Posted by I want to talk about a ‘touchy’ subject right now.
My aim isn’t to offend anyone, and I hope I don’t. But I do feel I need to go where others fear to tread, you might say, in the hopes of helping you skirt some problems that I see in our industry.
Let me start with a story – my own story…
I began in IM by going for what you might call the cheap, easy sale. I sold the $7 reports and the $19 video coaching series to anyone and everyone, and I did really well at making sales.
I had no standard for what sort of customer I was seeking. If they had the money and inclination, they were good enough for me.
But it was killing me.
At the time, I was so new that I didn’t know what can happen when you sell low end products to people who are looking not a business they can build, but for one that magically materializes out of thin air.
Contrast that to today, when I sell products and coaching in the 3 and 4 figure range.
Yes, I make fewer sales, and yet I make more money.
But this isn’t about money – it’s about sanity.
Let’s say you want to make $10,000. To do that, you could sell one thousand $10 products. Or you could sell ten $1,000 products.
In the first case, you made 1,000 sales and have 1,000 new customers. Yeah! But you also have (potentially) 1,000 people emailing you and hitting you up on social media for help.
Our business is funny that way. If someone buys a $10 book on Amazon, they don’t expect they can start emailing the author and peppering the author with a 100 questions on social media.
But if they buy your internet marketing product for $10, some of your customers (not all, mind you) will think they have just purchased 6 months of personal one-on-one coaching via email.
So, you sell 1,000 copies of your $10 product, and now 20% of those folks have questions. Lots of questions. And suddenly all of your free time is taken by these people who bought your soul for $10.
Ouch.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking. These are PEOPLE who need your HELP, and I agree. But they haven’t bought the rights to hound you – or have they?
What about those 10 people who purchased the $1,000 product? If you haven’t experienced it for yourself yet, you might not believe it, but here’s what happens when you sell high-end products…
…your customers RESPECT your time.
If they have a question, they almost always go to the product first to find the answer. If it’s not there, they’ll often check Google.
For the most part, they’re self-starters. They don’t EXPECT YOU to be their go-to person.
If and when they do contact you, they are respectful of your time. They’re polite, and gracious, and accommodating. They understand if you can’t get back to them in a nanosecond, or even in a day.
I’ve seen this paradox for two decades of marketing, and it never, ever fails to amaze me. The average customer who purchases something for $10 or $50 adds more work to my day than the customer who spends $500 or $1,000.
It’s a fact of life.
“But wait! I’m building a funnel, and in that funnel I start out with a $10 product, and work them up to a $3,000 product. I NEED the $10 product to get people in my funnel.”
You’re right. In many cases (not all) you do need the low end products to get people to pay attention to you and what you offer.
And there is a way to let people know up front that they are not buying YOU when they purchase your low end product.
Let them know in your sales copy that they are purchasing the product. JUST the product. This product is for self-starters, people who are willing to put in the time and do the work.
This product is NOT for people who want everything done for them. For that, you have another option, and it costs $5,000 (or whatever.)
If they wish to purchase email coaching, you’re happy to accommodate them (if you are) and they will have that option after they buy the product. Then offer them an upsell for coaching, which might include (for example) 4 group coaching calls and 10 emails answered.
Or, if you don’t really want to do coaching, make the offer inside the product and put a hefty price on it.
The key is to weed out the folks who will drive you insane. And yes, it could cost you some sales, but it can save you time – time you can use to create your next product or just goof off on the beach.
The funny thing is, when you raise your standards and expectations of your customers, they will often strive to meet those expectations. They either fall by the wayside, or they become the high caliber client you want to work with – one who respects your value and gets the job done.
Another option, and one I highly encourage, is to keep a running Q and A for each product. In the front page or beginning of the first video of each product you create, let them know that if they have questions, they can go to the Q and A page for that product (give them the URL.)
If they don’t see the answer to their question, they are welcome to post the question and you will answer it for all to see. This way you only answer each question ONCE.
It could be that you legitimately forgot to tell them something in the product, and this is a great way to find that out and relieve their frustration, too.
And the next time you update the product, go back to the Q and A page to find out what you need to add to the new edition.
A Facebook Page or Group can also be used in a similar fashion, where product buyers help each other.
Let buyers know up front (for example, at the beginning of the product) that just like them, your time is precious and valuable. You know they are self-starters and don’t expect you to do the work for them, or they wouldn’t have bought the product. Google and YouTube are their friends when it comes to questions like, “How do I set up a squeeze page?”
And if they are truly serious and need someone to walk them through the process, here’s the page for coaching.
And guess what? A few of them will take you up on the offer. Don’t worry, coaching is basically walking them through the exact process you teach in the product, only you get PAID handsomely for it.
Bottom Line: You can help the most people by putting out great products and letting them know you don’t hold hands. They are big boys and girls, even if they buy coaching, they still have to do the work themselves.
You will guide them through your products, your blog, your podcast and your paid coaching, but you won’t do it for them.
Letting your customers know up front that you respect their time by putting out only great quality products, and that you expect them to respect YOUR time as well will go a long way to saving you from spending hours each day answering questions and listening to excuses.
Your customers are wonderful, terrific, loving people who sometimes need to be told to stop talking about what they’re going to do and just do it.
They need to stop trying to figure out where every brick and bit of mortar goes before they even get started, and just get busy building their castle.