Comments on: Sell Em What They Want http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2007/04/09/sell-em-what-they-want/ Small business marketing blog Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:06:52 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Lars H http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2007/04/09/sell-em-what-they-want/comment-page-1/#comment-1481 Lars H Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 #comment-1481 My experience is the same as you describe, except that it is also opposite at the same time. I sell two different types of one particular product in my online store. One is American made, and really the best choice for a large number of a certain type of customers. The other is a higher priced German made product in the same category. It has become clear to me over time that when people don't know a lot about something, they use price as the the defacto measure of quality. But in this case, the American made, lower priced product actually works much better for a certain type of customer, so it's a misleading indicator. Customers often try to buy the more expensive German product even when the American product would be better for their situation, because they literally can't believe that the most expensive product isn't the best. I offer a 60 day money back guarantee, so the customer isn't stuck when he or she buys the wrong thing. But I get stuck with the return! So I find myself in the strange position of trying to convince certain customers to buy the less expensive product that has a lower margin and lower absolute profit for me. Both because it's the right thing to do, and because I don't want to end up with the return or exchange later. Just the other day someone insisted, "What's the catch?" There's no catch! My experience is the same as you describe, except that it is also opposite at the same time.

I sell two different types of one particular product in my online store. One is American made, and really the best choice for a large number of a certain type of customers. The other is a higher priced German made product in the same category.

It has become clear to me over time that when people don’t know a lot about something, they use price as the the defacto measure of quality.

But in this case, the American made, lower priced product actually works much better for a certain type of customer, so it’s a misleading indicator.

Customers often try to buy the more expensive German product even when the American product would be better for their situation, because they literally can’t believe that the most expensive product isn’t the best.

I offer a 60 day money back guarantee, so the customer isn’t stuck when he or she buys the wrong thing. But I get stuck with the return!

So I find myself in the strange position of trying to convince certain customers to buy the less expensive product that has a lower margin and lower absolute profit for me. Both because it’s the right thing to do, and because I don’t want to end up with the return or exchange later.

Just the other day someone insisted, “What’s the catch?”

There’s no catch!

]]> By: John Jantsch http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2007/04/09/sell-em-what-they-want/comment-page-1/#comment-1484 John Jantsch Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 #comment-1484 Lars, I think you captured the challenge - you could spend a lot of energy trying to explain every possible use and scenario but then nobody would buy anything. Lars,

I think you captured the challenge – you could spend a lot of energy trying to explain every possible use and scenario but then nobody would buy anything.

]]> By: Scott Campbell http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2007/04/09/sell-em-what-they-want/comment-page-1/#comment-1485 Scott Campbell Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 #comment-1485 Great post, John. I'm running into this and this is good advice for me right now. Great post, John. I’m running into this and this is good advice for me right now.

]]> By: Eliot Burdett http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2007/04/09/sell-em-what-they-want/comment-page-1/#comment-1492 Eliot Burdett Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 #comment-1492 John, Great post. I have used this concept to my advantage as well. In my current business, recruiting sales professionals, clients sometimes come to us wondering whether they should upgrade their team. They are curious to know what the market is for available talent, but they might be apprehensive about launching into a full recruiting effort and incurring the time and money. So we perform audits where we provide objective analysis of the existing team. We charge a small fee for this, which allows us to turn a prospect into a client. Even if our analysis indicates that the current team is working efficiently, we don't mind that it didn't turn into a recruiting engagement today. We have demonstrated our comprehension and commitment to our customer's business and there will be no hesitation for them to do business with us in the future. Eliot Burdett http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/blog/ John,
Great post. I have used this concept to my advantage as well. In my current business, recruiting sales professionals, clients sometimes come to us wondering whether they should upgrade their team. They are curious to know what the market is for available talent, but they might be apprehensive about launching into a full recruiting effort and incurring the time and money. So we perform audits where we provide objective analysis of the existing team. We charge a small fee for this, which allows us to turn a prospect into a client. Even if our analysis indicates that the current team is working efficiently, we don’t mind that it didn’t turn into a recruiting engagement today. We have demonstrated our comprehension and commitment to our customer’s business and there will be no hesitation for them to do business with us in the future.

Eliot Burdett
http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/blog/

]]> By: 10,000 Marshmallows Daily Links 2007-04-10 - 10,000 Marshmallows - Marketing Accountability: How to eat 10,000 Marshmallows http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2007/04/09/sell-em-what-they-want/comment-page-1/#comment-13272 10,000 Marshmallows Daily Links 2007-04-10 - 10,000 Marshmallows - Marketing Accountability: How to eat 10,000 Marshmallows Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 #comment-13272 <pingback />...then you should be reconsidering your strategy and your investment in ... …then you should be reconsidering your strategy and your investment in …

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