’s really awesome. What are you waiting for? [take action]
In the rough awesome format, point 1 is the main benefit, point 2 is a reinforcement of the main benefit or an important side benefit, point 3 is where you deal with the objections, and point 4 is where you bring it all together and nudge buyers toward a call to action. You won’t always get it right at first—sometimes you’ll discover additional objections as you go through the initial sales process with real-time customers—but dealing with the most important objections from the beginning will help you get off to a much better start than the wait-and-see approach.
2. The Incredible Guarantee, AKA “Don’t Be Afraid”
Regardless of what you’re selling, the overriding concern of many potential customers is, “What if I don’t like it? Can I get my money back?” A common and highly effective way to combat this concern is to offer a satisfaction guarantee. A word of advice: Do not make your guarantee complicated, confusing, or boring. You don’t want your customer to overthink it! Keep it simple and easy.
Further, if there is any way you can tie the promised results
of your offer to the guarantee, do so. Nev Lapwood, who runs a snowboarding instruction program you’ll read about in
Chapter 11
, offers a 120 percent guarantee. If the program doesn’t rock your world, you’ll get 100 percent of your money back,
plus
20 percent for your trouble.
§
When I developed the Travel Hacking Cartel, I promised that members who applied the program’s strategies would earn at least 100,000 frequent flyer miles a year, enough for four free plane tickets.
Not every business will be able to offer an incredible guarantee, especially if there are substantial up-front costs for delivery. Alternatively, you can also make the deliberate choice
not
to guarantee your product or service and then make a big deal about that fact. The lack of a guarantee can then act as a filtering process, gently steering away customers who weren’t a good fit, while reinforcing the purchase for those who are.
Generally, you should offer an incredible guarantee or no guarantee at all. A weak guarantee, or one that is unclear, can work against your credibility instead of helping it.
3. Overdelivering, AKA “Wow, Look at All This Extra Stuff I Didn’t Expect”
Immediately after buying something, we often experience a pang of anxiety: Was this a good purchase? Did I waste my money? You’ll want to get out in front of this feeling by making people feel good about the action they just took. The easiest and most critical way to reinforce their decision is by giving them quick access to what they paid for. But to go further, you’ll want to
overdeliver
: give
them more than they expected. You can do this by upgrading their purchase unexpectedly by sending a handwritten thank-you card in the mail or in whatever way makes the most sense for your business.
The point is that the small things count.
Like the orange slice at mile 18 of the marathon, an offer you can’t refuse comes along at just the right time. As you follow your blueprint to freedom, think carefully about how you can create a similarly compelling offer.
The next step is to take the offer out into the world. Ready?
KEY POINTS
As much as possible, connect your offer to the direct benefits customers will receive. Like the Alaska coupon books, a compelling offer pays for itself by making a clear value proposition.
urgency
(also known as timeliness): Why should people act
now
?
*
Ironically, there were no donuts available
after
the 26.2-mile race, something many runners would have been thrilled to see. Keep this in mind if you are ever in charge of providing donuts for marathoners.
†
Unfortunately, the fee to join DirectBuy is thousands of dollars, and it’s not always clear how much money the average home owner will save with the service. But as with Priceline, perhaps this creates an opportunity for another third-party business to provide the information.
‡
To watch a short video on how Brandy creates her great work, check out
YouTube.com/loosetoothdotcom
.
§
I asked Nev if he’s had issues with customers abusing this policy. His response: Nope, no problems at all. Nev credits Tim Ferriss, author of
The Four-Hour Workweek
, with giving him this idea.
OR THE CORNER COFFEE SHOP
.
“Before beginning, prepare carefully.”
—MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO
L
et’s take a trip to Hollywood, by way of our local cinema or movie theater. Every year, a number of blockbuster films come out that cost a huge amount of money to produce, often $100 million or more. Studio executives know they have only a limited window to ensure a big hit. If the opening weekend isn’t huge, they may still have a good movie, but not the blockbuster they need to recoup their high costs.
The executives also know that although some people don’t decide which movie they want to see until they get to the theater, lots of other people go to see a particular movie. If they’ve been hearing about it in advance, building up their anticipation and getting excited, they’re all the more eager to see the movie—and tell their friends about it too.
This is why Hollywood begins the “pre-launch” for a big film many months in advance, often a whole season or even an entire year in advance for the right film. During this time they are showing previews at the beginning of other movies, building buzz through an Internet campaign, and working the PR angles far in advance of the movie actually coming out.