How To Give Your Prospects An Offer They Can’t Refuse

So there I was in a client’s office getting ready for a meeting with the CEO and a few managers. I was just about to walk into the boardroom when someone asked me if I would like a coffee or something? I politely declined and then it happened, they said “what about a mocha?” I stopped dead in my tracks and with raised eye brows said, “really?!” Now for those of you that don’t already know, I love mochas! I used to own a coffee shop and that is all I would drink. So to put it plainly, I have a thing for them. I bring this up because it is important to understand what made me stop in my tracks, why was this an offer I couldn’t refuse? Let me ask you, have you ever made an offer or proposal to a prospect and ended up getting shot down? Then you know how stressful and frustrating that can be. This is why it is so very important to understand how to give your prospects an offer than can’t refuse. Just think about where your business would be if every time you made an offer or presented a proposal to a prospect they said “yes!”…

How To Give Your Prospects An Offer They Can’t Refuse

1. Understand what your prospects, customers & clients really want.

Just like it was really easy for me to turn down the coffee, but could not refuse the mocha, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what your target audience really wants and desires. This is why so many businesses fail, they don’t take the time to do their homework and truly know their target audience. To get started you can start with the basics… I recently asked a question to my friends on Facebook, I asked “what brands they really liked and why they continued to stay loyal to them?” The response was amazing and I noticed there were some common traits everyone was mentioning. Some of them were awesome customer service, convenient, quality, simple & easy, pricing.

So this is a good starting point, but you don’t stop here. It is important that you are offering these kinds of qualities that people appreciate, ultimately, you need to make sure you are offering value for them. People don’t appreciate things that have no value and they defiantly wont waste their time or money of them.

Once you have the basics down, it’s time to dig deeper…

There is a difference between knowing what your target audience wants and another to know why they want it. There are many deep down “issues” and experiences we have gone through that can influence why we want certain things. This is where the homework comes into play.

2. Indirect Vs. Direct.

Because no one likes to be sold, especially by some annoying salesperson, the direct selling approach is not always the best way to go. The indirect approach is done in a much more subtle way, where you focus on adding value rather than a sales pitch. Personally, I have found this approach to work amazingly. I focus on the over delivery of value to my prospects and clients, by the time I am done, the qualified prospect want’s what I am offering and I never needed to do an annoying sales pitch. This really is what makes the difference between strategic marketing vs. annoying selling.

Please understand that indirect marketing is relevant to online marketing practices and offline. I have used it in both and have gotten results with both. Isn’t it time to focus on being awesome instead of annoying? 😉

3. Creating Urgency In Your Offer.

Now I want to be clear, I believe when creating urgency in an offer, it should be legit and done with integrity. Far too often sneaky marketers will create false urgency by saying things like they only have 10 items left. Now, if you truly only have 10 items left, then that is cool. But if it’s an eBook, then that is kinda weird! People aren’t stupid, many will see through a “manufactured” urgency claim. So use urgency and scarcity strategically with common sense and integrity.

At live events when I am speaking, it is really easy to do this, because I am only at the event for a certain amount of time and my products go with me. But with online offers, you might need to set a deadline to when your special offer ends. But when creating urgency, it is not just about putting a cap on the amount of products or having a limited time offer, sometimes you can create urgency about what would happen if the prospect procrastinates with you offer. Say you are offering a diet or exercise program, you can turn your marketing into targeting the points about what will happen to them if they don’t take advantage of your special offer. Maybe they will run the risk of getting sicker or reap the consequences of being over weight, maybe even early death! And if that happens, how will they enjoy their family or go on the trips they have always planned on? See what I mean?

Once you have your offer they can’t refuse [insert mafia voice here], it is time to take your awesome product or service and giver your offer to your audience. Are you making your target audience an offer they can’t refuse?