Imagine if you planned an elaborate party and you bought beautiful, fresh ingredients and cooked all day to prepare for it.
You made fancy drinks and spent hours decorating the place you rented.
You hired a DJ and your adrenaline was pumping in anticipation of welcoming your guests.
And when it was time, three people showed up.
So what happened? Well some people couldn’t find a babysitter and didn’t know childcare was provided at the event. Other people didn’t know there was a vegetarian option so they didn’t go.
A few people would have loved to attend but could only come during the day, not in the evening.
The location was not convenient for some people and there was a big group of people who would have loved to have attended but only found out about the event after it was over.
This situation also happens to business owners who spend time and energy to create offers that often go unsold.
So if you want to sell more of the packages you currently offer and/or you have you been thinking about creating new offers, this information is for you.
Discovering exactly what your clients want is a part art, part science. And all good science includes experimentation.
Sometimes clients know what they want and sometimes, they won’t know it until you propose something.
This reminds me of the quote by Henry Ford, one of the first auto makers, “If had I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
If something in your marketing didn’t work, don’t take it personally. There are so many factors to look at when you’re trying to see why something didn’t work.
Let’s take a looks at three of them; the program itself, communication and reaching people, and price. Analyze these parts of your current offers and new offers.
Program Itself
It could be that the reason people aren’t buying is the program itself. There are several areas for you to analyze and then make adjustments.
Program Size
Maybe you’re trying to cover too much; your program is too big and broad. Or maybe the opposite is true and it’s too niche and not comprehensive enough.
Frequency
Could it be you’re offering your program too often? Or maybe you’re not offering it often enough? You can create a program that is always available for purchase.
Or you can have launch with a fixed date that occurs once a year or multiple times a year. One example is Marie Forleo’s signature program, B-School. She only offers it once a year in the spring.
Timing
There are a bunch of factors to consider here. There’s the time of day, day of week (weekday vs weekend), and the time of year.
Communicating Clearly & Reaching People
You must communicate your offer clearly and highlight the results people will get it. In addition, you need to reach a large enough group of your ideal clients so that meet your goals.
For more on both of these points, read my post: Afraid Your Event Will Be An Empty Room? Don’t Make These 2 Mistakes (yes, this post is about events but the same concepts apply to offers).
Price
Your price might be too high. But it could also be too low. Yes, really. Time is one of the most valuable (and non-renewable) resources we have.
So it might be the case that if something is free or very inexpensive, that people won’t see the value in it and won’t take you up on your offer. In addition, people tend to value things more, and be more committed to in investing in them, if they pay for them.
So how do you figure out what to change? Listen to feedback from your potential clients, and proactively ask for feedback from people. You can also do an anonymous survey; a great resource for this is Survey Monkey.
For even more tips on how to create offers your clients will love, read my post: 8 Keys to Creating Remarkable Offers for Your Clients.
And sometimes you won’t be able to find out why something didn’t work and you just have to be willing to try it again after you make some adjustments.
In case you haven’t realized that marketing is just one giant experiment. You never really know what’s going to work so you have to try things and be willing to give it enough time to see if it works. And if it doesn’t, simply stop doing it and move on. Read more about this in my post, You Could Fail, 3 Reasons to Do it Anyway.
I hope you’re feeling inspired to improve your current offers and to create new offers that your clients will be thrilled to buy.
© Stephanie Ward
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set create meaningful and prosperous businesses. Grab your FREE copy of the special report ‘7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at:https://www.fireflycoaching.com.
Share your thoughts about how you create and test your offers in the comments section below. I respond to every single comment.
