Understanding High-Value Offers
It appears people misunderstand what high-value offers actually are. I Gather most founders, especially in the start-up space, think itâs about generosity.
The truth is, generosity becomes excess if not strategically executed. More or less. That means, if you pour too much into your offer, itâs no longer sustainable and has lost value before it even made it out the door.
The reality is that a high-value offer, well, is pretty subjective. A hot-selling offer to one is occasionally a trashy deal to another. So what is this elusive offer all about. How do you identify it.
More importantly, how do you create one for your business. Letâs examine the common misconceptions first. The first thing most people get wrong is that high-value offers need to be heavy-duty discounts on services or products, sometimes for free. And while discounts and free deals can be part of this scheme, high-value offers are more about establishing authority in your industry so that people really value what youâre selling in the first place.
This means going beyond straightforward customer-supplier relations and standing out from the noise for reasons outside of price slashes or daily deals. Sort of. Also bear in mind that when an offer tries too hard to rope everyone in - no matter their business situation - it doesnât fit well with anyoneâs needs which makes it less valuable altogether. The process of crafting these deals also needs to highlight why working with a business like yours will serve them far better than competitors, besides better prices and inclusions.
The Psychology Behind Incentives
Most business owners fall into the trap of believing that attractive offers are all about value, value, value. In reality, the perception of value is rather subjective. So while a high-value offer may work for some, it may not have the same impact on others. It seems like beyond the promise of roi, an irresistible offer is fairly about figuring out what your audience finds motivating to get them to buy from you.
Sometimes, low-ticket items with a âfreeâ tag attached can be more attractive than a big-ticket item with a discounted price. Other times, your audience might be motivated by exclusivity or urgency. Either way, there is some thought required before you can confidently say that your offer is right for your ideal client.
A lot of this can change over time too. You may find that you prefer to keep standard service prices but offer freebies or perks instead of discounts for any big purchase. Or you might want to use discounts as a loyalty strategy and add more value while maintaining standard pricing for newer customers. What works for your business at each stage is best determined by how well you know your ideal client and audience.
Sort of. At the end of the day, an irresistible offer comes down to understanding yourself and your audience. It takes a bit of trial and error but once you hit the spot, it can bring in a steady stream of conversions for your business.
Top 6 Incentives That Drive Sales
People often think âincentiveâ means you dangle a discount and wait for sales to fall from the sky. You know, some coupon code or a half-price clearance rack will make anyone click âbuyâ. Problem is, this short-sighted, letâs-move-inventory approach makes people see your business as one big markdown bin. Thereâs nothing unique about that - it feels cheap.
The right incentive depends on what sort of selling youâre doing, and who you want buying. Maybe itâs old stock or dead sizes - these genuinely benefit from discounts because the perception isnât âthis is low-valueâ but rather âI got lucky. â Sometimes though itâs about how you get people to try something new.
A free gift with purchase works wonders in those cases because if theyâre already considering buying, one little push (and no loss) helps them close the deal - without diminishing your product value or brand perception. Sometimes though itâs not so simple. Even for businesses trying to move inventory, Iâve found that too much discounting erodes customer trust.
And so maybe your incentive then becomes an exclusive gift for loyal customers instead of store-wide discounts for everyone - this almost always keeps a customer coming back because they feel like theyâre gaining more than what they spent. More or less. It also adds another layer of complexity where it appears that only a select few have access to special deals. More or less.
Even in B2B sales I think incentives work on two main principles: FOMO and competitiveness. Sort of. Donât give away too much, sure, but donât create an environment where buyers feel like thereâs nothing unique about shopping from you. The most important thing Iâve realised though is that there are no guarantees and sometimes incentives can backfire if done without proper planning and testing.
Crafting Irresistible Offers
Most people seem to think crafting offers that sell is about dropping the price. And hey, some of us have been guilty of it too. Price can be a driver, but it doesnât work like magic. If youâre living in a world where it does, Iâm not sure we want to know you.
If youâve been around the block for more than a minute, you know that offers are never just about money. If customers are potentially interested, theyâll pay for value - this might mean more features for the same amount, or doubling the quantity at a nominal price bump. But value is different from low pricing.
What if even that doesnât work. Offers need timing and alignment with customer needs - especially those they donât know they have yet.
Thatâs why selling is as much an art as it is a science. The science part may have you throwing an offer out on payday, but unless your copy and timing align with what your customer needs at this moment in time, nothing will work. I think incentive offers should be robust - this means consistent value over time.
Make your marketing driven by both science and art: time with science, and drive with the art of persuasion - preferably paired with facts and statistics to help them trust you. Take the time to design loyalty programs or events that encourage them to see you again. And get them to see you often enough, that soon theyâre making payments without even thinking about it (in-app purchases anyone.
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Case Studies: Successful High-Value Deals
People tend to think every high-value real estate deal is about champagne at settlement and a poolside handshake. Or that thereâs always some sexy quirk - a mysterious buyer, a flashy rooftop cinema. The reality is more mundane and sometimes a little less Instagrammable. Most larger deals have come from learning quickly what went wrong last time.
I like to see both sides of a deal to avoid this in the future, so when analysing what makes for successful high-value deals in residential I ask a lot of really specific questions: why did you choose that particular agent. What was the deciding factor in the sale. How did you feel.
Was there anything left on the table for either side. This helps uncover what matters most to both buyers and sellers and often it isnât something expensive or grand.
It turns out, for many clients, itâs quite simply about getting things done with as little fuss as possible. One example is when the seller moved overseas and needed to close out all loose ends quickly. The buyer was able to take care of all their last obligations, including paying off their car loan and other debts, which then made them eligible for settlement sooner.
This allowed them to use the money on their next project. For another buyer, it was an easy move-in experience facilitated by appropriate cleaning and removalist services paid for by the other party. In this case it was because they lived interstate and were unable to manage these details remotely while working full-time jobs with children.
There are plenty more stories like this across the board with solid messaging being simply: know your audience well enough to deliver on exactly what they value most at no additional cost or burden from either side.
Measuring the Impact of Your Offers
How do you know if your high-value offer has actually sealed the deal. A lot of people think itâs just about noticing more orders or seeing a rush of traffic after you launch a sale. Thatâs a small part of it.
Sort of. Most people get caught up in vanity metrics â like how many likes or shares a post with your offer received on Instagram, or how many clicks were tracked. But that doesnât necessarily mean more sales were made.
Let alone more loyal customers. Sort of. The real measure of whether your offer is working is by looking at the numbers in your bottom line and comparing that to how things were before you rolled out the new incentive. Sort of.
And hereâs where things can occasionally get murky. Because if youâre testing a new kind of offer that you havenât done before, you may not have something to compare it to. In that case, looking at industry benchmarks may help. More or less.
But even then, each business is unique and what works for others may not necessarily work for you. To really find out whether an offer is working and keeping customers coming back for more, you need to look at numbers like conversion rates, average order value, customer acquisition cost, and perhaps most importantly â retention rate (for repeat offers). This gives you a more realistic picture of your high-value offerâs actual performance.
It can be tempting to keep rolling out offers when you see an increase in social engagement but numbers are numbers and they donât lie. Reviewing the data while also collecting feedback directly from customers can arguably help you tweak your offers until they hit the mark consistently.