We’ve had some great feedback about our new free guide [Don’t] Buy Now! How to spot the scammers and avoid spending way too much on business coaching. And my heart feels particularly happy to release it “into the wild” so-to-speak, without any opt-in needed. Please just read it, benefit from it, and share it to anyone you think could use it.
There have been a few questions raised though, and one good discussion we had was in our Community.
One of our members was selling an online course through a free webinar, and had been offering a special price for the online course that was only good through midnight the day of the webinar. She had previously not offered the deadline and had one buyer, and yet with the deadline she tended to get 12+ buyers.
She was wondering about using some of these sales tactics when your pricing wasn’t exorbitantly high. And if there’s a difference between those sales tactics and learning to write effective web pages.
Here’s what I told her:
We use deadlines- we’re using one now for our Platform Bundle.
I like that you give them until midnight, which gives them some decision-making time. Most times I’ve seen that used, people need to decide by the end of the webinar, which means they are making the decision still within the experience of being sold to, and that is clear manipulation.
However, if they have time to walk away, to consider, to talk to other people, then it’s more in integrity. Ideally people would have a chance to sleep on it, to think it through.
Yes, you will get fewer buyers, and hopefully all of your buyers will be super happy ones.
So, using scarcity, especially artificial scarcity- where there is no real reason for the deadline other than you or I decided, is a sales technique whose only purpose is to get people to buy. It’s in a gray area, and the more space you give someone to make a decision unpressured by external forces, the cleaner it is.
About sales techniques and copy writing. I see a difference in learning how to communicate clearly, in ways that people can understand, and answering question they have, versus techniques that are meant to provoke a sale on your timing, not on their timing.
I agree with you that deadlines are often necessary. In our overwhelming, complicated lives it can be hard for people to prioritize and make decisions, and they miss out. So I’m not against some of these artificial deadlines. We use them, too. We’re using one right now with our Platform Bundle, as well as a special price.
We gave it a two week window- my intention was that the special offer helps to make it visible to them, the shortish window gives it urgency to make a decision, but two weeks is enough time for people to ask questions, to contemplate, to get clear. Some folks have emailed me, and on at least two occasions I’ve recommended they not purchase it.
The shorter the window, the more you move into a gray area where people don’t have time to contemplate and make a decision truly from themselves, and instead are making the decision primarily from a psychological state of the fear of loss.
Hopefully that brings some clarity to your heart around deadlines and other scarcity tactics.
If you had other questions about the sales tactics, or anything about [Don’t] Buy Now! please let us know. You may also find our Community a place to have more in-depth discussions about how to apply effective business tactics ethically (among other things).
Deadline Today. Deadline Tomorrow.
Our two core programs that start the first Monday of every month, F1: Clients & Money and F2: Expand Your Reach, have a deadline today to start December 4.
Then, The Platform Bundle, which we’ve been offering a special on the last two weeks, has a deadline of tomorrow. It includes three of our most popular programs- Customer-Focused Story, Heart-Centered Websites, and Heart-Centered Article Writing, as well as my personal feedback on your messaging, at a special bundle price. Click to read more about it here.
The core programs are in-depth, hands-on training programs, where we walk you step-by-step through the developmental pieces your business needs. They are also developmentally appropriate, designed to help you at the stage of business you’re in:
If you’re in start-up, or your income is very low, then you probably need Clients & Money, so you can start getting clients and earning money.
Take a look: Clients & Money.
If you’re income is inconsistent, some months okay, some months not quite enough, and if you had enough people your schedule would be full, then you probably need Expand Your Reach.
Take a look: Expand Your Reach
Beyond start-up? Maybe you need hands-on business coaching, either individually or in a small group. Click to this page, and scroll down to where it says “Business Coaching with Heart.” You’ll see learn our business coaching philosophy, and see the options.
Click: Work with us.
If you’re not sure? Take our free Readiness Assessment.
And please, ask any questions you may have.
With love,
Mark Silver
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.
