If you own a guitar, the chances of you owning just that one guitar are nearly impossible.
That’s because guitar players will always find an excuse to add to their collection.
Some guitarists accumulate them because their talent justifies the need for multiple models. Others arrange them on the wall to appear more right-brained than they actually are on video chats.
I fall into neither camp.
I do play, but my questionable commitment has me chipping away at the required ten thousand hours for mastery in forty-five-second increments. Then, it’s back to my soaps.
I’ve had as many as seven guitars collecting dust at once, but now I’m down to one. Which really means two.
Whenever I’ve sold my guitars, I’d price them to move on Craigslist and pray the buyer wasn’t really a bloodthirsty brigade of doped-up adolescents.
But I took the reverse approach with the last one I sold. I listed it for morethan what I originally paid.
Not only did I overprice the instrument, but there were competitive online listings for the same model at a lower price—a fact that I actually MENTIONED IN THE AD.
It’s not because I’m greedy. I’ve built my wealth the honest American way … one delinquent child support payment at a time. (A tasteless joke, I know. But the giggles help to drown out the demons.)
No, I vaporized any trace of a price objection with the same mouthwatering marketing tactic you can start using just as soon as you’re done sending this to 15 friends …
An irresistible offer.
The three most important parts of your sales message are:
✅ Your list (40%)
✅ Your offer (40%)
✅ Your copy (20%)
Obviously, your list is huge because you can’t sell anything to the wrong people. But you can have so-so copy that can still ring the register if you’ve got a strong offer.
Mine came in two parts …
First, I offered a 7-day money-back guarantee.
It was simple. Pick up the guitar. Play it for a week. And if you’re not happy, return the guitar for a full refund, no questions asked.
This was something my competitors couldn’t match—and borderline idiotic since someone could have damaged the instrument before handing it back. But the first rule of any guarantee is to make it so generous it hurts.
The stronger your guarantee, the more secure your prospect will feel about making a purchase. They’ll feel as if they have nothing to lose. And if you can work loss aversion into your marketing, it can be extremely powerful.
The second part of my irresistible offer was the week-long free trial built into the guarantee.
If you can offer a free trial, do it. Because once someone takes possession of your product, they begin to feel a sense of ownership. This is called the endowment effect. And once it kicks in, your customer will find it harder to return what they feel is already theirs.
A quick note on free trials …
Make your trial long enough for your customer to experience the benefits of your product. For example, if your software takes 30 days for the user to get comfortable, give them a 30-day trial. Any shorter and you risk losing them when the trial expires.
You more of a bullet person, Chelsea? Me too.
Here are three dead simple ways to make your offer magically delicious:
💡 Give your customers the most generous guarantee your stomach can handle. And don’t bury it in the shadows of your message. Make it impossible to miss and mention it more than once if you’ve got room.
💡 Offer a free trial of your product. And make it long enough so your customers will have a hard time giving it up. If you already offer a trial, look at the percentage of people who fall out at the end. Then, tinker with the duration to lower your attrition rate.
💡 Offer bonuses instead of discounts. Because when your offer includes multiple items, the value of the package outweighs the discount of a single item. So, your prospect will think they’re getting something more tangible vs. saving an intangible amount.
Here’s a song to play you out >>>
See you next time. — Matt
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